Page 48 of Betrayed

For Blake, who’d grown up in a sheltered existence, it was easier to focus on school than reality.

I have my work cut out for me.

Chapter 24

Blake

After confiscating my phone and laptop, then having the audacity to ask if I was okay, AJ disappeared to Jamie’s office. He left me sitting at the table with Meg and Emily, two perfect hostesses, or in my case, babysitters.

It’s not their fault, they're just doing what they were told to do.

I wasn’t upset with them, but with the situation. Being kept in the dark upset me. Losing autonomy upset me.

Not wanting to go down that path, I focused on the two women in front of me.

I noticed how relaxed and easy their conversation flowed, and once again found myself wishing I had a friendship like theirs.

Jealousy joined fear and frustration as I talked to them, playing with the tea bag string hanging from my mug. I doubted any of my friends would have made me peppermint chamomile tea to help soothe my nerves after a horrible day.

They’re probably only doing it because their husbands told them to be nice.

I chided myself for judging them unfairly.That’s not who I want to be.

When Meg and Emily told me about the times they needed help from SSI, I assumed they shared to help me feel better.

I never would have guessed they'd lived through such horrors. Meg was targeted by a trafficker, and Emily by her abusive ex. It seemed crazy to me they’d both hired SSI to protect them.And they both fell in love with the guy assigned to protect them?

I couldn’t imagine it happening to me. AJ was the only person protecting me. Well, the only one during the day, and he and I couldn’t be more different if we tried. Meg and Emily may have found their happily ever after with men from SSI, but I wouldn’t.

They shared more stories while we waited for the guys to decide my fate. The longer I waited, the more my anger built. Being left out of the decision pissed me off something fierce, though I tried not to take my anger out on Meg and Emily. They weren’t the ones interfering with my life.

No, it was their egotistical toxic alpha male husbands who thought they had the right to take away my phone and laptop and tell me what to do.

I didn’t care that Jamie and Emily weren’t married yet.

In an effort to help me feel more comfortable having a call sign (they’d corrected me when I called it a code name, though it seemed like they were the same thing to me), Emily told me hers was Snow White, and Meg’s was Cinderella.

It shocked me how two women who seemed so strong didn’t mind being referred to as helpless princesses. Meg confessed to liking her call sign, and referring to their houses as ‘castles’ when they were used for work.

“And sometimes just for fun,” Meg said.

While I understood the logic of not using real names or locations for safety, it still bothered me. Why couldn't we have warrior or Goddess names? I worked myself into a mood, not understanding how they could deal with overbearing, bossy husbands treating them like they were helpless.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” I blurted out. “Them making decisions for you, telling you what to do, treating you like you’re helpless?” I was about to apologize for being rude, but Meg laughed.

She literally laughed out loud. Emily chuckled and shook her head.

“They don’t make decisions for us. In fact, they tried to send us to their mom’s so we’d be out of harm’s way.” Meg rolled her eyes. “Like we’d ever leave you alone with them.”

They refused to leave? So they could be here for me? God, I’m a bitch.

“Their hearts are in the right place when they get all over protective. Unfortunately, it interferes with their brains, so we have to set them straight,” Emily added.

“We don’t need them to do all the old school chivalric things, but we appreciate they want to. For Jack and I, it’s a delicate balance that isn’t always easy to achieve. He’s an over-protective, true southern gentleman, and I’m fiercely independent.”

“I like that Jamie’s old school. It’s refreshing,” Emily admitted.

As I learned a little more about them and their past traumas, I realized I’d misjudged them. And their men.

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