Page 7 of Quietly Falling
“That’ll be nice,” Hank agrees, everyone’s nonchalance making me want to crawl out of my skin.
“How the hell did you even know?—”
“I make it my job toknoweverything,” Isla responds, the woman easily slipping from the role of mother to triplets to a boardroom powerhouse in a second. “You don’t think I flagged Jeffers when I ran your background check? Look around, Bodhi. The past has a way of coming back here and I wasn’t taking that chance. Not after Hank and not after Sorren. I’m not putting the people I care about through that again.”
Tom nods, his voice low as he says, “I flew in right after the motion. We’ve been keeping a careful eye on it. No sense in raising the alarm if there’s no need.”
“So what…” I bark, spreading my arms wide and staring helplessly at them. “I just sit back and trust that everything is just gonna work out? That’s not my life and Audrey?—”
“No,” Sorren chides. “You work hard but you work smart. We use the resources available so that we’re not goin’ in blind. You think it was easy for Hank and me to ask for help? Toaccept it? To know we couldn’t take care of shit on our own? Being a man isn’t shouldering the Goddamn world, Bodhi. We’ve all done it and it’s a thankless existence. We hurt the people we love that way.”
“But—” The word is choked as I look between them.
“No,” Hank repeats, standing taller as he nails me with a stare. “You listen, and you learn from our mistakes. It’s not all or nothing. Not here. So, before you start flyin’ off the handle thinking you’re going to storm the northeast trying to be some kind of vigilante, let’s work out a plan.”
My vision starts to go fuzzy at the edges, the words sounding like I’m hearing them from underwater.
Breathe, Bodhi.
But it’s too much and I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to put my trust in anyone other than myself…or Mason.
Warm hands grip my face as Isla’s comes into view.
“We’ve got you. Do you hear me?” she says, her expression serious as I try to suck in a lungful of air. “We’ve got you.”
“Yes,” I rasp, her gaze a fiery intensity that I can’t look away from.
“Good.” She releases my face and drops her voice. “Now, if you insist on another dramaticmy life is overmomentcan it please not be when I have my husband all to myself while my parents are watching our children?”
“What?”
“Orgasms, Bodhi. You made me miss out on home alone, I can be as loud as I want, orgasms with my stupidly hot and growly husband.”
My face heats as the other three men all try and fail to hide their amusement.
“Sorry,” I mutter because what else do you say?
“I’ll let it slide this time,” she sighs as she squeezes my shoulder, “but you of all people should know that blood doesn’t make you family. You may have stumbled here on a whim, but the loyalty in our veins runs deep. You’ve given us yours and now it’s time we return it tenfold.”
She smiles and I stand and watch as Hank, Isla, and Tom disappear into the two cars and pull back onto the road. It’s not until the dust settles that I realize Sorren is standing next to me.
“Ready to go?”
“What?” I ask, my head spinning all over again as I scrub my hands over my face. “I know I should be grateful but…”
“It’s hard and it should be.” The words are honest and so is his expression. “You’ve spent your life being wary of every single person who’s glanced your way. My sister has been safe here since she was six years old, and it took me until a couple of years ago when she started dating my best friend for me to let go of the part of me that swore I’d protect her with my last breath.”
“You wouldn’t still die for her?”
“I would.” He nods. “But it’s her husband’s job first and foremost. If he doesn’t jump first then I have to deal with himandthe threat and it throws off the whole thing.” Sorren cracks a smile as he clasps me on the shoulder, steering me to the side of the building where his truck is parked.
“Can it really be that easy?”
“Nothing in this world is easy; that’s why we don’t walk the road alone.” He pauses at the driver’s door. “And that’s why you’re workin’ here for a while.” When I open my mouth, he shakes his head. “You wanted space from your brother and now you got it.”
I didn’t…
Did I?
