by Jess Bryant
She’d never been close to any of the other girls when she was in school. She was too shy, too awkward. Her family had been gossip fodder after her father went to prison and that hadn’t helped at all. She’d drawn back, out of the public eye and she’d all but hidden in that trailer with her sick mother during her teenage years. Since her mom passed and Craig came back into her life, hiding had become her survival instinct. She didn’t put herself out there. She didn’t go anywhere but to work and back home.
But somehow, amid everything bad in her life, she’d found two friends. Two smart, beautiful, strong women considered her their friend. And she was more terrified than ever that when they found out the truth of who her family was and what she was hiding, that she would lose them in addition to the man she was falling head over heels in love with.
Remy.
“Oh God…” The words escaped her lips in a sobbing burst and tears clouded her vision.
“Honey, oh, sweetie.” Skylar was there instantly, wrapping her arms around her, again, and holding her close as Rachel cried harder and harder.
She broke. She just… broke. She’d felt like she might shatter all day and this, the two of them, it was too much. All of their concern and friendship and love, all of the things she’d never had in her life, were too much. And she broke.
She cried into Skylar’s shoulder, so overcome that she barely felt it when her friend moved her to sit in the little waiting area at the front of the salon. Jemma followed, sitting on the other side of her and putting a comforting arm around her shoulders as best she could considering Skylar hadn’t released her. The three of them sat together, huddled on the couch, as Rachel cried herself through the worst of it.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Skylar murmured softly.
“I-I’m not.” She hiccupped as she wiped at her face.
“You are. You’re safe with us. You can trust us. We’re your friends.” Jemma squeezed her hand.
“We’re your family.” Skylar corrected with a small smile, “Or at least, I have a feeling we’re gonna be if Remy gets his way.”
“Ooh, that sounds interesting.” Jemma clearly tried to lighten the mood by forcing a laugh.
“Interesting? You should’ve seen the two of them when he brought by lunch earlier. They’re so damn cute I wouldn’t have been surprised if cupids and unicorns came out to dance around them.”
“Th-that’s… ridiculous.” Rachel wiped at her cheeks again.
“No, it was adorable.”
“Adorable? We’re talking about Remington Bomar, right? Mr. Tall, dark and deadly?”
“Oh, stop.” Skylar snorted, “You’ve seen how he looks at her.”
“Yeah.” Jemma’s smiled returned, soft and warm, “I have, and I already added Remy’s plus one to our table for the wedding next week so you’re sitting with us, right where you belong.”
Rachel glanced between them, chewing her bottom lip nervously, “I-I’m sitting at the family table? But I’m not...”
“Yes. You are, Rach.” Skylar cut her off, “I’ve been telling you forever that you’re my sister. You and Jemma and Billie are the closest thing I’ve ever had to sisters.”
“And Remy’s our brother now.” Jemma agreed with a nod, “So you’re family and there’s no use arguing.”
She sighed, “I… I wasn’t even going to come to the wedding.”
“Well, don’t tell me that!” Jemma gasped in faux horror, “You’re coming and that’s final.”
“I don’t have anything to wear.”
“I have something for you.” Skylar held up a hand, “Don’t argue. We’ll talk about it later. You’re going and that’s that but it’s not why we’re here today.”
A long moment passed in silence and Rachel struggled to control her breathing. She was going to Jemma and Cash’s wedding. She’d been invited of course but she’d thought it was a pity invite, because she’d been there when Jemma and Skylar were talking about it. It had never crossed her mind that Jemma actually wanted her there, because they were friends.
“Rach?” Jemma finally broke the silence by squeezing her hand. “You can tell us anything. We mean that. We’re here for you no matter what and if you really don’t want to talk about it, I’ll stop pushing but… it helps to get it out. Trust me.”
She swallowed hard, “I-I don’t even know where to start.”
“Wherever you want.”
“I’ve never had anyone to talk to before, I don’t…”
“Let’s start with something easy then, who are you scared of?” Jemma asked.
“Craig.”
“Your brother.”
“Half-brother.” She corrected, shocked to hear his name coming from her lips so easily.
“He’s a lot older than you, right?” Skylar supplied.
“Eleven years.”
“Wow, so you two didn’t grow up together?”
“No. He came around for holidays but, I never saw much of him until my mom died. I was sixteen and he was my only relative not incarcerated so…”
“He was supposed to look out for you. Take care of you. But he didn’t, did he?”
The tears welled again at the knowing softness in Jemma’s voice, “No.”
“He hurts you?”
“S-s-sometimes.” A silent tear overflowed and trailed down her cheek, “When he’s drunk or high, s-s-sometimes even when he’s not, he gets mad and he-he smacks me around.”
Skylar hissed in a breath, “I’ve never seen any bruises, Rach and I look for them. After everything with Jemma, I look. Why haven’t I seen them?”
Her bottom lip trembled, “Because he puts them where you can’t see. My ribs, mostly, or I wear long sleeves.”
“And your sick days.” Jemma shot Skylar a look, “You take sick days when they would be visible.”
She nodded.
Of course Jemma would know that, she hugged herself. The other woman had probably done the same thing. There was no hiding it. Not now. Her brother hit her. He hurt her. He abused her. And he had for years.
She struggled to breathe in and out and true to their word, neither woman pushed her to continue the story. They didn’t ask her more questions. They simply held her close, offering comfort and friendship. That, more than anything else, made her cry harder because there was so much more she needed to say to them, to her friends, but she couldn’t find the words.
She had no idea how long they sat there, huddled together. The tears began to wane after a while but since she didn’t struggle away from them, Jemma and Skylar didn’t let her go. She was just starting to wonder if the redhead was nearing her twenty minute time limit when the bell over the door rang.
“Ford, I told you to wait out…” Jemma looked up and gasped.
“Well, well, tell me if you’ve heard this one… a blonde, a brunette and a redhead walk into a bar…”
The familiar drawl sent a shiver of fear coursing down her spine and Rachel froze. She couldn’t look up, couldn’t move, could barely even breathe. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that she was hallucinating, that this was some sort of nightmare, but when her friends closed ranks, rising and pushing her behind them, she knew that she wasn’t dreaming.
Her brother had come for her.
“Get out.” Skylar spoke first, her voice full of venom.
Craig chuckled, “Now, now, is that any way to treat a customer?”
“You’re not a customer and you’re not welcome here. You need to leave. Now.”
“Sure, I’ll be going, just as soon as I get what I came for.” Craig’s boots thudded across the floor, coming closer instead of away, “That’s my sister and I need to talk to her.”
She cringed backwards and shook her head violently. No. She couldn’t talk to him. She couldn’t go with him. She couldn’t even be near him. But she couldn’t make her mouth open to say the words, to stand up for herself. She was frozen with fear and even when she knew it wasn’t fair to leave it to her friends to de
fend her, to put them between her and her dangerous brother, she couldn’t move to do anything else.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you.” Jemma spoke up.
Craig snorted, “What the fuck is with you Bomars? What makes you think you have the right to interfere in family issues?”
“Rachel’s our family now. That makes it our issue.”
“The hell it does. Some trashy Bomar boy claiming her don’t make her one of you. She’s my blood.” He growled, “You hear that Ray-Ray. You’re my goddamned family, you belong to me, and you better straighten up and get your ass over here before you make me mad.”
“You’re not going to talk to her like that in front of me.” Skylar hissed. “Get out.”
“Who’s gonna make me? Some pregnant broad and a Bomar whore? I may let your men get away with thinking they’re high and mighty but they ain’t here now are they?”
Rachel could hear the threat in his voice. She knew what it meant. He’d threatened that she was going to make him mad but he was already mad. She didn’t need to force her eyes open to know that his fists were balled into deadly weapons and she cringed thinking about her friends being on the end of his rage.
“Those men you’re so scared of are right next door. One yell from me and they’ll come running.” Skylar threatened right back.
“Look.” Craig sounded like he was gritting his teeth, his patience about to snap, “I didn’t come here for trouble. I came for my sister. She needs to come home.”
“She is home.”
The bell over the door dinged again and Rachel couldn’t help but look. She had to know if Craig had brought reinforcements. As paralyzed as she was, she would have to do something, find her voice or her legs or just agree to go with him, whatever she had to do, if he truly meant to hurt Skylar or Jemma. But to her utter relief, it wasn’t Craig’s friends coming through the door.
It was more Bomars.
Ford barreled through the door, all tattoos and threatening muscles. Jemma seemed to almost sag with relief but she held herself up. The bearded Bomar quickly evaluated the standoff and his eyes narrowed on the other man in the room.
“There a problem here?”
“Nah. No problem.” Craig instantly took a step back from the women.
“Kind of looks like there might be.” Ford focused on Jemma, “You girls okay?”
“Yeah, just get him out of here.”
Ford scowled, “You heard the woman, Bug. Beat it.”
Craig glared at him and Rachel cringed at the nickname she knew her brother hated almost as much as she hated Ray-Ray. He’d gotten it when he was a kid, because his eyes were too big for his face. He’d grown into them but she knew he still hated them, hated that they were so feminine with their roundness and thick lashes. She supposed she should just be happy nobody had ever called her that.
“I’m gonna take my sister home.” Craig nodded, “Come on Ray-Ray.”
She shivered and cringed back when he tried to reach for her.
“I don’t think she’s going anywhere with you. Not today.” Ford stepped further into the room, closing the distance between them quickly with his long strides, “Now, are you gonna leave without her or are we going to have a real problem here?”
Craig glared at her for a long moment and then seemed to decide something, his lips twitched slightly as he backed away, “No need to make this a fight. She’ll come home herself eventually. Won’t you Ray-Ray? You still know who your real family is.”
With that, her brother turned and walked out of the salon and Rachel sagged in defeat. Craig hadn’t come to get her out of some misplaced worry. His only worry had been that she knew he was a rat and would tell someone but this scene had proven that she either didn’t know his secret or if she did that she hadn’t told the Bomars yet. If she had, they would have been all over him just now. Instead, Ford had given him the option of leaving peacefully under his own power which meant the Bomars didn’t know he was their traitor. Even being forced to leave without her, she had a feeling Craig considered this little show a victory.
She curled into herself, unsure whether she had bought herself some more time or signed her death warrant.
“What the fuck is going on?” Ford demanded as soon as the door shut behind Craig. “She’s shaking like a goddamned leaf. Did he hurt her? I swear to God if he…”
“He didn’t touch her.” Skylar frowned as she bent down towards her, “Rach, honey, he didn’t hurt you. He can’t hurt you ever again. You’re safe.”
That wasn’t true but Rachel couldn’t find her voice so she just shook her head. She curled into a ball and tucked her face against her knees. She needed to hide. She needed for all of this to not be real.
“Damnit I leave for ten minutes and you girls somehow get yourselves into trouble.” Ford was cursing somewhere nearby, “Hey, look at me? You’re okay. Rachel, look at me.”
She was so surprised he knew her name that she turned her head and winced when she realized he was right in her face. All she could see were a set of sea-glass blue-green eyes and a thick beard that camouflaged what was probably a very strong jawline. There was concern in those beautifully colored eyes and she felt tears well in her own all over again.
They were worried about her. All of them. Her friends. The Bomars.
“Shit.” Ford cursed again, “Sky, go get Remy. Now. He’s the only one gonna get through to her.”
She heard footsteps and the door and squeezed her eyes shut. Remy. Skylar was going to get Remy. Everything was going to be okay. Remy would make it okay. She was sure of it. When the door dinged again less than a minute later, she knew he was there by the sheer sound of the heavy, rushed footsteps.
“Jesus, what the hell happened?” Remy growled and then, softer, “Rach? Baby? What’s going on?”
Her entire body shuddered when she felt those warm, familiar hands on her. She forced her eyes open and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him. Remy. Her Remy. Dark, worried blue eyes and a grim set to his soft mouth. She reached for him, uncertain how she could suddenly move her limbs when she’d been locked up only moments before. He was right there when she wrapped her arms around his neck, hauling her up against his chest. He cradled her close and she buried her face in his broad chest the way she’d wanted to do from the first moment she met him.
“Craig was here.” She heard Skylar explain from somewhere that sounded far away.
“What the fuck did he want?” Another male voice that must have been Colt asked.
“Her. He wanted her. He was very insistent that she go with him right now.” Jemma answered.
“What? Why? What’s Bug want with Rachel?” It was Bentley that spoke this time.
Rachel cringed, trying to bury herself deeper against Remy to escape this. There were too many of them. Too many people worried about her. Too many people that cared. She hadn’t had anyone a day ago and now she had all of these intense, dangerous people worried about her.
And she was lying to them.
She shuddered and a sob escaped her. Remy shifted her in his arms, getting a better grip on her. He stood easily, as if she didn’t weigh a thing, and she realized this was the second time she’d fallen apart on him in twenty-four hours. The second time he’d had to carry her because she couldn’t carry herself. And it wasn’t fair, not to him, not to any of them.
“Let’s go home baby.” Remy kissed the top of her head and then spoke louder, to everyone else, “I’m taking her home. We’ll figure everything else out later. Right now, she’s my priority and she needs to be somewhere she feels safe. That’s with me and we’re going.”
Rachel clung to him as he carried her out of the salon. She was fully aware that the others were talking about her as they left. Just like she was fully aware that when they did get home, she wouldn’t be able to escape Remy’s questions forever. Last night, she’d fallen asleep before he could convince her to tell him everything. She had a feeling that wasn’t going to be an option thi
s time and honestly, she had no idea what she was going to say to him so she kept quiet.
Chapter Eight
Remy hated this. Hated that he had no idea what to say. Hated that he didn’t know what to do to make it better for her, to make it all stop. He had no clue what he could do to take her fear away, to reassure her that she was safe and that nobody would ever be able to hurt her again because he had no idea how she had been hurt in the first place.
He shot a glance at the woman he loved as she sat curled and shivering in the passenger seat of his car. She’d let go of him as soon as he deposited her into the seat earlier. She’d curled into a ball, her back to him and he couldn’t tell if she was staring out the window in silence or if she had her eyes squeezed shut to keep the tears at bay. He wanted, more than anything, to reach out and touch her, to caress her, to hold her hand and tell her that everything was going to be okay but since he wasn’t sure how she would react to his touch, he didn’t.
As the Challenger bounced over the rough terrain that led out to his trailer in the woods, he grit his teeth. Twice. They’d done this twice in less than twenty-four hours. He’d had to carry her out of a place full of his family members because she was shivering and shaking, paralyzed with fear. It was the second time he’d had to watch her fall apart and he hated that she wouldn’t tell him how to keep it from happening a third time.
He white-knuckled the steering wheel as he pulled to a stop in front of the trailer. He’d never been so scared in his life as the moment Skylar came bursting into Fine Lines. He’d beaten even Colt to his feet and when the pretty blond had looked at him, he’d felt his blood run cold.
She’d only said one word, Rachel, but he’d already been moving.
