Page 5

“R ansom, one of our teammates,” Silver began as they were flying down the freeway, “reached out this morning. He’s contacted some resources to help track Thalia.”

Vivienne closed her eyes, her chest expanding with relief. “Thank you so much.” There was nothing she’d done to earn these people’s kindness and yet they were helping her all the same, just because she was Hannah’s sister. Hannah, who belonged to their teammate Branch. That type of loyalty and love was completely unfamiliar to her.

“We don’t need your thanks. You’re one of us now,” Silver rumbled, and Iron nodded in agreement. He’d been quiet since they left the hotel.

Hannah had left home and made something of herself. She was a hero just like the men sitting in the car with her. Vivienne had to push down the flood of inadequacy. Just because she hadn’t done anything meaningful with her life—helped others like those surrounding her—didn’t mean she couldn’t start. She’d bet the cozy socks protecting her injured feet that Hannah had never been frozen in fear, terrified to leave the bathroom because of her appearance. Maybe that was why Iron wasn’t interacting with her like he had last night and this morning. Despite making her feel as though she shouldn’t be ashamed of her reaction, maybe he’d concluded she was shallow and insecure. She wanted so badly to be everything he described, yet so afraid she was going to fall short.

“Ransom also spoke with the police sergeant about your situation. He suggested filing a restraining order against your parents and Scott when we get home.”

Home.

Did these men have any idea of how moved she was by their easy acceptance? She was going to do everything in her power to become a person who deserved their goodness. “Will that stop them from trying to contact me?”

Iron shifted next to her. “They’ve already tried to get in touch with you?” His expression was unreadable.

“I’ve gotten some calls. A few texts.” Her insides turned. She didn’t want to talk to them, but she also didn’t want to put anyone in danger.

“How many?” Iron’s eyes bore into hers and she swallowed down the wedge lodged in her throat.

“I don’t want you to be upset.” She didn’t like the uncertainty in her voice.

Iron’s expression softened and he reached out taking her hand. He hadn’t touched her since their hug in the bathroom, and she wasn’t sure why that bothered her so much. Sure, he represented safety and escape, but it was more than that. Not that a man like Iron would look twice at her. He was a warrior and deserved someone just as strong and fierce as him. She’d been the one needing rescuing—something she should’ve done years ago.

“I’m not upset at you, Vee. I’m upset for you. They’ve piled enough shit on you. Put you through hell. Now they won’t leave you alone.”

“They didn’t put me through hell.” She wasn’t sure why she was protesting. They’d made her feel like less her entire life. She’d been told over and over that her dyslexia and learning disability was something to be hidden. That she had to rely on her looks and a good marriage to be of any worth. “Anyone would be lucky to be me. I have a beautiful house. I went to the best schools. Designer clothes. Priceless jewelry. Trips around the world. Parents who made me into something because I’m nothing.”

“Vee.” Iron’s hard voice snapped her out of regurgitating everything her parents ever told her. Shame’s tattered threads wrapped around her until she wanted to hide beneath its thick covering. She saw him exchange a look with Silver in the rearview mirror. They both looked furious. God, she was messing everything up. Making herself out to be a spoiled, ungrateful brat, and maybe she was. Maybe her own inflated sense of self-worth made her think she could be more, do more, when she should’ve been grateful to Scott and the people around her.

“Vee,” Iron repeated. “Stop. Whatever is going on in your head right now is bullshit.”

“How do you know?” Her eyes burned. She was almost desperate for the answer. Part of her wanted him to be truthful. The other wanted his words wrapped up in a pretty ribbon of lies.

She wasn’t sure how she would know either way. Had her parents intentionally broken her down only to build her up into their ideal of what they wanted her to be? Or was she so unwilling to accept her own flaws she’d made them out to be worse than they really were?

“I know.” His grip was firm and steady. “How many times did someone tell you exactly what you just scripted to us? Think about it. How many times has your mother or father told you how ungrateful you were because you had all those things? How often did they make you feel dependent on them? Christ, did Scott?”

She fell silent. He was right. Scott had also said similar things to her, some worse. In a way, her ex’s betrayal hurt more than her parents’. He’d acted like he cared about her. She truly thought Scott was on her side until he started acting like he had his own agenda. In retrospect, all the signs that he was just using her were there, but she so desperately wanted to be loved, she convinced herself everything was fine. Until he started berating her and sleeping with other women. She looked down at her lap, before meeting his gaze. “Yes.”

“When you start thinking and saying those things, I want you to remember that. I know it’s not easy. It’s going to take time.” When his thumb slid over the top of her hand in a slow, back-and-forth motion, tingles fizzed over her skin. “Have you listened to or read any of the messages?”

She tilted her chin up, trying not to dwell on the hateful texts and calls. “I glanced at the first few this morning.”

“Is that when you got out of the shower?” Silver asked, looking back at her in the mirror.

“Yeah. I guess it contributed to my early morning not-good-enough episode. I forgot to apologize for keeping you both waiting.”

“No more apologies.” Iron’s voice was hard, yet soothing at the same time. How was that even possible?

“Or thank-yous,” Silver added.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t want to be.” Iron gave her hand a quick squeeze and released it. She missed his touch and comfort immediately.

“If I can’t apologize or say thank you, what am I going to talk about?” Her joke fell flat, but Iron saved her yet again.

“How about I’m hungry and want to pick where we stop for lunch ?”

“I could get behind that.”

“Good idea,” Silver said from the front seat. A text had popped up on the navigation screen and he quickly swiped it away.

“Who was that?” Iron punched the back of his seat. “And why are you so jumpy about their messages?”

She’d noticed Silver grinning when he glanced at his phone over the past few hours in the car.

“Fuck you.” There was no heat in his voice, and he turned on his directional to pull off into a gas station. “While you’re debating lunch choices, I’m filling up.”

“There’s half a tank left.” Iron smirked. “And last time I checked we weren’t headed toward a wasteland void of gas stations.”

Silver unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car, slamming his door without a word to Iron.

“How many times do you think we’ve stopped today?” She couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her face. Nearly every time Silver’s phone pinged with a text, he was pulling over and jumping out of the SUV.

“Each time the person with the initials A.D. texts him. He was like this on the ride down too. I don’t spend much time with Silver’s team, so I was surprised when he was getting all flustered over answering his messages in the car.”

“It’s definitely a woman.” The excitement in her voice was audible. “Look.” She tilted her chin toward the window.

“Yeah, the only time I’ve seen him smile like that is when he’s answering one of his messages.”

“Maybe we could get two hotel rooms tonight.”

“Shit. We should have thought about that yesterday. You would’ve been more comfortable bunking on your own I bet. Silver and I can share a room tonight. Try to get one connecting for you.”

She laughed, feeling freer than she had in a long time. “I meant we’d stay in a room so Silver could have some alone time to talk with his girlfriend.”

His eyes darkened and her stomach felt weightless under his heated gaze. She blinked and the expression was gone. She was probably seeing what she wanted to and not what was there—just like she had with Scott. She’d only spent a day and a half with Iron, but the crush she’d started to develop on the man who’d selflessly jumped in front of a bullet for her was no joke. Still, she was determined not to go chasing love again, she needed to discover who she really was and love that person first. When they delivered her to Hannah’s house, she’d probably never see Iron again. The thought made her heart hurt, and she ruthlessly pushed it down.

He cleared his throat. “Will you let me go through the messages? If there is anything remotely threatening, we need to report it to the authorities so there’s documented evidence of their harassment.”

“Of course.” Her clutch was in the bag from Silver’s Walmart trip yesterday. If she had any idea they’d planned to buy things for her, she would’ve insisted on paying. She had no shortage of money. When she closed her hand over the plastic phone case, she paused. Because of her early modeling career, her parents had insisted on being co-owners on her bank account. When she wanted to have them removed at eighteen, her parents refused. Her father was friends with the branch manager. She’d secretly opened another account through an online banking company, but she’d had to slowly funnel money there. Only a few hundred or thousand at a time. Enough that she could brush it off as a shopping trip or a spa day. Her private account didn’t have nearly the amount as the joint one.

“Talk to me.” The weight of Iron’s hand was on her shoulder, but she could barely process his words. Her heart was pounding. Mind racing with the possibility that every single cent she’d made through her modeling and social media network was simply gone.

“My bank account. My parents can withdraw money…” she trailed off.

“Are you able to check your account from your phone?”

“Yes.”

He handed the device back to her just as Silver was getting back into the vehicle. “What’s going on?” She ignored his question and tapped in her account password with shaky hands.

“Her parents are co-owners of her bank account.”

She vaguely registered that they were talking. If they took everything, she’d have enough money in her secret account to support herself for a little time at least, but not long. By the time she purchased and furnished a place to live, she’d need to find a full-time job. She took a deep breath before opening the financial institution’s mobile banking app. Her heart sank. “The bank has frozen this account due to a fraud alert.” She stared at the inaccessible funds. Her parents had thought ahead, freezing her assets so they couldn’t be used or moved. It looked far less suspicious to report a missing debit card or flag a charge as fraudulent than moving huge amounts of money.

“They’re not going to win this,” Iron practically growled beside her.

“Even if the shared account was still open, I have a cap of ten thousand that I can withdraw per day. Once my parents got the alerts about money being withdrawn, they’d start removing it too.”

“An account hemorrhaging money is likely to get reported.” Silver pressed a button on the console and the engine hummed.

“I don’t know what to do.” She shook her head, continuing to stare down at her phone.

“I do.” Iron leaned back to reach into his pocket and pulled out his own phone. He swiped the screen and started typing. “Ransom has a top-notch legal firm.”

“So do my parents. That’s their typical style. Throw money at a problem and it will go away.”

“The Godfreys are the Boston equivalent of the Days. Not quite as disgraced, but close. I asked Ransom to connect you. In the meantime, you don’t have to worry about money. Silver and I might not be sitting on millions, but we have enough to comfortably take care of things.”

Maybe watching the way these men lived would help her make the most of that money and spend it wisely, or at least slowly.

Over the next five hours, they covered miles of highway and roads, ending up in Tennessee. Dark trees and flat surfaces lined the roadways as they all kept their eyes trained for a hotel. The sun had sunk below what Iron had pointed out as the Blue Ridge Mountains. Iron had been otherwise occupied transferring the messages and texts she was still continuously receiving from her parents and Scott. The messages had started out with apologies and remorse, but quickly deteriorated, accusing her of ruining Scott’s life, the family, and everything in between. Every so often Iron would stiffen or mutter a curse under his breath when her phone chimed, so she could only assume the messages were getting increasingly aggressive. They changed routes as well after Iron had removed two tracking apps from her phone.

“There up ahead. Let’s stop there.” She had spotted a hotel in the distance. Even though the men would have inevitably noticed the signs for overnight accommodations, being somewhat useful made her feel more like part of the team. At the front desk she insisted on paying for the rooms. Despite their protests, it made her feel like she was contributing something. There was a comfortable amount in her private account, especially if they weren’t frequenting five-star hotels and restaurants.

She’d gotten two rooms, wondering if the men would be more comfortable with her in another space. Silver and Iron would share a connecting door with her. She hated to admit it, but there was a sense of camaraderie and safety with them that she didn’t currently feel on her own. Logically she knew they were right on the other side of the door but that didn’t stop her from jolting at every little sound. She closed the shades tightly and triple-checked the door locks. A knock on the door made her heart leap into action, pounding furiously. She tiptoed over to the door, not only because her feet were killing her, but she wanted to be as quiet as possible moving across the room. She looked through the peephole to find Iron standing in the hallway. Her shoulders instantly relaxed and she quickly undid the locks to let him in.

“May I come in?”

“You don’t have to ask, Iron.”

“We need to talk about some of the messages you’re receiving.” Iron passed through the room to the couch and sat. His legs were planted wide, and his lips were downturned into a grim expression. She sat next to him, curling her legs up and under her.

“I don’t see any reason you have to read every nasty text or listen to the messages they’re leaving, but I do have some questions for you. My priority is keeping you safe, not prying into your private life.”

“Fire away. I trust you, and if you need me to talk about how things were before, I’ll do it. You’re the ones rescuing me, remember?”

“You rescued yourself, Vee. If you didn’t have the courage to leave the rehearsal dinner, then we wouldn’t have been able to help you.”

“I was scared.”

“That doesn’t mean you weren’t brave. You were more so because you were afraid.” He held her gaze for a moment before resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. “One of Scott’s texts references a charity gala. He wrote, If you return, what happened after the charity gala will never happen again. You can live your life, and I’ll live mine, but you need to come back and fulfill your obligations to your family. What is he referring to when he says after the charity gala? What won’t happen again?”

Her heart hammered and bile rose in her throat. This wasn’t something she’d even told Thalia, afraid her friend would react and get in trouble. “You asked me if Scott made me feel dependent.” She threaded her fingers together. “I confronted him the first time I caught him cheating. He said what he did in his spare time was none of my business and although I was wife material, I wasn’t enough to satisfy him, both intellectually and physically. He told me to expect him to have other women around and if I ever breathed a word of his infidelity, he’d ruin me. After that, he didn’t seem to care who I saw him with. We didn’t live together. Mostly we came together for social engagements where we needed to be seen together to uphold an image. When I did go to his place, he’d flaunt the fact that a woman’s bra was hanging in his bathroom and make a point to tell me all the ways she was better than me. Most of that included the bedroom.”

“Asshole. Did you have sex with him after you found out he was cheating?” He frowned. “Shit. That’s none of my business.”

“There were a couple times after. I know that makes me seem so cowardly. I didn’t want to even more than I usually didn’t want to. He said he owned me and therefore I owed him.”

“He forced you?”

“The first time after the charity thing, yes. After that, I didn’t fight it. I didn’t want to prolong what I knew was going to happen.” She straightened on the sofa, placing her feet on the floor.

“Fuck.” He stood up and paced. Anger poured from him in pulsing waves. He stopped by the wall. The muscles in his back rippled with each breath he sucked into his lungs, then he returned to the couch, slowly kneeling on the floor with his prosthesis first.

“I’ll never think less of you for doing what you had to survive. Real men don’t force a woman. He’s a rapist and a narcissist.”

“You’re shaking.” The strong man kneeling at her feet was substantially larger and stronger than Scott. He could easily overpower her. Hurt her. All she felt in his presence, though, was comfort.

“Yeah, sweetheart.” The muscles in his neck were corded. “I’m fucking furious someone took something from you that wasn’t offered freely. I might not be the best bet as a protector, but you never have to worry that I’ll take advantage of you. I’d die before I hurt or disrespected you.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. I already know.” His hands on her knees and the close proximity had something fluttering in her belly.

She moved her hands from the top of her thighs and linked her fingers with his. “My first thought when I saw you get out of the SUV at the country club was your sheer strength and size. I was intimidated, but also appreciated the way you hung back and explained who you were and why you were there. Your eyes are so steadying. Makes me feel less alone.”

“You’re not alone. Not anymore. We should be back to Virginia tomorrow. I’ll make sure you know how to use the security system at Hannah’s house so you feel comfortable before I leave.”

She removed her hands from his and wrapped her arms around her waist. Iron leaving was something she was becoming increasingly concerned about. “How far are you from Hannah’s house?”

“It’s a ten-minute drive. We’re going to keep your phone to monitor the messages, but we’ll pick you up a new one and I’ll program my number in, that way if you need anything at all, you can get in touch with me. If you need a ride somewhere, need to talk to someone in the middle of the night, you call. If you ever feel threatened or worried, no matter what time it is, you’ll call. Right?”

She nodded past the painful lump in her throat. The only other person who treated her with such kindness was Thalia, and she’d repaid her by letting her family take her.

“I have an auto collision center downtown, so if I’m not at my house, I’m mostly there.”

“Can I come see it?”

His head jerked, like he was taken aback by her question. “You want to see the shop?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “This morning you said you wanted to get to know me better. That we could be friends. I want to be friends with you, Iron, but I also don’t want to overstep, if you have a girlfriend or wife or just need space—”

“Vee, I never would’ve held your hand. Hell, I never would’ve held you period if I had a woman waiting for me at home.”

Her heart thumped and her blood seemed to roar to life. “I thought you wanted my friendship.”

“I do, but I wouldn’t want that if my heart belonged to someone else. I would be spending time supporting her because it would be disrespectful as hell and wrong to share my time with another woman. Maybe that’s an archaic way of thinking, I don’t know. Doesn’t matter either way because there’s no one in my life.” He stood, making it look easy with his prosthetic, and sat beside her.

“Why?” She smoothed her hands down her legs.

His gray eyes were unreadable. “Why what?”

“Isn’t there a woman in your life.” She angled her body to face him, tucking her legs beneath her.

“There are things about me, Vee. Things that can’t be fixed. I like my privacy. Being alone suits me.”

“Are those things you tell yourself because you’re afraid? Because sometimes I do that too. Tell myself that no one will love me for who I am. That once they find out I’m dyslexic, they’ll think something’s wrong with me. I think that’s why I’ve only ever engaged in the things I can understand, but at the same time, I want more. Does that make sense? I’m constantly trying to be someone put together and polished on the outside, when inside I feel so inadequate.”

“Just because you’re dyslexic doesn’t make you less intelligent, less kind, less of anything. If I’ve learned anything from working with kids who have disabilities, it’s that they might learn and communicate differently, but there’s not a damn thing about them that needs changing. They don’t need to limit their goals to things that are easily achievable.”

“You work with kids?”

“I sponsor and coach a baseball team. Your nephew is on it along with a bunch of his friends from school and kids from neighboring towns.”

There was a lightness in her chest and a push of excitement within her. “I want to help!” She rose up to her knees and clasped her hands together “Please let me?”