Page 85 of Gather the Storm

I’d thanked Otis, who’d kissed my forehead like it was the most natural thing in the world and said, “Anytime, doll.” I’d even thanked Jace for holding my hair, but of course, he’d just grumbled that he’d only done it so I wouldn’t stink up Benji with puke in my hair.

“No thanks necessary,” Wolf said. He hesitated. “We’re not just here for the house you know.”

I craned my neck to look up at him. “What do you mean?”

“We’re here to look out for you too,” he said.

I settled against his chest again. “I don’t want that.”

The last thing I wanted was for Jace, Wolf, and Otis to continue seeing me as Blake’s little sister, a fragile thing that needed protection.

“Why?” he asked, stroking my hair. “You don’t have to do everything alone you know.”

The words hit a nerve I hadn’t known was there, and my eyes stung with tears. People thought when you had money, you were secure, that you never had to be afraid, but the person I’d felt safest with as a kid had been my mom. She’d died when I was ten, and then I’d had Blake. We’d had our issues, but he’d been my big brother, and I hadn’t realized the circle of protection that had given me until he was gone.

For the last five years, I’d been the oldest. I’d been the one to carry the weight of my dad’s expectations, to look out for Ruth and to look out for myself too.

“I’ve gotten used to doing things alone.” I didn’t mention Blake. Wolf had made it clear at Syd’s that Blake was off-limits as a topic of conversation and I didn’t know how far the embargo extended.

“Get unused to it,” Wolf said. “You’re not alone anymore.”

The words were more comforting than they should have been given the fact that they were probably coming from one of Blake’s murderers.

I sank into the solidity of Wolf’s chest and breathed in the scent of his skin, feeling my eyelids get heavy.

“This is weird, right?” I asked. “You and me and Jace and Otis living together?”

“‘Weird’ isn’t the word that comes to mind at this particular moment,” Wolf said, shifting a little. “But I know what you mean.”

“I like having you here,” I said, slipping further toward sleep, wondering if this would be one of the many things I’d regret in the morning.

“I like it too, sunshine.”

“Will you stay for a while?” I asked, because I’d already taken the gold medal for pathetic behavior, so I had nothing to lose. “With me, I mean?”

Wolf’s arms tightened around me. “I’m not going anywhere. Now go to sleep.”

For the first time in a long time, I felt safe. So I did.

Chapter 44

Wolf

Istayed awake a long time after she fell asleep. It wasn’t just the scene in the alley that kept me awake, although that had been epically fucked up and I wanted to go ballistic just thinking about some asshole forcing himself on Daisy.

It was Blake.

I kept hearing his fucking voice in my head.

Hands off Daisy, bro. Forever. Promise.

I could still see the look in his eyes, the way he’d stared me down, like he’d meant it, like it was a real promise and not one of those things you said when you were young just to play along.

The thing was, I didn’t want to keep my hands off Daisy

In fact, with her soft body curled against mine in bed, I very much wanted to put my hands — and mouth and every other part of me — on her.

But then there was my promise to Blake, rolling around in my head like a loose marble, reminding me it was there every damn day.

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