by Becca Van
“I was in that hospital for two weeks and never saw the police again. The officer who took my statement had changed it after I’d signed it. The asshole put in that I was Angelo’s girlfriend and that we’d had a fight after he’d made love to me. I think the only reason he went to jail was because of my injuries. I don’t think the judge even took the rape into account when he sentenced that prick. My attorney didn’t even flinch when the statement I’d signed was read out. I protested but the bastard defending me said that I was too distraught to remember the facts correctly since Angelo had broken up with me. The cop and my lawyer had to have been in Angelo’s pocket. Wouldn’t other officers or detectives have come to ask me more questions?”
“Yes,” Luke replied in a calm voice, but when Frank looked at the sheriff he could practically see the man vibrating with rage. His jaw was clenched tight, his hands were in fists, and there was fury in his eyes.
“How did you get away?” Rick asked.
“The doctor. She told me that Angelo was evil and she gave me some clothes and money and told me to run.”
“How long have you been running for, sweetie?” Frank asked.
“Four years.”
“Jesus.” Frank ran his fingers through his hair and began to pace again. “How did you survive?”
“I worked for cash anywhere I could,” Sally answered. “There were times when I slept on the street, in parks, or subways, and a lot of days I went hungry, but I’m here. I’m still alive.”
Will cupped her chin, turning her face toward his. “You’re so brave, baby. A lot of people would have given up. Don’t give up now. We have a spare room at our house. You’re welcome to use it for however long you want.”
Sally shook her head. “Tyson said I could stay here. He’s given me a job. I should be fine.”
Tyson cleared his throat. “Actually I’ve just had a group of bikers rent some rooms. I’m not prejudiced and know that looks can be deceiving, but I don’t like the vibes a few of them are giving off. I think it would be better, safer, if you stayed with Will, Frank, and Rick.”
Rick clasped one of her hands in his and went to brush a strand of hair off of her cheek. Sally flinched and Rick froze, but when she didn’t move away, his brother slowly pushed the strand back behind her ear.
“You’ll have your own room and bathroom so you won’t need to share with us, love. We would never impinge on your privacy. We just need to know that you’re safe.”
Rachel nudged Rick with her foot and he got up from the seat and moved aside. She sat down and clasped both of Sally’s hands in hers. “Tyson wouldn’t say that unless he was worried and I trust him to know when someone should be avoided. He, Damon, and Sam, my husbands, are all very good judges of character. If they’re wary of someone, they usually have good reason to be.”
Frank could tell that Sally was mulling over what Rachel had just said and hoped that she took them up on the offer to stay with them. He wanted the chance to get to know her better and hoped that he and his brothers could take some of her pain away. There was such a haunted look in her eyes, he was concerned that she would never be able to stand a man’s touch, other than platonically.
Although as that thought crossed his mind, he hoped he was wrong. She’d been scared of them from the beginning but was starting to become comfortable with them. She was so starved for human contact and warmth, but he had a feeling if they took things slowly, went at her pace, she might just end up letting them into her life.
He had strong feelings for her already and knew if he got to spend more time with her that he would fall for her hard and fast.
Frank hoped it wasn’t wishful thinking on his behalf as she grew a little less tense around him and his brothers, and wished that Sally ended up having feelings for them, too.
He glanced over at Damon and Luke when they stood.
“I also think you should go and stay with the Blanchard brothers, but the choice is yours,” Luke said. “If my wife was in your situation I’d want her with men I trusted, and I trust them.”
“I agree with Luke,” Damon stated as he held a hand out to Rachel. She hurried over to him and sighed when he wrapped his arms around her. “I thank God every day that Rachel found Slick Rock. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened to her if she hadn’t. She’s the love of my life, as well as Tyson’s and Sam’s. If she hadn’t been in our care I would have been honored to have Will, Frank, and Rick look after her until we could be with her.”
Luke moved toward the door but paused in the entrance as he turned to face Sally again. “I promise, as an honorable lawman, to do everything within my power to see that Angelo Perez doesn’t get his hands on you again, and pays for what he did to you.”
“And I am going to make sure that the officer who took your statement is brought up on charges for obstructing the order of justice and is fired,” Damon said in a hard voice. “And we’ll be looking in the lawyer that was supposed to be defending you.
“Thank you,” Sally said and nodded her head.
Damon kissed Rachel on the lips before nudging her toward Tyson.
Frank had been watching Sally the whole time and as she’d watched Damon and Rachel interact, he’d seen the way her gaze had softened. There was no way in hell she could have missed how much Damon and Tyson loved their wife and hoped that by Sally seeing how much they cared for each other, she would want to stay in Slick Rock.
As far as Frank was concerned, there was no place safer in the whole of the United States of America. The men of this town protected their own, and since most of them were retired military and hardworking ranchers, they were hard to kill.
Nonetheless, it was up to Sallyanne to go or stay and although he wanted to cajole and convince her this was where she needed to be, the decision was hers and hers alone.
* * * *
Sallyanne’s mind was at war. Too restless to sit, she pushed up from Will’s lap and walked over to the wall opposite the door. Her mind raced and she paced as far as she could, before turning and retracing her steps.
On the one hand she wanted to jump at and accept the offer Will, Frank, and Rick had given to stay in the spare bedroom in their home, yet she was so used to being alone she wasn’t sure she could handle sharing a house with three big, ruggedly, handsome men.
She was becoming less anxious around them the more time she was with them, but their size and apparent strength was very intimidating. They could hurt her without barely lifting a finger, and although the thought scared her, deep in her heart she knew that they would never do such a thing.
The thought of staying in a hotel room by herself with maybe violent bikers also scared the shit out of her. She knew she shouldn’t be pigeonholing someone just because they rode a motorcycle, but after hearing what Tyson had said about a couple of the bikers, she was worried. Stereotyping someone because of their looks or what they did was wrong, but society seemed to judge anyone different from them out of fear.
And then she realized that she was doing the same thing. Just because these men were big and strong, didn’t mean that they would hurt her. They had already proven to her without a shadow of a doubt that they were nothing like the bastard who had raped her. The concern for her when they looked at her had been as plain as the nose on her face and she would have had to have been blind to miss their fury as she’d told them what Perez had done to her. All three of them had looked as if they were grinding their teeth down and they’d been as tense as bow strings, but it had been the underlying anger in their gazes that had revealed how they really felt. No one had ever been angry on her behalf before.
What other choice did she have? She was low on funds, had barely enough to pay for one night if she stayed at the hotel, and food was another problem. If she didn’t get a decent meal into her soon, she would probably end up fainting or becoming sick.
If she stayed at their house for a week or so while she worked at the hotel, she could save every penny she earned and
when she had enough cash, she could move on.
She really had nothing to lose, but at the first sign of trouble she was out of there.
Sheriff’s Luke and Damon had been so emphatic when they’d said they would help put Angelo behind bars and bring charges to the cop who had to have changed her statement, and while she wanted to believe them, it was hard for her to do so. She’d only ever experienced pain, emotional turmoil, and deceit at the hands of men, including her own stepbrother. How was she supposed to trust them when she’d only just met them?
Sally sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. She was tired of trying to read between the lines, weighing up the pros and cons of her next decision, and of being distrustful.
She was just so fucking tired.
“Sally?” Rick’s deep, husky voice sent a shiver down her spine but she was able to stop the reaction from showing. Or, at least she hoped she had.
She met his gaze and quirked her brow. His hazel eyes were so intent on her face she couldn’t hold his gaze long and ended up looking to the side before meeting his eyes again.
“Are you going to accept the offer of our spare room, love?”
She licked her dry lips, wrapped her arms around her waist, and nodded. “Yes, please. If it’s still on offer?”
“We don’t rescind once we’ve offered or given something,” Will said, sounding a little annoyed with her.
She hated it when people got angry because of something she’d done or said. Her brother had yelled at her all the time and made her feel about as big as an ant. She took a breath before gazing at Rick and then Will before meeting Rick’s eyes again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend—”
Frank took a step toward her, his hand in the air to stop her next words. “You have no need to be sorry, Sally, and you didn’t offend us. What Will was trying to say is that we are men of our word. If we make a promise, we follow through. We don’t lie.”
Sally relaxed at Frank’s words. She could tell he believed he was being sincere, but she’d learned to distrust words. Actions always spoke louder. Only time would tell whether she could trust these men completely.
“Okay,” she said, not sure how else she was supposed to respond.
“Are you ready to go?” Rick held out a hand toward her and she eyed it before taking a step back, bumping into the wall.
Sally felt bad when she saw what she thought looked like a flash of pain in his eyes before it was gone. He sighed as he lowered his hand and she knew she needed to make amends, but she wasn’t sure how she could have hurt him, since he hardly knew her. He couldn’t have feelings for her because they’d just met a couple of hours ago. Could he? She mentally shook her head but hurried to explain her reluctance to place her hand in his.
“I need to go and talk to Tyson.” She stepped forward, skirting around Rick, and then walked quickly to the doorway.
“Why?” Will asked in what sounded like an exasperated voice.
“I need to find out what my hours are going to be.” As she finished saying those words she wondered how the hell she was going to get to work. She had no car and she couldn’t rely on the Blanchard men to bring her to and pick her up every single day for however long she was here.
“Let me go with you,” Rick said as he moved to her side.
When she met his gaze, there were no telltale emotions in his eyes and she nearly sighed with relief. She didn’t want to have to worry about hurting him or his brothers. Sally had more than enough on her plate already and wasn’t sure she could handle anymore.
He swept his hand out before saying. “After you, love.”
She turned and hurried down the corridor, cringing when the loud chatter and raucous laughter made the dull ache behind her skull pound a little harder, but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind and continued until she was standing near the end of the bar.
The hotel was packed full of people and she couldn’t see how she was going to wend her way through the throng without getting bumped and jostled. While that wouldn’t be pleasant, it was the fact that most of the patrons were tall, muscular men and being surrounded on all sides by the opposite sex had sweat breaking out on her skin and her breathing increasing to shallow pants. It was different when she was working because she felt more secure with a large thick wooden bar between her and the customers. Being on the customer side of the bar was very unnerving and she wasn’t sure she wanted to delve deeper into the crowd, but if she wanted to speak with Tyson about working here, she needed to suck it up.
The moment a large hand landed on her shoulder, she startled so badly her feet left the floor and she nearly fell to her knees. A scream of terror escaped past her constricted throat and she covered her ears with her hands. She had no idea when she’d crouched down, trying to make herself a smaller target, but when she blinked and she saw how close she was to the floor, she knew she’d reverted to the knee-jerk reaction of survival.
The chatter and laughter close to her slowed and finally stopped, and all she could hear was the raspy sound of her own heavy, panicked breathing. Tears of humiliation stung the back of her eyes and she knew from the heat of her cheeks that her face was probably bright pink with mortification.
“Sally, you’re safe, love.” Rick’s voice was low and soothing and the only familiarity in a room full of strangers. It was a wonder she’d heard him since her hands were still over her ears, and she slowly lowered them back to hug her waist as she searched for his handsome face a little frantically. When she found him crouched down at her side and a little behind her, she locked her gaze with his and blinked as the tears welled.
“Take my hand, Sally,” Rick commanded in a deep soft croon.
Sally immediately reached out and the tremors she hadn’t even known were wracking her body subsided as his warmth enveloped her cold hand. She clung to him because he was the only anchor in her fear-filled mind. Somehow she trusted him to help her and keep prying eyes off her as she tried to regain control.
She must have turned toward the hallway in case she needed to escape and he’d moved to put his body between hers and the other people in the bar, his big body shielding her from staring eyes.
When she noticed movement behind Rick, she saw that Will and Frank were standing behind their crouching brother. All three of the Blanchard men had created a wall to keep others from seeing her as she fell apart.
“Let me help you up, love.” Rick slowly stood and helped her up. “I think you tripped over a loose edge in the carpet.”
Sally nearly sobbed at his kindness. No one had ever lied to protect her feelings before and she felt her numb heart tingle as a little of the cold in the organ heated.
“I’ll have that looked at first thing tomorrow,” Tyson called out from behind the bar.
She leaned around Rick and peered through the gap between Will’s and Frank’s bodies. Tyson’s lips twitched as if he were trying to hold back a smile and he winked at her before going back to serving his customer. The chatter had started up again and she sighed with relief as the attention was redirected elsewhere.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Rick leaned down to whisper for her ears alone. She nodded and let him guide her from the hotel. Once she was outside, she drew in deep gulps of fresh air and looked down the near-empty street. She had no idea what time it was, but it was dark now and exhaustion was weighing her down. Plus, her adrenaline crash was making her ever wearier. All she wanted to do was find a bed, crawl into it, and close her eyes, but she wouldn’t be able to do that until Will, Frank, and Rick, took her to their home.
Rick guided her to a large truck and helped her into the front seat before closing the door and hurrying around to the driver’s side. When she didn’t see Will and Frank, she wondered if they had brought their own vehicles. Rick turned the ignition on, adjusted the heater, and turned toward her.
“Are you feeling better, Sally?”
Sally nodded before looking through the front windshield. While the cab wa
s big, so was Rick and she was having trouble catching her breath, but this time it wasn’t because she was afraid. He took up so much room and he was so damn handsome. The velvety skin around her nipples prickled as they contracted and her nipples hardened. Her pussy began to grow moist and her clit throbbed. She gnawed her lower lip, scraping the edge of her top teeth over the flesh as she tried to quell the unfamiliar sensations running through her body. At first she wasn’t sure what was happening, but after a moment or two, she sucked in a shocked breath and she realized that she was experiencing desire for the first time since Angelo had destroyed her life.
Sallyanne was aroused and it was because of Rick, Frank, and Will.
“I’m sorry I scared you, love.” Rick apologized.
She shook her head. She could hear the sincere contriteness in his voice but it wasn’t his fault she was as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was. You’d already told us you didn’t like people coming up to you from behind.”
Sally shrugged. “Most people wouldn’t care.”
“I do and so do my brothers,” Rick stated firmly.
“Where are—” Sally stopped when she saw Will and Frank exit the hotel before striding toward the vehicle. They moved with smooth, even gaits, the muscles in their legs bunching and retracting with each step they took. Frank’s arms swung naturally at his sides. Will was carrying her back and purse in his hands and she couldn’t help admire the muscles in his and Frank’s broad shoulders, arms, and ripped abs that rippled and flexed. She knew she should look away but she couldn’t drag her gaze from them. Her heart lurched when she saw both men looking right at her through the glass window and she felt as if they could see into her soul.
Sally managed to drag her gaze from them as she shifted in her seat. She felt totally vulnerable and exposed and though she wanted to hide, there was nowhere to run. When Rick cleared his throat, she turned to look at him and her breath hitched. He was looking at her as if she was the answer to all his prayers. He reached across the seat, took her cold hand in his warm one, and squeezed it gently.
