“We? You don’t need to run me to the door. I’ll be fine. I wasted enough of your time already. Really.”
Fox stared at her. “We need to make sure that you’ll be okay. The least you could do is offer us a towel to dry off.”
She felt bad. She pulled out her keys.
“On three,” he said to her. “One, two…”
He opened the door and slid out into the rain, offering her a hand but then pulling her into his arms and running with her to the front door. Gino followed and Fox set her down, and she unlocked the door, despite her shaking fingers. She couldn’t believe he’d carried her like that. They got inside, and she turned on the lights by the front door and then in the living room.
“Let me grab some towels.” She ran to the linen closet and hurried back, handing each of the men a towel to dry off with.
They appeared so tall and large in the small space. It was Gino who looked around and then back at her.
“Your sister already move in with her men?”
“Yes.”
“That’s great. Good for them.” Gino then looked back at her.
She squeezed her hair into the towel, and when she looked at Fox, she caught him looking at her body. Instead of feeling scared, she felt her temperature rise and her breasts swell. God damn it, she was attracted to him and Gino, too. This wasn’t good.
Someone knocked on the door and she gasped. “Who is it?”
“Probably Cesar and Damon. I texted him letting him know what happened before I called Larry,” Gino told her as Fox opened the door.
Sure enough there were Cesar and Damon, both looking concerned and heading toward her until Cesar stopped short and took in the sight of her.
She didn’t know what came over him, but she glanced down and realized why Fox and Gino had been staring and then looking away. Her blouse was completely see through, and another button had come undone, revealing more cleavage than she ever would have been caught revealing.
She crossed her arms in front of her and started babbling.
“I’m sorry that you had to come out in this bad weather. I was fine really, and, well, now I’m back here, and Larry, whoever he is, is going to be towing the car to his shop so it should be fine in the morning.”
Cesar reached out and caressed her arms. “What in God’s name were you thinking? Why didn’t you call me the second the tire blew out? What if someone besides my brothers or another trustworthy town member had come driving along that road? You were all alone, unarmed, and damn it, Antonia, you need to take precautions. Especially after that group of men came into the Filling Station and harassed you.”
“What men? What happened?” Gino asked.
“It wasn’t a big deal,” she said.
“Not a big deal? You couldn’t get out of his hold. You would be defenseless against a man that size, never mind multiple men,” Damon added.
“It worked out fine.” She glanced at Fox and Gino.
“Because we got him to let you go. What about the fact he left his number, along with his brothers’ numbers, to make a date with you?” Cesar asked her.
She pulled back and shook her head. “Guys leave their numbers all the time and ask me out. I decline, and that’s it. Why are you so upset?”
Cesar exhaled and then looked at his brothers, who all surrounded her as though they were in some football team huddle, except she was a shrimp in the middle.
He stepped closer and pulled her into his arms, shocking her. “Because I care. Because I worry about you and want to make sure you’re safe. You’re a tiny little thing and should be handled with care and gentleness.”
She looked at Fox, who just stared at her with his arms crossed as if on guard. She had this feeling that he didn’t like this one bit. That maybe he didn’t like her or trust her. He had that look in his eyes, and as she pulled back, Gino and Damon shared the same fierce expressions.
Cesar cupped her cheeks. “You need looking after, darling, and as chief of police of Repose, I’m assigning myself and my brothers as your guardians.”
“Guardians?” She shook her head and stepped back. “I don’t need guardians or want them. Why are you doing this to me?”
He reached out to take both of her hands and held them firmly. He was such a large man in every aspect of the word. His demeanor, his tone, his attitude were all hard, firm, commanding. She felt intimidated but also aroused, and she shouldn’t have been. Hadn’t Ray hurt her enough, never mind Owen, as he’d forced her to touch him when she was only twelve? She shivered and tried stepping back.
Cesar squinted at her. “God baby, what the hell are you thinking about when you get that fearful look in your eyes? I’m not going to hurt you.” Cesar used his thumbs to caress gently over her skin while he held her hands.
“We are not going to hurt you,” Damon added, and she glanced at him and then back to Cesar.
“Changes are coming, Antonia. There’s is no way in damn hell I’m going to approve any other men to watch over you other than my brothers and I.” He brought her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles, once again shocking her by his tenderness and by the way her body reacted.
“We’ll go real slow, darling. As slow as you need.”
Her stomach rumbled, and they all heard it. Cesar chuckled.
“Well, what better way to get to know us than to share some food? What do you have? Damon and I can cook up just about anything.”
Damon looked in her fridge. “Eggs, bacon, whole wheat bread though.” He seemed disappointed about the healthy bread.
“I have stuff for pancakes, too,” she told them.
She spoke up before she thought better of it. That was just her nature, to try and appease people, smooth things over so they wouldn’t become angry or violent.
Cesar smiled. “Good, come on. Show us where everything is.” He released her hands and moved his arm around her waist to guide her into the small kitchen.
She had to brush by Gino, who she caught looking at her lips and her blouse. Quickly she pulled her blouse tighter by the buttons and swallowed hard. He was a big man, too. Had a short, trimmed beard, thick, wavy hair that made him appear a little wild. That drawn, dark expression in his eyes gave her instant reservations. They all shared that same expression, as though they had knowledge and experience with bad things. The hardness stood out more than anything, and that had her pressing closer to Cesar, and it didn’t go unnoticed.
Cesar kept close to her as she pulled out the things they would need to make breakfast. Tendrils from her damp hair made her shiver as she opened the refrigerator, but then Cesar ran his hand along her arm and used his other arm to wrap around her waist as he pressed against her. The move warmed her up immediately and took away that chill.
“You’ll catch a cold if you don’t get these wet clothes off.”
She pulled back and swallowed hard as they took what they needed from the refrigerator. They placed them on the counter, and Cesar turned her in his arms and caged her in against the counter.
He looked at her lips and then her chest, and she felt her nipples harden, her pussy clench. The men, these men did this to her, and it was scary as anything. She looked at his firm lips, the scruff along his cheeks that made him look sexy, older, and experienced. The knowledge that he ran this town, was the chief of police, and had full control over just about everything impressed her and made her also feel immature, like a child, not worthy of the attention of such a charismatic, experienced man. Yet here she was, feeling her body heat up and wondering what those lips of his would feel like pressed against hers. She closed her eyes tightly and looked away.
He exhaled, his breath caressing her cheeks before he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.
“I don’t know what happened to you, who hurt you so badly that you cringe around me and my brothers, sweetie, but it isn’t going to stop me from keeping you close. From wanting to learn more about you and getting you to trust us fully.”
He pull
ed her away from the counter and ran his palm up and down her back and then over her ass, passing quickly, but he still made a point of doing that. As though he was letting her know she would be his woman. That he would possess her body. Instantly she thought of his brothers possessing her, too, and she tightened up. She wasn’t beautiful enough, perfect enough for men like these. Her body was scarred, a gash under her breast that was deep red and nothing could take it away.
“I want you to go get changed into something warm and dry while we get started. Now get.” He pulled back, giving her ass a tap with his large, warm hand, sending all negative thoughts out of her head in an instant, and filling her with a lust she didn’t even know she could process.
One glance at the others who watched her like hawks and she slowly walked backwards away from them, her moves giving away her apprehension and distrust,
“We aren’t going to follow you and take advantage of you. We’re not those kind of men,” Fox snapped at her, making tears hit her eyes. He had such an effect on her. It was crazy. Her thoughts were crazy. She turned and quickly headed to the bedroom, closing the door and locking it.
She leaned back against it, and tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t know how to handle this. Her emotions, her reaction to these four men was foreign. She was going to be twenty-three next week. She had survived being attacked by not just her boyfriend but also a friend of his who’d wanted to take from her body, too. Surely she could handle having breakfast at three o’clock in the morning with four brothers who said they wanted to be her guardians and protectors. Perhaps they did just want to protect her because they were older and tonight had upset them. Getting caught alone on the side of the road had been pretty scary.
She pushed away from the door and began to get undressed. Suddenly her thoughts went to what to wear. Then to how she couldn’t appear as though she was trying to look good for them. She needed casual and also something that didn’t show off her body or give them opportunity to see her figure. She grabbed a baggy sweatshirt and a baggy pair of jogging pants and then stripped and got them on. She ran to the bathroom, took care of business, and then put some moisturizer on and additional deodorant. She ran a brush through her hair and then pulled it back and up out of the way, not wanting to take time to dry it. She took a deep breath, released it, and looked into the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, her heart racing, and she knew she felt an attraction to these men, but nothing could come of it. She lifted her hoodie and T-shirt and stared at the scar.
Ray had ensured that she would never forget him. That she would always belong to him, her first and only lover, and no one would want a used woman, never mind a scarred one.
The tears filled her eyes, and she wiped them away after pulling her sweatshirt down and trying to be strong. She was good at hiding her emotions and hiding the truth. Look how long she’d kept Ray’s abuse hidden from Brooklyn.
She wiped her eyes and hurried to get back out to the kitchen. She grabbed the doorknob and took one more deep breath before plastering on her fake smile. She could do this. It didn’t mean anything that they were here, and she wouldn’t be foolish enough to think she could ever have a relationship with any man again and definitely not more than one.
* * * *
Damon saw her expression the moment she came back into the room. She smiled softly and started to set up plates and forks for them to eat with and then went about making some iced tea as his brothers talked, making conversation flow as smoothly as possible. She’d changed into baggy clothes that hid her body well, and he knew she’d done it on purpose. She was hiding herself from them in any way she could. It bothered him, but he knew she needed time to adjust. His conversation with his brothers the last two days had brought on different questions, but instead of Fox and Gino thinking that Antonia was too young, they thought they were too rundown and scarred to even attempt a relationship with a woman so beautiful and young. Cesar pointed out that Antonia was a lot like them in more ways than they probably knew from the obvious, a knife wound that required stitches under her breast, to the abuse Cesar figured she might have been a victim of. He hadn’t gotten the full story, but revealing that had Fox and Gino wanting to use their connections to find out.
They had gone round and round on things, and Fox and Gino had left to meet a friend a few towns over for drinks tonight. It had to mean something that they had found Antonia on the side of the road and in need of assistance. Thank God it was them who had found her and not someone else.
“So, when you’re not working, what do you do?” Gino asked her.
“Not too much.” She hurried to add that she’d gone shopping in Keanter with Carina the other day that they had been talking about joining a dojo there.
“To learn martial arts?” Fox asked. He flipped the pancakes over and onto a plate, and Cesar added a tab of butter to each one.
She shyly looked at Cesar, and then she looked down at their hands.
“They have a kickboxing and self-defense class there. It’s supposed to be a good workout.”
Cesar reached over and squeezed her shoulder. She tightened up but looked up at him with such a timid expression Damon’s gut clenched.
“That sounds like a great idea. Did you speak with the owner or meet our cousins Jack and Milton? They run that program. Damon sometimes helps out, too, when the classes are larger,” Cesar told her.
She swallowed hard as she looked at Damon. He gave her a wink.
“You let me know when you’re planning on attending and I can bring both you and Carina there and back,” Damon said to her.
“I haven’t really decided if I’ll do it yet. Besides, you have an important job to do, and I don’t need for anyone to take me there.”
Damon squinted at her. She couldn’t look him in the eyes as she spoke. Her fear and timid personality got to him.
Cesar cleared his throat and placed the platter of pancakes onto the counter. “You’ll go and probably love it. It’s always useful to learn self-defense moves and the kickboxing class is a great workout. Don’t be surprised if you’re sore afterwards. You’d be surprised at the different muscles the techniques hit. Now, how about we start eating.” Cesar gave her a wink.
Damon saw her cheeks blush, and it was that slight indication that she shared an attraction that got him a little more interested in breaking through those walls she was putting up.
“These pancakes came out great, Gino. Usually you’re burning shit,” Damon teased him as he brushed his elbow against Antonia to take a few of the pancakes.
“One fucking time I burn something and I’ll never hear the end of it,” Gino exclaimed, and they chuckled.
Damon gave her arm a nudge, and she looked up at him, worrying her bottom lip.
“He’s okay cooking in a kitchen but on a small hibachi grill while camping? A completely different story,” Damon added, and the others laughed.
“Poor chief of police was embarrassed to have to call the fire department for a fire in the woods his brothers started,” Damon said.
Cesar grinned.
“We did not have to call the fire department,” Gino exclaimed, and even Fox smiled.
“Should have called, but you begged us not to,” Fox added.
They all smirked, making Damon smile—not only because he and his brothers rarely laughed together anymore since they were always working, but also because Antonia smiled, too. Her body language changed the more teasing they did and the more stories they told. Maybe with time she would let down that guard and let them in. Suddenly he really wanted that to happen, too.
* * * *
Antonia was shocked, and she really didn’t know what the hell was happening, but a few minutes later, all four men were gathered around her small kitchen talking about growing up in Repose and some of the secret camping spots along the rivers and streams. They teased one another relentlessly but with love and care, as siblings should. It reminded her about how lucky she was to have Brooklyn in her life and that
Brooklyn had found Repose and settled here.
She couldn’t help but think of the possibilities of putting the past behind her and moving on, yet this tiny sensation in her gut always brought her mind back to Ray and the invisible bond they had, despite what he had done. When would she be strong enough, confident enough to let go and realize she could live a normal life and never think of him again?
She got quiet as they continued to joke, but she took the time to absorb each man and their personalities. She was out of her league big time. Not only because of the significant years between them but her experience, too. Fox and Gino had those dark, on-edge looks even when they partially smiled. Those smiles never reached their eyes as far as she could tell. They must be in their thirties or close to it. They were soldiers, Special Forces, she thought Ledger had mentioned, and that meant they were beyond capable. They were lethal weapons.
That thought should have her running for cover, or trying to push this little gathering along so she could be alone, but instead, she found herself feeling things. Things she shouldn’t feel because she would only be disappointed. Why would men as charismatic, capable, and sexy as these four men want anything to do with a little mouse like her? A woman who was scared of her own shadow, a woman scorned and scarred by love’s betrayal?
She couldn’t hide from the fact that Ray was still out there, and it had been only six months since the incident and attack. She knew him well. He was a planner, a conniving bastard who always got his way, and he had money to use to get anything he wanted. He especially liked getting things that were out of his grasp or when he was told no, that he couldn’t have them. They were material things, but that was how he treated her. Like an object, a thing, and it wasn’t a question of whether or not he would pursue her and want her back. It was a question of when.
* * * *
Gino noticed how quiet Antonia got and how she played with the food on her plate. He was enjoying this time with her and his brothers and noticing her reaction to them. Then she would get this lost look in her eyes and would lower her shoulders and lock down as though she was putting up a wall or perhaps feeling weary in accepting him and his brothers surrounding her. They were definitely surrounding her around the small kitchen island. He was seated right beside her and couldn’t help but to cover her hand with his as she kept them clasped on her lap. She jerked her head up and looked at him with a fear he hadn’t expected.
The Battlefield Series 2: Scars Run Deep (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5
