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“Okay,” I agreed, but my eyes were barely open.
“Here Ev, hold this on your head for me.” He thrust a small hand towel into my hand before leaving the bathroom, so I shakily lifted it to the cut on my head and pressed it down, not wanting more blood all over me now I was finally clean.
“Is she okay?” My eyes snapped open at the sound of Nick’s voice and I looked around my room until I saw him and Aleks sitting on the end of my bed.
“Where’s Rush? Her head won’t stop bleeding,” Harris replied sounding way too concerned about a little blood.
“He went to find some pain pills for her headache. I’ll get him,” Aleks volunteered.
“You d-don’t need to. I’m okay,” I protested, but no one seemed to even hear me.
“I’ll find her some clothes,” Nick said before disappearing from my line of sight just as fast as Aleks had. I felt the need to protest about how much they were all fussing over me, but if I were honest with myself, I didn’t want them to stop. It felt amazing to know that they had me – that they’d take care of me because they wanted to, not because they had to. After the nightmare I’d lived the previous day and night it just felt more wonderful than I could express to be enveloped in their care.
CHAPTER 6
ALEKS
I don’t know how long the four of us sat, just watching Evie, but it was long after she’d fallen asleep. I wasn’t sure about the others, but I felt like I dare not take my eyes from her. I was terrified if I did, she’d be taken from me again, and I refused to ever allow that to happen. She was mine – ours – and no one and nothing would take her from us. We wouldn’t allow it. As long as she wanted us – this rag tag group of fucked up, broken men – she would have us. Even if she decided she didn’t want us one day, I wasn’t sure I could just walk away from her. She had weaved her way deep into my heart - a heart I had long since presumed dead – and she was in there for good. No matter what happened, even if we couldn’t make this relationship between us work, I would always be there to care for her and to protect her. Walking away from her was not an option.
“You’re sure she’s okay?” Harris asked eventually, breaking the silence.
“I’m sure, brother. The cut’s superficial. There’s no indications of concussion and the bleeding stopped as soon as I dressed it . She’s fine,” Kailan reassured Harris, and the rest of us, for the fifth time. “Her doctor brother can double check when he’s here later, but I do know what I’m talking about, boss. Scouts honor,” he joked with a mock scout salute, making us all huff a laugh and breaking the tension in the room.
“We can’t take any more risks with her. This could have ended so differently. We’re so fucking lucky she’s here right now,” Nick sighed as silence descended again.
“We won’t,” Harris agreed. “Whatever it takes. We’re gonna keep her safe and end this motherfucker once and for all.”
“Do the FBI have any leads so far?” I asked, looking to Nick.
“Nothing,” he shook his head. “Even with the information Evie gave them, they have no leads to go on other than the car, and I’m guessing he already ditched that by now.”
“We have to find him. He’s not going to stop coming for her,” Kailan pointed out what we all already knew.
“Maybe we should get her away from here. We could take her to another country. If we stay off the radar, he’ll never find her, not with Aleks’s skills,” Harris mused.
“We’re not running. Evie’s been through enough. She feels safe here, and she needs the support of her family, even if her brothers are all complete assholes,” Nick told him.
“They’re not that bad when you get to know them. They’re just really over protective,” Harris explained. “Once they background check us all, and see there’s nothing there, they’ll chill out.”
“Background check? You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?” I laughed.
“Wish I was, brother.”
“Do you think we can really make this work? With Evie, I mean? You think she can really handle all of our messed up?” Kailan asked, sounding more vulnerable than I thought I had ever heard from him.
“If anyone can, it’s her,” Nick answered first.
“She’s seen plenty of our fucked up and she hasn’t run yet,” I added with a shrug.
“We’re all a little messed up, Evie too. Maybe together we can all find a way to fix some of it, and get past what we can’t. I know she definitely makes me want to do that,” Harris added.
“Me too,” I agreed. I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded, but I would do whatever it took to be everything Evie deserved. I’d never be good enough, but if she were willing to let me try, I’d spend every second of every day just trying to be.
“So we stay here, right? We keep her safe and we work on finding out who exactly Soloman is?” Kailan looked to Harris for guidance, as always.
“For now,” Harris nodded. “If that’s what Ev wants. We need to all be home with her as much as possible. I’m confident that fucker can’t get on the property, but I’m not taking any risks anymore. I want a minimum of two of us in the house with her at all times, and we need to do sweeps and check the system for hacks regularly.”
“I set up an alert. We will all be notified on our cells if anyone tries to hack the security,” I explained.
