Page 38 of Echoes of You

“She flinched when I hugged her,” Lawson said.

“I saw it,” Holt agreed.

“She’s not moving right,” Roan growled.

I sank into one of the rockers, blowing out a breath. “I can’t break her confidence.”

Lawson leaned against the porch railing opposite me. “We can’t help if we don’t know what’s going on.”

“Cone of silence,” Holt said, taking the rocker next to mine. “I won’t even say anything to Wren.”

That was a hell of a vow to make. Holt didn’t keep secrets from his girlfriend.

I looked at Roan, who leaned against the rail next to Lawson. He lifted a brow. “Who am I going to tell?”

If the circumstances were any different, I would’ve laughed. But thinking about what I would have to share had nausea roiling through me. Maddie would be pissed as all hell if I told my brothers what was going on. But I needed them and their help and guidance. She didn’t want to make a formal report, but they might have other ways of making sure she was safe—especially Holt with all his security connections.

I stared out at the town and the lake, and I let the truth free. “Adam wasn’t just a douchebag. He was an abusive asshole.”

A series of curses and growls filled the air around me.

“She file a report?” Lawson asked.

“He dead?” Roan questioned at the same time.

“No, and I wish.”

I filled them in on everything I knew, which wasn’t a hell of a lot, but it was enough to bring the level of rage to an eleven on the front porch.

Lawson scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “She needs to at least file an order of protection. I can get an emergency one in place until she can go before a judge.”

“I tried. She doesn’t want to because he’d have to be notified of where she is.”

Holt stared out at the horizon. “He likely already knows. Guys like that are too controlling not to keep tabs.”

“Maddie took him off Find My Friends before she left, and I searched her phone. There weren’t any other tracking apps,” I explained.

“He might be too arrogant to think she’d ever step out of line,” Roan said in a low voice.

“Nothing pisses me off more than someone who would hurt a woman or a child,” Lawson gritted out.

There was weight to his tone. One heavy with history that had left scars on his soul.

“Lowest of the low,” Holt echoed, concern lining his features as he took in Lawson.

“But Maddie got out of that situation. She’s free, and she’s safe,” I said, trying to ease a little of my brother’s tension.

Holt turned his focus back to me. “He may show up here, thinking she’d come back home.”

“He could,” I agreed. “But she’s not alone here.”

“You staying with her?” Roan asked.

“What do you think?”

He grinned, but it was feral around the edges. “That you’d kill anyone who tried to mess with her.”

“Damn straight.” I might have let Maddie down in the past, but I wouldn’t let that happen ever again.

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