Page 58 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

Chapter 26 - Cayden

"Careful," I said as Riley sat on the island. Her arm was in a sling now, and she had two stitches in her head where she smacked it onto the ground. Brad had stabbed her, which healed up, but she was going to be sore for a few days.\He hadn't done any serious damage. She also had a concussion from how hard she smacked her head onto the floor. Riley had more damage than I did.

"I am," she said, sliding into her chair. April was already sitting and looking at Riley, worried.

"Do you need anything? A pain med?" April asked.

Riley shook her head. It was late, and we all just wanted to rest after the afternoon. After the fight, I called the police. April went with Riley down to the hospital to get checked out while I helped give the report.

They ended up calling Ayden, who arrived within ten minutes. He was concerned about everything and made sure that we were all okay. The rest of the guys arrived not soon after, taking in the bloody mess that was left.

I looked past April and Riley towards Ayden, who was still talking with an officer. Miles and Lucas stood at the other edge of the island, watching as Brad's body was pulled onto a gurney.

"Okay, so my question is, how did he find you?" Miles looked at April, asking. She stood with a blanket wrapped around herself now, rubbing her eyes. "We didn't even know he was here, and we'd been looking. Did he follow you or what?"

I wanted an answer to that as well. Riley said he was back home, so how did he end up here with April?

April shook her head. "I honestly have no idea how he caught me off guard like he did. Maybe because I wasn't really paying attention. It was so early in the morning."

"Wasn't your flight coming in later?" I asked, remembering she said it was in the afternoon.

She nodded. "I was supposed to land at around noon, but the flight got canceled, and they had an opening for an earlier one. I wasn't going to take it, but there were no other flights, so I did. I knew that you guys were going to grab me from the airport, but I knew your address, so I could just take a cab. I was getting into the cab, and he was right behind me. He practically shoved me in there and told me that if I didn't do what he wanted, he was going to hurt Riley. I don't know if he was here or if he took the flight with me. He came out of nowhere."

Riley reached over, taking April's hand. April squeezed her hand back. "I wanted to throat punch him, and I should have. We wouldn't be here then. I just tensed up."

"It's not your fault, April. He was insane."

"Well, I poked the bear a little," she admitted, shaking her head. "I did tell everyone about what happened with Riley, which they frowned upon a lot, especially his business workers."

This was the part I wasn't entirely sure about. "How did you manage that? And how did you get them to even care?"

April smiled. "A lot of his coworkers have children, and I just asked them if they wanted to make deals with a man who chokes women. I asked them to imagine it was their daughter, and the rest was done. Word got around quickly. No one wanted to do business with him."

Well, that explained why he wanted Riley back so badly. April fucked him out of everything with that. I had to give it to her. It was smart.

"You didn't have to do that," Riley said, "Karma was going to come to him. You didn't have to risk your life like that."

"Karma did come. It was me." April said with a smile. "And I'd do it again. I warned him not to fuck with you, and he didn't listen. He deserved what he got."

Thomas snorted at this. "Someone is pretty confident in herself."

April threw a glare at him. "You have no idea."

They stared at each other for a moment before Thomas pushed off the island. "Well, I think we can all say we are happy that you are all safe."

"Agreed," Ayden said, walking over to us. “Everything is in order, minus the clean-up. Do you need help with that? I know some good cleaners."

I shook my head. It was already getting late, and I knew they all needed to get home. "No, we can handle the mess in the morning. You guys should all head home before your wives start showing up with the kids. They don't need to see this."

"I don't know, Michelle would have a blast with this," Miles said with a chuckle in his voice. "The kid enjoys things like this."

"Yeah, well, I don't need Poppy to see this, so if we're good, I'll head home." Ayden grabbed his jacket and put it on.

"Thank you guys for all coming," I said as the rest of them turned for the jackets. I thanked them all, and once it was silent, the three of us sighed.

I looked at the living room and the mess that it was. The couches were ripped to shit, and there was some damage done to my fireplace. I would need to make some calls in the morning. But this was all for the morning we needed sleep. April looked like she was seconds from passing out, and Riley looked like she was in pain.

"So, I'm guessing I won't be sleeping on the couch," April said, returning my attention to her. "Not that I was going to because clearly, you two have something to tell me." She wiggled her finger between Riley and me.

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