by Dace Everan
Tank shook his head. “She can do that just fine from here,” he grumbled, grip tightening. He didn’t like talking about Dania like this. If they were going to be having a life-decision discussion about her, she should be here! Not them just willy-nilly talking like they actually had a choice in what she did!
Link sighed, shifting till he was half laid out, feet resting on the coffee table. No way was he fighting with Tank on a discussion they would go around in circles on. They both loved Dania too much to defend her on freedoms and choices when it came to them. They both wanted her for themselves and in the end their opinion mattered little. It would be Dania to make the choice to be with them.
“She’s right, she doesn’t need a babysitter. She’s a big girl. If we go she’s on her own,” Link declared after a few minutes.
Tank glanced at him. Was that defeat he heard in his lover’s voice? Was he seriously considering leaving Dania here all alone? He wasn’t sure if he could last a whole weekend away from Tiny.
“Fine,” he grumbled.
* * * *
Weeks went by and things seemed to return to normal in the household. Normal, typical teasing, Tank and Link no longer babying her like they had done before their little trip to the fair. Shit, they even went out on weekends and left her alone to her own endeavours. She hated weekends. Alone and nothing to do, so used to having them there to tease.
She was surprised on no particular Saturday when the doorbell rang. She stared at the handsome man. It was the tattoo dude looking for an artist for his friend a few months back.
“Sorry, I should’ve called. You probably don’t remember me.”
Dania shook her head, holding her hand out. “No, tattoo surfer. Did you get Dan?”
He smiled, shaking his head. “No, I went to get you to do it, but the lady at the front desk said you weren’t taking any clients.”
Dania rolled her eyes. “No, she has a hate on for me right now.” She glanced past him. “Wanna come in?”
He smiled, nodding and taking her hand. “Keenan.” He offered his name.
Dania giggled. “Shit, ditzy girl inviting strange men into the house without their names, Dania by the way.”
Keenan chuckled. “Yeah I heard. I talked to Dan and he said if I wanted you to do it to set it up and you could do it at his shop.”
Dania nodded. “Yeah was gonna go talk to him anyway. You’ll have to leave your name and number with me so I can get back to you.”
Keenan nodded, removing his shoes and following her though the rather large house. Not what he had expected when he saw this tiny woman. She led him to an immaculate kitchen and large living area. He glanced out the back windows and was awed by the pool and neatly taken care of backyard. “Roommates?” he asked.
Dania nodded. “Drink?” she asked, not offering any information on her roomies.
Keenan nodded. “Yeah, I was hoping you would have a portfolio and maybe we could have a look?” He crossed back to her, looking over his options.
He noted she had a beer and opted for one of those. He wasn’t a big drinker, but the little thing made him a tad bit nervous.
“Yeah just have a seat and I’ll go get my books,” she shared.
When she returned the glass doors to the back deck were open and she could see him looking over the backyard. She flicked on the lights for the patio and joined him.
“Nice place.”
Dania nodded. “Tank and Link worked hard for the place,” she replied, motioning for him to sit and opening her portfolio. “Sorry, you have me in the zone, love looking at my own work.”
Keenan sat next to her. “Tank and Link?” he asked, curious, his gaze on the large album in front of her.
Dania smiled. “My roommates, they own the place,” she shared, glancing into the house. “They should be home soon? Who knows?” She hoped she didn’t sound too disappointed. She hadn’t ever felt this kind of loneliness since she moved in with them. Not to have them here hurt more than them suggesting Hill babysit her.
Keenan glanced at the woman. Her hair was now green and blue with slivers of red. He reached out and touched it.
Dania looked at him, eyes wide.
“Sorry, I’ve seen women dye their hair, but to this extent?” He shook his head in awe. The woman was gorgeous. Impish and it turned him on. Even the punk hair turned him on and normally he’d want bleach blonde.
Dania grinned. “Yeah, costs a pretty penny to get this much done.”
Keenan smiled. “What color originally? I see your eyebrows are a light brown, but that could mean a dirty blonde or light brown?”
Dania smiled. “Dirty blonde roots, the ends are almost a bleach blonde,” she shared. Shit, only Tank and Link knew that.
Keenan grinned looking at her work. “I was looking for a pinup… you know on a bomb, blonde, busty, and full out sexuality.”
Dania sighed, eyes twinkling with love. “Shit, you have stolen my heart. I love pinups! I have one too,” she shared flipping through her book to the pinups she had done.
* * * *
Tank looked at the men’s shoes sitting in their doorway, glancing at Link. Link offered a shrug. Shit, Dania brought a dude home? Maybe it was Dan. She had mentioned calling him and talking about applying at his shop. Her workload had dropped in half since the fair, and she was not only losing out on money but opportunity.
Tank followed up behind Link as he went for the kitchen, both surprised when they were welcomed by dark. “Out back maybe…?” Tank mumbled at the soft laughter and husky voice.
Keenan straightened out at the sight of the two very large men. Dania turned, smile lighting her face. “Link and Tank!” she gushed. She turned to Keenan, eyes sparkling and ready to introduce them.
He grinned. “Let me guess, they were out saving the world as Conan and the Hulk?” he murmured.
Tank chuckled. “Ah, the man’s smart. He knows she likes the heroes,” he hummed, offering a hand. “Tank.” he declared gruffly.
“Keenan.” He shook and offered a hand to Link. “Dania was just telling stories about you guys,” he shared.
Dania blushed. Shit, they were going to think she was lame. Who told stories about their roommates when a hot guy sat in front of them, her apparently.
Link settled across from the two cozied up on the other side of the table. Jealousy struck him and if Dania was going to be getting cozier than she already was with this man, he needed to know who this man was. “Wanna grab me a beer, babes?” he asked Tank, not taking his eyes off Keenan.
Tank nodded. “I’m on it. Another, Keenan?”
Keenan shook his head. “Driving, no thanks,” he offered.
“Pop?”
Keenan nodded. “That I could do, I was just telling Dania about my last tattoo experience.”
Link glanced at Dania. She looked rather comfortable with the man. She hadn’t mentioned meeting anyone. That jealousy reared its ugly face again. “Oh, what happened?” he asked as Tank handed him his beer and placed a pop in front of Keenan.
Keenan tugged up his sleeve and showed off his muscled bicep. Whatever the hell it was it sort of resembled a gimped-out warrior.
Tank whistled. “Ah, shit, Dania can fix that. Just a thought, maybe just take your needs to Dania,” he offered. He could see Dania cringe inwardly at the failure of a tattoo on the guy’s arm. He smiled to himself, another thing to love about her. She took such pride in tattoos. If she could, she would carry her tools with her everywhere and fix up all the wrongdoings to others. This horrible tattoo on this guy’s arm needed a definite fixing and he was sure Dania would see to it.
Keenan nodded. “Yeah tried to, but I have to wait till she gets a hold of Dan.” The three looked pretty cozy. He was sure these two hulking men knew the goings-on of her work and her acquaintances. Crap, he was brand new to her and he felt as though he had known her forever.
Tank glanced at Dania. “Problems at work?” he asked.
Dania shrugged. “Keela’s
still mad at me, nothing major. I was going to go talk to Dan and see if I could get on there. I think Mel is leaving for maternity.” She shrugged. She hadn’t wanted to worry him and Tank about her issues.
Tank grunted. “Should arrest that bitch,” he mumbled. Link caressed his lovers’ thick arm, a reassuring movement to calm.
Keenan watched the move and was taken aback. Shit, when Link had called the hulk of a man “babes” he hadn’t been hearing it wrong. “You two are lovers?” he asked, cheeks tinting at the blunt question.
Link smiled. He honestly loved this part. Meeting new people and the way they pussyfooted about asking or trying to approach it. Although he wasn’t a fan of the ones who didn’t ask and just stared, that was a tad bit annoying.
Tank chuckled. “You’re not a homophobe, are you?”
Keenan shook his head. “My sister has a girlfriend… my best friend just went out of state and got married to his partner. It was the best wedding I ever attended. Cool that we got to drink and not have to wear suits. It was a cowboy theme. Fun,” he assured.
Link smiled. He had thought of doing the same with Tank, but both were happy with what they had. A piece of paper stating their marital bliss wouldn’t change anything, not for them. They knew where they belonged in this life and it was right where they were. He furrowed his brow, though the sweet little woman sitting across them definitely put a dimple in the picture. A dimple that needed ironing out and made into a more permanent part of the bigger picture. He reprimanded himself for having the thoughts.
Dania giggled. “Hey, if you guys ever get married can we do a heroes theme? Shit, I can paint Tank green and we’ll make you a bit darker, Link.”
Tank guffawed. “Nope, uniforms and tuxes, Tiny,” he declared.
Dania smiled. She should have known he would wear his uniform.
Chapter Eight
Dania closed the front door and released a calming breath. Shit, Keenan was his name and she was going to get to tattoo him! Her heart soared. Oh, shit’s sake, hottie guy actually showed up at her home and talked to her and wanted her not only to do a pinup, but to fix the atrocity on his arm. She nearly skipped back out onto the deck.
Tank and Link watched her as she gathered her portfolio, picked up the empties, and smiled sweetly at them before saying goodnight and disappearing back into the house.
Tank let out a long breath, head falling back. “So… what, she has a boyfriend,” he hummed out loud.
Link snorted. “He’s not a boyfriend and she’s enamored. It happens, Tank, you know that.” He friggen hoped deep down it was nothing more than being enamored. Fuck, the thought of Dania with someone else hurt. He wanted her!
Tank harrumphed. “She didn’t once look at us. Her total attention was on him. See the way she looked in his eyes. At the way she looked at him,” he stated. Shit, she near ate the man up with her eyes. Jealousy seared him.
Link grunted as if he needed to be reminded. It broke his friggen heart. The smile of joy, the intensity of her as she gloated about her work, the way her little hands drifted over his bicep to get the feel of his arm, every contour, the indents around his muscles.
His teeth clenched. She should be touching them like that! He unclenched and took a swig of his beer. “Going to bed,” he grumbled.
Tank nodded. He knew the frustration his man was feeling. Shit, he was feeling the same frustrations. This needed to happen though, right? Dania needed to meet others, to have her own thing going on, even if it meant not including them.
“Be up in a second, just going to finish this and chill,” he called softly to Link’s broad back.
* * * *
Dania listened in the darkness, brow furrowing. She was sure she heard something? She sat up, cocking her head to get a better listen. Wasn’t Link and Tank? Couldn’t be? She slipped from the bed and crossed her room and listened at the door before opening it a crack.
She peeked down the hall toward the stairs then the other way to Link and Tank’s room. She stepped out and headed toward the stairs listening. Nothing. She harrumphed. She was sure she heard something. She went back down the hall past her room and listened at Link and Tank’s room, peeking in. Both slept soundly, Link spread out and Tank’s big arm strung across Link’s naked chest.
She leaned up against the door frame a warm smile framing her lips. When she had slept in here she had been wedged between them in a cozy little nook. Her insides warmed at the thought. Her heart sank. She missed lying there between those two men.
She shook herself from the stupor of watching them and looked back down the hall. Shit, she must have been dreaming to have thought she had heard something.
She returned to her room and stopped at the cold chill that crept over her. She licked her lips and glanced around the dark room, noting the window curtain waving in the breeze. What the fuck, she was sure she had closed her window before bed. Dread filled her as she flicked on her light and a piercing scream tore from her lips.
Link darted from his bed at the sound of the unfamiliar scream. What in the hell was happening? It was Dania! Dania was in trouble! His heart hammered in his chest as he pulled his sweats on and darted to the door. Tank close on his heels, shoving passed him as he spotted Dania standing in the doorway to her room, frozen, her face pale and hands shaking in front of her.
Both crowded Dania as she sunk to her knees in her doorway, hand muffling her screams.
Tank growled at the sight before him. His stomach rolled at the bloody mess that was her bed. “Take her downstairs,” he ordered, backtracking to his room, grabbing his work cell, and dialing for back up.
Dania hugged herself around Link as he lifted her up and took her away. The image of the bloody mess on her bed first and foremost in her brain. She could hear Tank’s heavy footsteps as he scoured her room, his thick voice as he talked calmly on the phone, details being quoted, blood, dead cat, open window, no force of entry, no fatalities. Her body shuddered at the image of what caused all the blood in her room. Her room that she had just minutes before been peacefully sleeping in. A sob wracked her body and Link’s grip tightened around her, his warm breath filling her with a familiar scent and safety she needed, his soothing voice comforting her.
Tank stood in the doorway waiting for his fellow coworkers to show up. He stared at the carcass splayed out in the middle of her bed. Blood splattered over her sheets. He looked at the wall above her bed. “We’re coming for you, my pet.” He clenched his fist. How the fuck! That was a clear enough message, and the fucker even put a fucking happy face at the end!
He and Hill had found out who her parents were. With the amount of DNA she had in this house it was easy. The fucking scumbag she had been being trained for was some high-up political man over in Aruba. Her parents had hit a bad patch twenty-five years ago and miraculously came out of the shithole they had managed to bury themselves in. There was a date of birth on Dania as well as a death certificate. The thought of a death certificate angered him beyond any anger he had felt. What sick fuck would do this to another soul! To one that was your own!
He growled. He would never understand the human mind and the sick tendencies some had. He ground his teeth. They were going to sit down with her tomorrow and let her know. Fuck! That plan seemed a little botched now. How the hell were they supposed to deal with all this shit?
Link hugged Dania close, rubbing her back, his hand holding her hair and holding her in the crook of his neck. She had curled up into a ball on him as soon as he settled on the couch and sobbed against his neck. He glanced across the room at Tank who fixed up a tea for her.
“We’ll find prints somewhere, Dania. This guy couldn’t have been perfect, they never are, especially if he was in a rush. You said you were only out long enough to walk down the hall then to our room?”
Dania hiccupped, nodding. “I heard something… I thought it was you and Link. But it was so soft.” She looked at Link, shaking her head. “Maybe it was that stupid cat.” She gagged.<
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Oh, fuck the cat, how many times she had cursed that cat and now it was dead and used to scare her. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, a sob escaped her and she buried her face back against Link’s neck, her grip tightening even more around him.
Link hugged her close, rubbing her back and shushing her.
Tank brought over a bucket and placed it next to Link. Poor thing had puked three times now. Cried and whimpered and shook in fear. “I have men doing rounds, Dania. Nothing’s gonna get you. Tonight you stay with me and Link. Shit, you stay with us till you’re ready,” he declared. No way in hell was he letting her out of his sight. Not till he had this mess cleaned up and the culprit found!
Dania sobbed, hugging Link close. “I hated that cat, always friggen scared me… I cursed that cat so many times.” She cried, guilt filling her. Maybe if she had been nicer to the cat it would be alive.
Tank placed a hand on her back. “Not your fault the cat’s dead, Dania. Someone knew that cat bothered you. They were trying to scare you,” he assured her.
Dania shook her head. “No one ever gets close enough to the house to hear me hiss at the thing!” she argued. She should never have hissed at it.
Tank inhaled a breath. He hated this part, the denial, the anger, the torment. He knew how to work with it when it came to others. He put on the fake “I care and I can relate” shit. He was good at tuning out how much anguish tore through a person’s face, but this was Dania.
He couldn’t be that fake person with Dania. His Tiny who had been threatened and in his fucking house! Shit, while he and Link lay just doors down from her and slept through it all. Fuck, what if she hadn’t heard what she heard? What if she had stayed in bed? Would she still be alive? Would she still be here?
He picked her out of Link’s arms and hugged her close. “Fuck,” he grumbled.
Link grabbed the back of his head and pressed his forehead to Tank’s. “You will not lose focus, Tank. This is our Dania these assholes dared threaten. We need you at the top of your game,” he ordered. He could see the hurt filling Tank’s eyes. How easy it would be to just fall into the emotion and want to sit and hold her and hope it all blew over. Both he and Tank knew that wasn’t the reality. They both needed to be strong right now. Not just for them, for Dania.
