Page 7 of Dyana (Love in the Apocalypse #3)

“Dad! No! Leave her alone! We’ll do it!” Victor yelled, rushing toward us and trying to push his father away.

“You had your chance!” Riggs growled, shoving his son away.

Victor fell to the floor. I turned my head to meet his eyes and tried to smile reassuringly. “It’s ok, Victor.”

“Don’t fucking talk to him like you know him, whore,” Riggs ordered as he fisted my hair and turned my head forward.

He notched himself at my entrance and bent down to whisper in my ear.

“I’m going to make sure this fucking hurts.

” Riggs tensed behind me. I closed my eyes, and as difficult as it was, I forced my body to relax to minimize the damage he was about to cause.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

My eyes popped open in surprise, and I looked toward the door where Sheriff Finley stood. He looked and sounded angry, and I couldn’t help but feel gratitude toward him, even if he was the reason I was in this position.

“Boss!” Riggs quickly backed away from me, and as soon as he did, I pulled up my pants and went to Victor, who was still on the floor.

“I asked a fucking question,” Sheriff Finley thundered.

“Riggs sent his son in to lose his virginity with Dyana,” one of the Deputies, Harris, answered. “They came back out and said they slept together, but they were lying, so Riggs was going to show his son how it’s done. He seemed to be keen on making it hurt.”

I didn’t know why Harris was being so forthcoming. Harris was one of the officers who liked it rough. Figuring out his motives wasn’t my top priority, but I’d keep a closer eye on him.

“Is this true?” Finley asked Riggs.

“I was trying to give my boy a chance to become a man,” Riggs defended.

“Everyone here knows Victor is gay, Riggs. Forcing him to fuck Dyana isn’t going to change that.”

Some officers snickered, and I distinctly heard someone in the crowd say, “Some of us know better than others.”

Riggs turned red, and the look he gave his son made it clear he had heard the comment.

“I’ve warned you about your behavior before,” Sheriff Finley said with a heavy sigh.

“This world may have fallen apart, but it’s our responsibility to uphold the law and maintain our society.

” I nearly scoffed at his hypocrisy. But it was worse than that.

He honestly believed what he said. “You’re not to go near Dyana for two weeks.

Take Victor home, and if I see a mark on him, you’re fired, and your continued residency will be at risk. Do you understand me, Riggs?”

“Yes, Sir,” Riggs replied tightly. “Let’s go, boy.”

Victor nodded slightly at me, silently acknowledging what he had promised. I knew I’d bring him with me if he could get me out of there.

Present

The door opening pulled me from my thoughts about Victor. I turned as Cora’s men walked inside, followed by Jack and the other two men. Already, I felt my sanctuary shrinking.

Cora stepped in front of me to get my attention. “If you are completely opposed to this, tell me now. We’ll figure out different arrangements. Maybe you could move into the bunker? But, I have to say, having them here will be helpful now that I’m pregnant again. You get the final say here, Dy.”

I appreciated her giving me a choice, even if it was a fallacy.

Looking at her men, I knew this wasn’t up for debate.

And I understood why. Overlooking their satisfaction from forcing me into this, Isaac especially, I knew they were only thinking about their family and what would benefit them most. Having more men around would do that.

And knowing how protective they were of Cora, I knew they wouldn’t bring just anyone around.

Not unless they were confident they wouldn’t be a threat to her or Johnny.

They didn’t much care for me. I couldn’t blame them.

“It’s fine,” I replied. “Selfishness has no place in the apocalypse, right?”

Cora hugged me. “If it’s too much or you change your mind, just let me know.”

I nodded and stepped away from her to face my new roommates. For now, I avoided looking at Jack and focused on his friends. “Who are you two?”

The giant blonde grinned as he stepped forward and held out his hand. “My name is Bryce. His name is Evan. We all attended the same college, although I don’t think we had the pleasure of meeting you back then. We were on the football team with Jack.”

I took his hand as his glittering blue eyes sucked me in and held me captive. “Probably not. I didn’t spend much time with football players in college. I took my studies seriously.” I winced at my harsh words. Bryce wasn’t the one I was mad at. “I’m sorry.”

Bryce’s smile never faltered. “It’s quite all right, Dyana. I know we’re intruding on your space. Thank you for letting us stay here.”

I nodded. “I’m willing to try it and see if it works out.

That’s my bed,” I said as I pointed to the mattress in the corner of the room.

“You aren’t welcome in it. I’m not cleaning up after you.

If it’s in my way and you don’t take care of it when asked, I will toss it over the railing.

Space in here is limited, and I don’t want to trip over a bunch of crap. ”

“Understood,” Bryce replied.

“We’re just happy to have a safe roof over our heads,” Evan said. His shaggy brown hair and moss-green eyes matched the calming energy he exuded. "We have sleeping bags and are used to roughing it.”

Finally, I looked at Jack, my first love, and the man who had shattered my heart and dreams. He returned my gaze with a steady stare, and the longer it dragged on, the more self-conscious I became. “Ok, Doll,” he said moments before I started to fidget, “you’re the boss.”

The familiar pet name chiseled at the cracks in my heart, scraping away the scabs to let them bleed. “Don’t call me that,” I growled. “I’m not your Doll anymore.”

Jack smiled at me. “We’ll see about that.”

I glared at him but kept my mouth shut. I wouldn’t take the bait and give him the satisfaction of an argument.

Jack knew the quickest way for me to get over something was to push my buttons until it exploded out of me.

While I wasn’t the same person Jack once loved, that part of me hadn’t changed.

Since we never had that fight, I had a lot of pent-up feelings regarding how our relationship ended. I wasn’t ready to let those go.

“Well then, since this seems to be settled, I think we’ll get Cora home and off her feet,” Trent announced. They ushered Cora out of the tower and left the four of us in awkward silence.

I went to the dresser Cora had insisted the guys build me and opened the three empty bottom drawers.

“You guys can have these drawers. The pullout couch works, but it isn’t very comfortable.

If you need hot water, flip this switch to turn on the water heater; just don’t forget to turn it off when you’re done.

Make yourselves at home. I have some projects I need to finish today. ”

Every week, I baked the bread we would need for the upcoming week.

It was one of the ways I earned my keep around here and gave back to Cora for allowing me to stay.

As it turned out, I was good at making bread.

This week, I was making sourdough loaves and dinner rolls.

Cora had also asked me to make her some biscuits, so I planned to do a double batch.

I ignored them for the rest of the day as best I could, but I could feel their eyes on me.

“Where did you learn to bake?” Jack asked as I removed the first batch of biscuits from the oven. His surprise was obvious.

“I’ve learned a lot since you last saw me, Jack. Why wouldn’t I have learned to bake?” I asked.

“I wasn’t trying to offend or upset you, Do—Dyana. I was just surprised that you can. Your famous dish was boxed mac and cheese when we were together.” I glared at Jack. “It was the best mac and cheese I ever had,” he quickly added.

“I’m not the girl you used to know anymore, Jack. The sooner you accept that, the easier cohabiting will be.” I moved the biscuits to a cooling rack, added the next batch to the sheet, and popped them in the oven.

“Hey, Dyana?” Bryce asked, his eyes glued to the steaming hot biscuits. “Do you think we could have a biscuit? I haven’t had any since before the world fell apart.”

I nodded toward the fridge. “There’s butter in the fridge and honey in the pantry. Help yourselves. I’ll whip up another batch.”

“I bet there are some things that haven’t changed,” Jack argued. “I remember everything about you, Dyana. And I’m excited to learn things I don’t know, but you’ll always be that girl to me.” He reached for a biscuit, but I snatched it away before he could.

“Ok, smarty pants,” I said, holding the biscuit up like I was dangling a carrot. “What’s my favorite color?”

“Ohhh, trivia! I love trivia!” Bryce said as he placed the butter on the table and took a seat. His eyes bounced between me and Jack as he waited to see what would happen next.

“You don’t think I remember your favorite color?” Jack asked in amusement. “Doll, you should have gone for a tougher question.”

I bristled at the name, but my only response was a raised brow.

“I’m putting my money on sunset orange,” Evan said as he joined his friends at the table.

“Nah, it’s green. Like a jade green,” Bryce replied.

Both of them acted like this was the greatest source of entertainment ever, and considering it’s the apocalypse, it might be.

“You’re both wrong,” Jack replied. “Dyana has never been that basic. Your favorite color is the color of wet mud, but most people call that taupe.” Jack was smug as he reached for the biscuit and plucked it from my hands. He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t entirely correct either.