Page 5

Chapter

Three

“Pretty sure you were supposed to be taking it easy today.”

Jake flicked his gaze off the computer screen to see his brother standing beside his couch.

Because of the smoke he’d inhaled in the fire the day before, the hospital recommended that he not remain alone overnight.

Smoke inhalation could be tricky and appear as though you’re okay at first, only to then devolve.

While he hadn't thought it was necessary to have a babysitter, his little brother Jax had insisted.

Since he was sure that the fire at Alannah’s gym was because of him and the danger haunting his family, it was a logical assumption to make that the final rapist and his stepsister’s biological father had moved on to targeting him and the people he loved.

That should mean that, for now at least, the heat had been dialed down on Cooper and Willow, Cole and Susanna, Connor and Becca, and Cade, Gabriella, and Essie.

As much as he was glad for his stepbrothers and their girlfriends, he was afraid for Alannah.

They'd told her everything, holding nothing back. If the fire was because of him, then she deserved to know why she’d almost died.

She’d known the background, of course, lived a lot of it along with him, but she hadn't known what they’d learned the last three months because he’d been trying to keep his distance and not allow her to be dragged into his mess.

Too late for that now.

Alannah was part of this, and he wouldn't let his best friend be hurt again because of him and his family and their quest for answers.

They were so close. They knew three of the four men who had been involved in his stepmom’s rape, and as soon as they had the final name, they would be able to prove that his father and stepmom weren't responsible for the assault that took out his dad and stepbrothers’ father’s team.

They would be able to prove that his dad and stepmom weren't traitors and they’d been murdered, not committed suicide.

Jake craved those answers and had dedicated the last almost twenty years of his life to seeking them.

He couldn’t give up.

But there was also no way he could allow his personal quest to hurt his best friend.

“You're not supposed to be overdoing things,” Jax said again when he gave no response. “Did you even go to bed last night?”

“Grabbed a couple of hours’ sleep,” he acknowledged.

Not that he’d wanted to, but by the time they gave statements and were examined and released from the hospital, then he’d failed to convince Alannah to stay with him or one of his brothers for safety reasons and instead dropped her off at a friend’s house, he’d been exhausted.

Crashing in his bed as soon as he’d taken a long, hot shower to rid himself of the stench of smoke, he’d lasted only a couple of hours before the need to keep his best friend safe had driven him downstairs to his living room and his laptop.

“You need more. You could have died yesterday.”

There was a starkness in his little brother’s voice that Jake hadn't heard in a long time. Not since they were kids and Jax used to sneak into his room at night after their mom died because he no longer liked to be alone in the dark.

Back then, it had just been the two of them, clinging to one another because they were the only constant in each other’s lives.

At just six and four, they were too young to be left alone, but with their dad’s career in Delta Force, there were lots of times when he traveled, and how long he would be away changed with every mission.

Since no family member wanted to care for them permanently, they were bounced between grandparents and aunts and uncles.

The lack of stability had made Jax clingy, and Jake had gotten used to taking care of his little brother.

But that was a long time ago. They were in their thirties now, and they’d long since learned how to survive without parents hovering over them.

For months they’d watched as their stepbrothers were targeted one by one, and while they loved Cade, Cooper, Connor, and Cole as though they were blood, Cassandra too, it didn't change the fact that they were close and for so many years they’d only had each other to rely on.

“Hey, I didn't die. I'm fine. Smoky and sore but perfectly fine. Fine to work. Okay?” he barked.

Not because he wasn't sympathetic to what his brother must have gone through the day before when he heard the news from Cade about the fire, but because gruff was the only way he knew how to handle things, even with his brother.

Jax knew he loved him, so Jake didn't need to convince him with a sugary sweet tone.

“I could have lost her yesterday, Jax,” he said, allowing a sliver of the emotion boiling inside him to seep into his tone.

“She’s my best friend. I promised her when she was four that I would never let anyone or anything hurt her ever again.

I’ve failed a lot of times over the last almost thirty years, but never was her life in danger because of it. ”

“We don’t know for certain that the fire was set because of you, because of us and our investigation,” Jax reminded him as he took a seat on the other couch and picked up the laptop sitting on the coffee table.

“You don’t think it was odd that I’ve been keeping my distance from Alannah for three months, then I cave and go to spend a couple of hours with her at her gym, and we’re locked in a basement and almost burned alive?”

“Of course I do. It’s one hell of a coincidence. But until we know more, that’s all it is. I’m not saying it isn’t because of the people after us, in fact, I think chances are it was, but it would be stupid to cut out any other possibility until we know for sure.”

“Who would be after Alannah?” The thought was so preposterous that he actually barked out a laugh at it.

Alannah reminded him a lot of the women his brothers had fallen for.

She was sweet, kind, and loving, but she also had shields up around her heart that she struggled to lower to let people in, which was why she kept dating the worst guys who were only after her for her looks and her money.

Was it possible …

No.

It couldn’t be one of her exes. Could it?

Honestly, they didn't talk about their love lives much with one another.

They were best friends, but they were also family, and he didn't really want to hear about Alannah sleeping with other men. He’d always assumed she felt the same way since she never pushed him about his relationships.

Not that there were a lot of them. He was a loner, and he didn't really see that changing.

But Alannah wanted to find love, wanted a partner, a family, someone who would love her unconditionally and see her for her.

Had a relationship spun out of control? Maybe she was just ashamed to tell him.

Normally, they only discussed her boyfriends when they became exes and only because she wound up hurt and needed him to cheer her up.

Which was ironic since he was the grumpy and she was the sunshine in their friendship.

“You're right,” he agreed, shooting Jax a grateful smile. Knowing how close he’d come to losing his best friend had messed with his head and he wasn't thinking clearly, wasn't capable of working through every possibility on his own right now.

“Gang’s here,” a voice called out as he heard his front door open.

The thunder of footsteps told him his entire family had shown up to have his back, and he couldn’t be more grateful for all of them.

He’d lost both his parents, but he had a brother, four stepbrothers, a stepsister, four one-day stepsisters-in-law, and an adorable step-niece.

His life was full of people who loved and supported him.

“Hi, Uncle Jake,” Essie said as she ran into the room like the little tornado of energy that she was.

“Hey, Messy Essie,” he returned, making the five-year-old curl up her lip in annoyance at the nickname.

“I'm not messy, Uncle Jake. I always puts my toys away when I finish playing with them,” she told him, all sassy and indignant. Then her face brightened into a smile. “My mom and dad are having a baby,” she announced.

“Essie,” Gabriella rebuked gently even as she smiled.

Gabriella was no longer Essie’s nanny, the little girl had started calling her mom, and he knew she loved hearing the name fall from the lips of the child she loved and had protected at great personal cost when they’d both been abducted last month.

“We’re only a few weeks in, and Gabriella has a history of miscarriage,” Cade explained, wrapping an arm around his fiancée and pulling her close, placing a hand on her stomach.

“I’m further along than I’ve ever been before,” Gabriella said softly, pain in her pretty green eyes. “We probably shouldn’t have told Essie so early, considering there’s a good chance the baby won't make it, but we wanted her to be part of this journey if it does.”

“The baby is going to come,” Essie said firmly, running over to kiss Gabriella’s flat stomach. “Cos I'm going to be the best big sister ever.”

“You sure are, cuddle bug,” Gabriella said as she leaned down to hug the little girl.

Jake’s phone rang, and he reached over to snatch it up.

When he saw Alannah’s name on the screen, something inside him tightened.

He was safe, surrounded by family, but Alannah didn't have a family who loved her or cared about her, and even though he’d dropped her off with a friend of hers, and made sure someone was watching the house, he couldn’t help but feel a small sliver of fear as he accepted the call.

October 14 th

3:34 P.M.

Every time Alannah closed her eyes it felt like she was back in the basement at her gym, smoke thick in the air, terrified that she was going to be burned alive.