Someone jostled her and she cried out as her ankle gave way beneath her and she tumbled to the ground. She caught herself on her good hand, but it scraped nastily against the pavement and her ankle felt like red-hot pokers were being pressed into the bone.
“Lady, you okay? Sorry.”
A hand reached out to help her, and she took it, worried she wouldn’t get up on her own. The world spun and she thought she might vomit. “I’m fine.”
She shuffled away, her hand now throbbing along with her arm and ankle. Shoot. Maybe she should have waited until she’d had her evening meds. Crossing the street, she saw a park ahead of her. Not the safest place to be when it was getting dark, but at least she might be able to sit for a minute and think.
A playground drew her attention and she managed to make it to the swing before collapsing on it. This was hopeless. She could barely walk. Her entire body ached. She’d thought she would be stronger than this after a few night’s sleep, but she realized now that she was a long way away from recovery.
She wiped at her tears. She was so tired. She didn’t want to make any more decisions.
Not when she thought she’d just made the worst one possible.
* * *
“She’s gone,” Aleki said frantically, stepping into the room and throwing a pizza box on the coffee table.
“I knew it,” Wolfe said calmly from where he sat on the sofa. “I knew she’d run.”
“Well, you could have let the rest of us know.”
“She’s got a shit poker face.”
He continued to do something on his phone. “Well, don’t just sit there playing Candy Crush, fucker. Come help me find her! She can’t be out there on her own. She’s not well enough. She has no money. It’s getting dark.”
“I’m not playing Candy Crush.”
“Wolfe, stop fucking around. We need to find her. Can you track her using her locket?”
“Of course I can. I’m doing it right now.”
Caleb raced into the room, phone in hand. “What the fuck? She’s missing? How?”
“No time. Wolfe is tracking her. Let’s go.”
They swiftly moved towards the stairs
“If you knew she’d run, why didn’t you tell us?” Aleki asked as they took the stairs down.
“I wanted to see what she’d do. Don’t worry, she’s perfectly safe. I have eyes on her,” Wolfe told them as they reached the lobby.
“What? Who?” Caleb asked.
“Micah is following her.”
“Fuck, why didn’t you tell us?” Aleki snapped.
“You should trust me to take care of her,” Wolfe stated.
Aleki gaped at him.
Caleb cleared his throat. “Wolfe, you haven’t always had the best track record for caring for others.”
“I know that she’s important to you both. Wait,” Wolfe said as they headed towards the door.
“What?” Aleki snapped.
“Are you sure you both want to get her back?” Wolfe asked them.
“Of course we do,” Caleb said.
“Why?” Wolfe asked. “We still can’t trust her. She left again and it’s unacceptable.”
“We have to find her, Wolfe,” Aleki told him.
Aleki didn’t want to feel anything for her. Didn’t want to be hurt by her again. But he also couldn’t leave her out there, alone and in pain.
“Fine,” Wolfe replied. “But I just hope the two of you know what you’re doing.”
Nope. He had no fucking clue.
* * *
They stood in the park, watching her. Wolfe moved his gaze around their surroundings, keeping watch for any danger.
“Poor thing looks freaking miserable and it’s not exactly safe out here,” Aleki said.
Wolfe bristled with indignation. “She was never at risk.”
“Where is Micah?” Aleki asked, glancing around.
“Hidden, so she didn’t see him.”
“He always was a sneaky bastard,” Caleb commented.
“He should be. He was taught by the best,” Wolfe replied.
“You need to stop being so modest, man,” Aleki drawled.
“I’m never modest.”
“We know,” Caleb said dryly, watching her as she sat on the swing.
“Don’t understand the point of being modest. Seems like a lie to me. If you’re good at something, you should just embrace it. You shouldn’t hide it.”
“We need to get her back to the suite. She’s got to be exhausted,” Aleki said. “And I hate to think what she’s done to her ankle walking here on it.”
“She didn’t get far.” Wolfe looked back at the exhausted girl sitting on the swing. Her shoulders were slumped, her eyes down. She had no idea that any of them were standing there.
Anger filled him at the thought of how vulnerable she was. If Micah wasn’t here, if they weren’t tracking her, who knows what could have happened to her.
Anything.
Someone should be watching this girl. Someone should be taking care of her. Someone should ensure she was never alone. Particularly since it was obvious that she had zero instincts when it came to searching out danger.
Or she would have sensed him.
But Wolfe wasn’t a danger to her. He’d tried to become indifferent to her over time. Turns out, he’d just pushed everything deep. Now that numbness was fading.
Turns out that she hadn’t been happy and carefree all these years. She’d been miserable. He understood that feeling.
She held the stuffed pig in one hand. Her good arm was wrapped around the chain on the swing and she had her thumb in her mouth, sucking it.
She looked the picture of innocence. Sweetness.
What the fuck did he know about sweetness? Nothing. That’s why he had Caleb and Aleki. To even out his hard edges. They knew how to look after someone emotionally as well as physically.
Fuck. Was he gonna have to learn how to hug? This shit was gonna be harder than he thought.
“I don’t cuddle.”
“What, man?” Aleki asked, looking at him weirdly. “Why are you wanting a cuddle?”
“I’m not. I’m saying I don’t cuddle.”
“Okay, that’s interesting,” Caleb said. “But maybe we can stay on topic. Let’s do this softly. She’s already had a hard time of it. No need to scare her or go all hard-ass on her.” He sent a look to Wolfe.
What?
Caleb just shook his head and took off towards the swings. Aleki followed him, while Wolfe kept watch over their back. Like always.
* * *
Vivi heard them approach. She guessed they weren’t trying to be quiet.
She didn’t glance up. To be honest, she just didn’t have the energy to fight them. She didn’t have the energy for anything.
A pair of clean, newly polished black shoes filled her vision. Caleb.
Aleki’s shoes were always scuffed. He wouldn’t be caught dead in anything that needed polishing. And Wolfe preferred shit-kicker boots. The same shit-kicker boots, he’d just buy a new pair when the old ones wore out.
“I’d offer to push you, but you don’t look like you have the strength to hold on,” Caleb said.
She gave a small snort of agreement. She braced herself, waiting for his anger.
“Come here,” he said in a gentle voice.
He drew her thumb from her mouth, and she let out a small moan of embarrassment. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been sucking on it.
“Ouch. What did your poor thumb ever do to you?” Caleb asked her.
She glanced down at her thumb, wincing as she saw the tooth marks on it. She seemed to have had a field day gnawing on it.
Caleb ran his thumb over hers. “Seems someone might need something else to suck on.”
She stared up at him with wide eyes. Did he mean . . .
Caleb grinned. “I didn’t mean that.” He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I like where your mind went though, dirty girl.” He pulled back and s
lipped her arm around the chain so both hands rested in her lap. Aleki sat on the swing next to them while Wolfe stood a few feet away, his gaze moving over their surroundings. Always on alert.
Always making her feel safe.
“How do you keep finding me?” she asked, not really expecting a reply since they hadn’t given her one any other time she’d asked.
“GPS tracker in your locket,” Wolfe replied. “I put it in years ago. Although I replaced that one with a newer one while you were asleep. Better technology now.”
Holy shit. That wasn’t what she expected. “Why?” She stared up at him.
He just shrugged. “You were important to Aleki.”
She winced. Was.
But then, didn’t he just say that he’d replaced it? Why would he do that?
“Here, Vivi.” She looked down to see Caleb offering her another pack of black jelly beans.
“I’m not supposed to take candy from strangers,” she said in a shy voice. Then she winced. What an idiotic thing to say.
“Damn right you shouldn’t,” Aleki agreed.
“Lucky we’re not strangers.” Caleb opened the pack and handed her one.
“She’ll rot her teeth eating those,” Wolfe complained.
“A little candy never hurt,” Caleb countered.
She took the jelly bean and slid it into her mouth. Yum.
Suddenly, she was in Caleb’s arms and he sat on the swing with her on his lap. She stiffened and looked up at the chains holding the swing to the pole in concern.
“Relax,” he told her. “If it can take Aleki’s weight, it can take ours.”
“I don’t weigh that much more than you, asshole,” Aleki said as he started to swing back and forth.
“You’d weigh less if you laid off the pizza,” Caleb told him.
From what she could see there wasn’t an inch of fat on Aleki. Sure, he was built thick. But it was all muscle.
“Hey, takes a lot to fuel this big, beautiful body. We’re not all skinny white dudes.”
Her gaze shot up to Caleb. The lights from the street meant she could kind of make out his expression. She wouldn’t exactly call Caleb skinny. He was slimmer than Aleki, but most people were. Aleki was actually the shortest of the three, but he was by far the most muscular.
She could feel how hard Caleb was underneath her. And she wasn’t talking about his cock.
Although . . .
She wiggled around slightly. “I wouldn’t be doing that, baby.” He grabbed her hips and she froze. “He likes having your ass resting against him just a bit too much.”
He? Meaning his cock?
“Yeah, we don’t want Caleb’s little white dude coming to the party early,” Aleki commented.
“Hey, he’s not little and he’s never early,” Caleb countered. “Asshole.”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“What have I told you about apologizing?” he countered. “I can see I’m going to have to watch you closely. Now hold on to me.”
Before she could ask why, he started to rock gently. She didn’t really have to hold on, he had his arm around her, keeping her secure. She sighed gently and closed her eyes.
Urgh. Maybe that wasn’t a good idea.
She opened them with a gasp. “Stop!”
He immediately ceased the rocking. “What is it?”
“Sick.”
Suddenly, Wolfe was there, taking her from Caleb. He quickly carried her away from the swing set then set her gently down, bending her over with his arm a steel band under her breasts, holding her up as she vomited into the bushes.
Yuck. She hated vomiting.
Tears ran down her cheeks, mixing with snot.
So pretty, Genevieve.
“Easy, easy.” Aleki was on the other side of her, rubbing her back.
“Sorry. Sorry.”
“Hush,” Caleb growled from behind her. “That was entirely my fault. I should have known you’d feel ill and dizzy from the movement.”
“Yes,” Wolfe growled. “You should have.”
“Give her back to me,” Caleb told Aleki. “I’ll carry her back to the clinic.”
“I have her,” Aleki said quietly, he pulled her up, cradling her against his wide chest. His scent hit her. Sandalwood and sugar.
She sniffled, wishing she had something to wipe her face. And a drink. God, she hoped he couldn’t smell her vomit-breath.
Urgh. This was all so embarrassing.
“Wipe your face on my T-shirt,” Aleki told her.
“Ick. No, I’m not doing that.”
Aleki sighed. “Do you have to fight us on everything?”
“I don’t fight you on everything.” Where did he get that idea?
“Really? Do you think you’ve been cooperative up until now? You won’t tell us what’s going on. You’re barely eating or drinking. You were hooked up to an IV only a few hours ago. What were you gonna do with that port anyway?” Aleki asked.
She touched the port in her hand with a grimace. “Um, likely leave it in.”
“Good plan,” Wolfe said sardonically. “When it got infected, you could end up back in the hospital and on another dose of antibiotics.”
She glared at him.
“Here.” Caleb produced a handkerchief. Trust him to have one. He gently wiped her cheeks. “Blow.”
Embarrassed, she reached for the hanky.
“Uh-uh, you’re gonna have to learn how to obey, jelly bean,” Caleb growled. “I didn’t say hold it. I said blow.”
All of them were silent, watching. Shit. She blew. He wiped. “And again.” She blew. Another wipe and she was ready for death. Was there anything more embarrassing than having a hot guy blow your nose for you?
Oh yeah, having two hot guys watch.
Don’t be silly, Vivi. There’re more embarrassing things. You could be naked. Or you could have peed your pants.
Oh wait, she’d already done that.
“You don’t always have to fight, Vivi,” Aleki told her. “Sometimes it’s okay just to give in and let someone else be in charge.”
Caleb ran his hand over her hair. “You don’t have to be strong all the time. It doesn’t make you weak to need help or to not make all the decisions or to trust someone else to look after you.”
“I’m so used to doing it all myself.”
“Now you have us,” Caleb said confidently. “You don’t have to.”
If only she really did have them. “You’re not angry I took off?”
“It’s been eight years and trust won’t be rebuilt quickly,” Caleb told her. “But if you open up and let us in, I promise that we will look after you.”
God, she wanted that so badly. To tell them everything. To not carry it all herself. To have them close again. It was an ache that had never gone away.
“How about we talk about this back at the hospital,” Aleki suggested. “She’s exhausted and she needs to be checked out by the doctor.”
11
By the time they got back to the building that housed the private hospital, she was squirming in Aleki’s arms.
“Stay still,” he ordered.
“You shouldn’t carry me so far. I can walk and what about your back?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my back. And you weigh hardly anything. You need to start eating more.”
“I’ll get her some dinner,” Wolfe said as they stepped into the elevator.
“And you shouldn’t be walking on that foot,” Caleb told her. “I can’t believe you walked two blocks on it and in flip flops.”
“I couldn’t get a shoe onto it. And I didn’t know where they were anyway.”
Jesus. She really had to go. She pressed her thighs together. She’d always had the tiniest bladder.
“I threw them out,” Wolfe told her.
“What? Damn it, they were the only pair of shoes I had other than these.” She waved her hand at her flip flops.
“They were covered in mud and other substances I don’t
want to get into,” Wolfe told her with a grimace. “I’ll buy you more.”
She ground her teeth together.
“Hey, don’t do that.” Caleb cupped the side of her face, peering down at her worriedly. “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“No. Yes.”
“Well, which is it?” Wolfe asked.
“It’s nothing,” she told them.
“What talk did we just have?” Aleki growled at her. “About letting other people help you and opening up?”
“I just really have to use the bathroom,” she muttered. “Okay? It’s not that big of a deal. But I’ve already sucked my thumb, vomited, and had snot running down my face in front of you all. I’m kind of at my limit for embarrassing shit.”
Not to mention she was carrying around a toy pig.
She bet that Caleb’s little white dude had crawled back into his shell.
“Can we stop calling my cock a little white dude?” Caleb moaned as they stepped out of the elevator.
Whoops. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
Aleki strode into her room and headed straight to the bathroom. “You guys sort out food and the doc, I’ll get her settled.”
He shut the door behind them, not giving Caleb and Wolfe any choice but to do as he’d ordered. She raised her eyebrows at him
He grinned back. “What? They need a bit of their own back every once in a while. Bossy bastards.”
He set her down but held onto her hips as she kept all her weight on her good foot. She tried to move towards the toilet but he held her still. “Stay where you are.”
“But I really gots to pee.”
Okay, why did her voice sound so childlike? She hugged Piggles tight, feeling a bit uncertain.
“I know. I’m going to help you. Hold onto me and keep your weight on your good foot.”
“Not this again,” she groaned. “I can go to the toilet on my own, Aleki.”
“Again?” he drawled. “Someone else has been helping you pee?”
Ruled by her Daddies Page 9
