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“Yep,” Kailan announced loudly. “They definitely like us.” We all laughed, breaking the tension. It was exactly what I had needed.
“Come on. Let’s all head up to Evie’s room. We should check on Zack too,” Aleks said as he picked me up into his arms and started up the stairs. I looked over his shoulder and smiled a little when I saw all three of them following right behind us. The last twenty-four hours had been a living nightmare; one I knew would hit me hard later, but for that moment I felt a peace click into place within me at having them all there. It just felt right. They felt right for me, and I was done fighting my feelings. Life was way too damned short.
CHAPTER 5
EVIE
We all stopped at the doorway to Zack’s room once we were upstairs, and watched as Nick tiptoed inside and checked on his adorable son, who lay peacefully in his crib. My heart about melted when Nick leant in and ever so gently kissed Zack’s forehead. I couldn’t understand for one moment why that man thought he wasn’t good enough to raise his son. From everything I had seen he was the most amazing, loving father and Zack adored him.
Kailan was the last one to walk into my room once we were sure Zack was settled. . We all kind of stood a little awkwardly and watched as Kailan closed the door quietly, then Nick moved first, placing Zack’s video monitor on the dresser, where we could all keep an eye on it.
“Tell us what you need, Evie. How badly are you hurt?” Aleks asked, pulling my attention back to him as he wrapped his arms around me even tighter.
“I’m okay. I just need to take a shower,” I explained, my voice sounding exhausted to even my own ears.
“Don’t underplay it, baby. We can all see for ourselves that you’re pretty far from okay,” Nick sighed as he came closer and softly brushed a hand over my aching, bruised face. I turned to nuzzle into his touch, needing the comfort of it and was relieved when he cupped my unmarked cheek and leaned in to kiss my forehead. “The truth now, okay? We’re all here for you. We just want to be able to take care of you,” he added in a quieter voice before he pulled back.
“I’m sore,” I admitted. “My head is throbbing and everything aches from the walking and the cold. I’m exhausted too, but guys; I’m here and I’m whole. I really am okay.”
“Please don’t ever scare us like that again, kochanie,” Aleks said as he looked down at me with so much fear and concern. I knew how he felt – how they all felt as I looked between them – because it was exactly the way I had felt too, alone in those woods. I had been so terrified I would never get to see any of them again. Never get to tell them how much they had already come to mean to me in such a short time.
I turned back to Aleks and placed my hand on his cheek as I looked right into his captivating eyes. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised with determination. Not if there was a damned thing I could do to stop it.
Aleks nodded just once, and as I moved my hand away from his cheek he leaned in and kissed my palm, making me smile.
“How about one of us stays to help Evie, while the others do a quick sweep around the house and check the security?” Harris asked, breaking the moment between us all.
“Sweep?” I repeated. “Y-you think he’ll come here?” Panic consumed me as the temporary bubble of peace I had found was broken by a brutal reminder of reality.
“He can try, but there’s no way he can breach our security,” Aleks told me confidently.
“Aleks is right. If he thought he could get in here, he’d have already tried. Our security is too tight. That’s why he waited for you to go out to grab you,” Nick added, making me relax a little.
“We just plan to do sweeps as a precaution, make sure he’s not hanging around the property anywhere. We aren’t taking any chances now, Ev. We will keep you safe,” Harris said vehemently.
“Who do you want to stay up here with you, darlin’?” Kailan asked.
“Any of you,” I replied with ease. “I trust you guys. More than that. It seems being with you is the only place I feel safe right now,” I admitted shyly.
“Good, You should feel safe with us,” Kailan spoke up as he appeared before me and ran a gentle finger down my cheek until I looked up and met his eyes. “You are safe with us. We’re not gonna let anything happen to you. You mean too much to us all, sweet girl.”
“You’re all starting to mean a lot to me too…or already do,” I stuttered nervously. “I don’t know. I mean, I know the timing sucks and I…I’m a mess. There’s a killer chasing me, for fucks sake, but I…I just know that when I was scared and alone, all I could think about was the four of you. I was so scared I’d never see you again,” I sighed as I ended my senseless ramble.
“Aww, I think she likes us, guys,” Kailan joked, making us all laugh, and breaking the tension and some of my embarrassment.
“Sweetheart,” Harris pulled my attention to where he stood off to my side. “We don’t give a shit about timing or any of that other shit you just spouted. We’ll deal with whatever comes next, together. None of it will ever alter the way we all feel about you, and if you’re starting to feel the same in return, then all any of us are gonna be is over the fucking moon.”
I shyly looked to the others, then felt a goofy smile filling my face when they all grinned widely and nodded in agreement.
“It seems like we have a little to talk about, but how about we shelve it all for now? Evie feels cold again. She needs to get cleaned up and sleep for a few hours at least,” Aleks suggested and I wasn’t arguing. As happy and excited as I was about the guys in that moment, I was also cold, in pain and in desperate need of some aspirin and a snooze.
“Aleks is right,” Nick agreed as he threw me a wink. “I’ll patrol with the love sick puppy over there.” He nodded to Kailan who was just looking at me with a huge dopey smile on his face.
“Fuck you. Just because you’re too scared to show any actual human emotion!” Kailan threw back playfully.
“I should check the security system, make sure there’s been no attempts to breach it,” Aleks added.
“You guys will be careful, right?” I asked anxiously. “He’s dangerous. I don’t want any of you to get hurt.”
