by Becca Van
Molly hurried through her shower, dried her hair, brushed her teeth, and dressed. Steven had packed everything she needed and she wouldn’t have to go back for any more clothes unless their washing machine went on the fritz and she couldn’t see that happening. She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen and watched Giles and Steven loading plates with bacon, eggs, toast, and pancakes.
Giles looked up and smiled at her. “Come and sit down, precious. You need to eat and keep your strength up.”
Molly went to help them bring the food across to the table and was about to go back for a cup of coffee but Steven beat her to it. He placed a mug in front of her and she closed her eyes to inhale the tantalizing brew. From the look and the smell of the drink, he had made it just the way she liked it.
Just as they were finishing breakfast, there was a knock on the door and Steven got up to answer it. When Giles began to clear away the dishes, Molly rose to help him. They had only just wiped down the table when Steve came back, Noah and Tom on his heels.
“Hi, Molly, how are you feeling?” Noah sat down at the large table across from her and Tom sat next to him.
“Much better, thank you.”
“We went looking for that crop first thing this morning and we found it,” Tom said. “We’ve called in the Australian Federal Police and they are sending some from of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, here this afternoon.”
“That crop is a big one,” Noah sighed. “I’m glad you found it. Now the AFP can do a stakeout and hopefully capture the arseholes. I don’t want you going anywhere without Steven of Giles, Molly. I think the attempt on your life yesterday afternoon and the break-in to your shop last night could be these drug cultivators. I’m not sure what they were looking for but you’re damn lucky you weren’t hurt worse.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Molly paused to take a sip of the fresh coffee Giles had brought her. “I think whoever has that plantation heard about me being arrested and came to see if they could find the drugs I had inadvertently picked. They wouldn’t have wanted any evidence left behind and they were also probably trying to scare me into keeping my mouth shut.”
“You are amazing, cutie.” Steven lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” Noah said.
“You are such a smart lady.” Giles leaned over and kissed her on the side of the head. The men’s praise filled her with confidence and she felt better about herself right then than ever before.
“Shit.” Tom scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve put you in danger. I’m sorry, Molly.”
Molly reached over and patted Tom’s hand. “None of this was your fault, Tom. If you want to blame anyone, blame me. My own naivety got me into this mess.”
“Wait a minute!” Noah frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would they come after you after you’d been arrested? Surely they’d realize it was too late after Tom took you in?”
“The only other reason has to be a warning. Maybe they hurt me as a warning to the rest of you?”
“What do you mean, honey?” Steven asked.
“Maybe they are aware that I was nearly arrested and they took a shot at me and broke into my store as a warning for you all to stay away.”
“That makes sense.” Tom sipped his coffee. “But surely they realize that we aren’t going to do that. It’s our job to take those bastards down.”
“You are one wise woman, Molly Godfrey.” Noah winked at her.
Another warm fuzzy bolstered her spirit and made her feel good about herself.
“Yeah it is our job,” Noah said. “Maybe they are scared that their bosses will get wind that we know about their crop. If that is the case they are going to get more desperate. Who knows who their leaders are? We could be heading for a big fight before all this is over.”
“There is only one thing we know for certain,” Giles frowned.
“What’s that?” Molly asked.
“You are in danger and there is no way in hell you’re going back to your shop or your apartment. One of us will be with you at all times and Steven and I decided to call our cousins last night. They will be arriving here anytime. We are going to need all the help we can get to keep you safe, baby.”
“Agreed,” Noah and Tom said simultaneously.
“How can your cousins help?” Molly crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t like the idea of putting other people in danger because of me.”
“Don’t go getting upset, cutie.” Steven took one of Molly’s hands in his. “It’s our job to make sure that no one can get close to you.”
“Look I appreciate you all trying to protect me, but I couldn’t live with myself if one of you got hurt. Maybe I should just disappear until the AFP can take these people down?”
“No!” Steven shouted.
“Not happening, Molly,” Giles said in a hard voice.
Molly had never heard either of them speak that way before and even though she felt bad that she could be putting all these men in danger, she felt warm and fuzzy inside. Her heart filled with so much emotion, she had to take several deep breaths so she wouldn’t blurt out those three not-so-little words.
“We need to get going.” Noah rose to his feet. “We’re meeting with an AFP officer in just over half an hour.”
Tom stood up, too. “You need to listen to your men, Molly. Do everything they say and they’ll keep you safe.”
Molly sighed and lowered her head into her hands. She appreciated what they all were trying to do for her but how could they keep her safe from men intent on hurting her. And then it occurred to her that Steven and Giles’s business was going to suffer if they took time off to babysit her.
Steven came back into the kitchen and headed for the coffee pot again. He was just about to sit down when there was another knock on the door. After placing his cup on the table, he went to answer it.
Molly could hear more male voices and wondered if her men’s cousins had arrived.
Steven came back into the kitchen and following behind him were three of the tallest, brawniest men she had ever seen. They looked as big as, if not a little bigger than, Nikki’s men, Tony, Colt, and Brandon.
“Molly, these great big lugs are our cousins, Dach, Desmond, and Dallas King. Guys, this is our woman, Molly Godfrey”
Molly felt her eyes widen when all three men began moving toward her. Dach gripped her upper arms and hauled her out of her chair and then to her surprise he hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head. “Hey sweetness, you’re a sexy little thing. You come to me if these two don’t treat you right.”
“Give her to me,” Desmond demanded and then she was passed over to him. He squeezed her so hard it hurt the bruise on her back and even though she tried not to flinch, he must have noticed. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t.” Molly looked up into his green eyes and smiled. “I have a bruise.”
Dallas nudged his brother out of the way and instead of him hugging her like she expected he swept her up into his arms and kissed her forehead. “It’s a pleasure, honey.”
“Cut that out right now,” Giles said in a growly voice and walked over to take Molly from his cousin. He then carried her around the table and sat down with her on his lap.
“Don’t take any notice of them, cutie. Those three are veritable flirts.”
“No!” Molly placed a hand over her chest in mock horror. “I never would have guessed.”
“Smart arse.” Giles kissed her cheek.
Molly pushed up to her feet and went to get the King cousins coffee. When she came back and was about to sit down next to Steve, he snagged her around the waist and pulled her down to his lap.
Steve and Giles explained about the trouble Molly had gotten herself into and although she saw the humor in their cousins’ eyes when they told them what had happened they didn’t laugh, which made her like them even more.
By the time the men
had finished discussing their plans, Molly felt a little better. One of her men would go into the real estate office every day and one of their cousins would go with them to help them out. The other three were going to be dogging her heels until the druggies had been caught.
Molly still didn’t like that she could be putting them all in danger but from the implacable looks in their eyes, she wasn’t going to have any say in her own protection. The more they discussed her situation, the more her heart overflowed with emotion.
Steven and Giles had to care for her if they were willing to bring in their SAS-trained cousins to help keep her safe. Surely they wouldn’t go to so much trouble if they didn’t have any feelings for her.
God, I am so in love with you both.
It took Molly a couple of moments to realize that all the men had stopped talking and were looking at her. The King cousins were looking at her with soft expressions on their faces and when she turned to look at Giles and Steven they were looking at her with so much emotion, her heart stuttered and her breath caught in her throat. She felt those looks all the way to her core.
“Oh, my God. Did I say that out loud?” Molly’s face went really hot and she buried her face in her hands.
Chapter Thirteen
Giles smiled at Molly when she covered her face. He had never been so glad to hear her speak her thoughts than right now. He nodded to his cousins and then pointed toward the back door. He was glad they didn’t try to rib Molly or him and Steve and then they picked up their mugs of coffee and left without a word.
Steven reached up and pulled Molly’s hands from her face and then tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “Don’t be embarrassed about how you feel, cutie. Molly, don’t you realize how much you mean to me? I love you, too, baby.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Really. I have loved you from the first time I set eyes on you.”
“But that was…How could you…”
“Don’t question it, Molly. I know how I feel.”
Giles reached over and took her hand in his. Instead of just holding it, he tugged her to her feet and then she was in his lap. He gripped the hair at the back of her neck and tilted her head back. “I love you so damn much, precious. You mean the world to me, Molly Godfrey.”
Giles leaned down and kissed her. There was nothing tentative in the way he covered her mouth. He devoured her. His tongue pushed into her cavern and he ravaged her with a hunger so acute she thought she may just come. By the time he lifted his head, her body was aching with need and her panties were soaked through. Steven pulled her back into his arms with a little help from Giles and then he was kissing her with so much hunger and love, tears filled her eyes.
“Tell me again,” Steven demanded.
“I love you. I have never felt this way before and the thought of never being with you again breaks my heart.” She turned to face Giles again. “I love you, too. It would kill me if anything happened to either one of you.”
“We feel the same about you, cutie.” Steven rubbed his cheek against hers.
“You’re never getting away from us now, precious.” Giles squeezed her knee, the one that didn’t have the stitches.
“Really? Do you really mean that?” Molly asked breathlessly. Tears of happiness formed in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks.
“I thought you’d realize now that we never say anything we don’t mean.”
“Yes, I know. I’m just so overwhelmed…and happy.”
“And we’ll do everything we can to keep you that way.” Steven stood up. “I have to get to the office. I have a client coming in at two. I’ll take Des with me so he can answer the phone.”
“Oh, he’ll just love that.” Giles chuckled and once more pulled Molly onto his thighs.
“Please be safe.” Molly reached up and cupped Steven’s face when he leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips.
“You, too, cutie.” Steven walked out of the kitchen.
Molly spent the rest of the day with Giles, Dach, and Dallas. They watched a movie and the men jibed each other constantly. Just as the credits began to roll across the screen, the phone rang and Giles went to answer it. When she heard him curse, she got up and went into the kitchen. Dallas and Dach did, too. By the look on his face the news wasn’t good. Giles kept his answers short and succinct with yes or nos and Molly began to get really worried when he looked at her with what she thought was fear.
Dach and Dallas must have seen Giles’s tension because they wiped the smiles from their faces to expressionless masks. When he was done with the phone call, he came over to her and pulled her into his arms.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
Dach and Dallas’s mobile phones beeped simultaneously and they pulled them from the clip from their belts. After reading the messages both of them started swearing.
“What’s going on? Please tell me, Giles. You’re scaring me.”
Giles removed his arms from around her waist and cupped her face between his hands.
“That was Tom, Molly. The AFP had just set up a stakeout and they were able to arrest a lot of people.”
Molly frowned. She thought he’d be happy that those druggies had been taken down. “Well, that’s good. Isn’t it?”
“Yes, but one of the ring leaders managed to escape.”
“What is it you’re not telling me?” Molly asked and could hear the fear in her own voice.
“The guy that got away managed to elude the AFP and the police and he made it into town. He shot Steve, honey.”
“Steve?” Molly covered her mouth and her heartbeat sped up. She swayed on her feet and even though she could see Giles’s mouth moving, she couldn’t hear him over the roaring in her ears.
Giles moved toward her but it looked like he was moving in slow motion. Everything seemed so surreal right then and no matter how hard she tried to snap out of it, she couldn’t. Giles arms came around her and then she was lifted from her feet. Molly clutched at him like he was her only lifeline in a world gone mad, except she was the one that felt like she was going insane with fear. Tears streamed down her face unheedingly and she buried her face in his chest and cried.
It took a while for her to get over her shock but when she did, she heard Giles talking to her. “It’s okay, precious. Steven is going to be fine. He was shot in the arm and the bullet didn’t hit bone. Des saw the bastard coming and pushed Steve out of the way.”
Molly pushed away from Giles, got to her feet, and grabbed his hand. “We have to go. Please, Giles, I need to see him. Where is he? Did he get taken to the hospital? Can we go now?”
Giles grabbed her upper arms. “Calm down, Molly. Everything is going to be fine. No, he didn’t go to a hospital. Des took him to Ryan’s clinic. Come on, let’s go, baby.”
Giles led her out to his truck. Dach and Dallas climbed in the back and then they were on the way. Molly felt sick to her stomach and knew she wouldn’t calm down until she could see that Steven was going to be all right for herself. She’d never been so scared in her life. Not even when those arseholes had broken into her shop.
It seemed to take forever before they got to Ryan’s clinic and Molly was about to jump out of the front seat but Dach placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Wait until we make sure it’s safe, honey. That bastard could still be hanging around somewhere. I don’t want you making a target out of yourself.”
Molly nodded and waited for the three men to get out of the truck. Dach and Dallas scanned the streets and then nodded to Giles. Giles opened her door and helped her down and then she was surrounded by three big men. They walked so close that every time she moved, their bodies bumped each other. Dallas opened the door and ushered her inside and then stepped aside to allow her to pass and closed the door again.
Molly didn’t wait for Ryan to come out of his office but instead went looking for him and Steven. There were three doors off the hallway and o
nly one of them was closed, so Molly headed for that one. She didn’t knock but burst into the room and came face to face with a gun. She looked up into Des’s cold green eyes and shivered. He gave her a wry smile and then lowered his weapon.
“Sorry, sugar, but don’t you ever do that again. For all you knew that fuc…bastard could have been in here waiting for you.”
Molly didn’t respond but her eyes moved over to the bed where Ryan was just sewing up the back of Steven’s upper left arm. He looked so pale and sick. She didn’t even realize she was moving until she was holding his hand.
“My God, Steven! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, sweetheart. Ryan is taking good care of me.”
Ryan glanced up at her and winked. Steven wasn’t fooling anyone. He looked like he was in a lot of pain.
“When Giles told me you’d been shot, I thought you were dead.” Molly couldn’t contain her tears and swiped at them angrily with her free hand. “I’ve only just found you and I thought I’d lost you.”
Steven squeezed her hand. “It takes a lot more than a gunshot wound to kill me, Molly. I have so much to live for, cutie. We are going to have a long and happy life together.”
“Yes, we are.” Molly leaned over and kissed Steven on the cheek and then she remembered that Giles had told her Des had saved her man’s life. She turned around to see that Giles, Dach, and Dallas were in the room. She’d been so intent on Steven, she hadn’t heard them come in.
Molly released Steve’s hand and walked up to Des. She curled her finger at him and waited for him to bend down. He was looking at her uncertainly and she wondered if he thought she was going to give him hell for aiming a gun at her. That was so far from the truth she couldn’t help but smile and she chuckled when the worried look left his face and he smiled back at her.
