Page 16 of One (The Towns Syndicate #2)

Ally

A soft kiss on my shoulder pulled me from sleep as I realized I was still with Boogie and King. I couldn’t help but smile as the naked body reminded me of our fun last night.

I missed them when we were apart. I didn’t realize how much I had missed them until we were together again.

The stress of running a town along with all the problems that had been popping up kept me busy and I was so exhausted at the end of the day I usually just passed out.

If I let myself miss them, I wouldn’t be able to run the town.

I would be back here every two days getting my fix, like a junkie.

“I know you're awake.” Boogie’s voice was still full of sleep.

“No, if I’m awake that means I have to be an adult and I’m not ready,” I groaned.

Boogie sighed and the sound felt so out of the ordinary, I opened my eyes to look at him. He looked tired and irritated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, getting up quickly.

“Nothing, just don’t want to go back to the real world,” he sighed again.

Sounds came from the kitchen as I realized it was just Boogie and I in bed. It was the first time I wanted to leave Christmas Town behind and come and live with Boogie and King. The thing is, why did I have to give up everything to make this work?

“Neither do I,” I said, lying back doing in the crook of his arm and I kissed his chest. “I didn’t think the distance would be so hard.”

“I didn’t either.” He agreed, but it seemed like he wanted to say more.

My phone rang with a catchy Christmas song and there was only one person that song was for. I sighed as I reached for my pants, answering it right away.

“Hello.”

“Ally,” the Mayor purred. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing well and you?” I asked, sitting on the bed, feeling exposed.

“Good, Good, I just wanted to see how things were going for you? I was just sent numbers last night and they are good,” she said, as papers rustled softly.

“Things…” I paused, not knowing what to say since Boogie was right behind me and I didn’t want him to know about the attack from a week ago.

“Keeping things from me doesn't keep my trust in you,” she snapped.

“I’m not,” I said quickly. “Men are irritating and proving myself is getting tiring. It’s a never-ending pissing contest and I’m one man away from blowing someone's head off, consequences be damned.”

The Mayor laughed. “If you didn’t feel like that, only then would I be worried. This world was built by men and god forbid we make something of ourselves and do it better than them.”

“I think that's what pisses them off the most is that I am doing it better than Nic and that I won't tolerate their disrespect," I sighed. “I heard about Shepard, that man thinks he is god’s gift to this earth, and I am glad you told him to go fuck himself, but I don’t think he was behind the attack,” said the Mayor.

“Lance and Arthur don’t think he was either,” I said, as a warm body pressed up against my back.

“If you need any woman power I am more than happy to send you some, and if you need me to, I can go to the next meeting with Shepard,” she said, as I heard another voice speaking to her. “He will be back, he has no choice if he wants good product, and someone who won’t fuck him over.”

“Thank you for the offer.” I leaned back into Boogie as he kissed my shoulder. “Arthur said to give him two weeks, so let’s see if he reaches out in a week.”

“He will,” she said, sounding distracted. “Did you look at the files I sent you?”

I froze wondering if Boogie could hear. The files she was talking about weren’t just my family files, but his too and I didn’t know if he’d want to know about them. Lance did his research, Boogie only had one surviving relative. He checked and double-checked.

“I did, thank you,” I said quickly. “I still don’t know what to do, but I’ll hopefully figure it out. Thank you.”

“Ok, keep in touch, I’ll visit soon,” she said before hanging up.

“The Mayor?” Boogie wrapped his arms around me.

“Yeah, she heard about my run-in with Shepard,” I said, as King came into the room with two cups of coffee.

“I think this is how you like your coffee,” King said, and handed the cup to me looking a little sheepish.

I took my cup realizing we didn’t have many mornings like this. One of us was usually running out the door or someone was coming into my bedroom.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” I said, taking a sip and it wasn’t sweet enough for me, but I’d take it like this over it being too sweet.

Boogie laughed and I thought I hid my grimace. He tradedme cups and I drank his, it was perfect.

“Now I know you and Boogie are sweet coffee drinkers,” King said before goingback to the kitchen.

“We can’t all drink it black like our souls!” I yelled.

“Life’s too short to drink bland-ass coffee,” Boogie grimaced as he drank my coffee.

King returned with a tray full of breakfasty stuff and some sugar for Boogie. We dug in, eating in relative silence, and it was comforting until I thought about the file and how I should tell Boogie. Waiting felt wrong even if I knew he might not like what I had to say.

“The Mayor found my family,” I said, as I finished off my eggs.

One looked at me with wide eyes and the other with a stoic expression. Boogie was the guarded one and I instantly felt more nervous.

“Where are they?” King asked.

“They are in Oregon,” I sighed, grabbing a blanket and wishing I had put clothes on for this conversation.

“My parents and one of my brothers died of an aggravated assault a few years after I was taken. One of my brothers seems to have done well for himself; he’s got a wife and kids.

My youngest brother hasn’t done well, drugs and numerous run-ins with the law. ”

“I’m sorry, Doll,” King said, grabbing my hand.

“Are you leaving?” Boogie stared at me.

“No, but I've been thinking about reaching out,” I said, squeezing King's hand. “Even if it's just to say I’m alive.”

Boogie’s brows furrowed and I wondered if he had ever thought about doing the same.

“I think a phone call might be the best place to start,” King said, glancing at Boogie.

“I don’t know if I could ever face them, but just thinking of my brother having kids makes me?—”

“Makes you wonder if you could have a place in the real world,” Boogie whispered.

“Or if it's even worth letting them know I’m alive,” I said truthfully. “I’m not the little girl who was stolen anymore.”

Boogie looked lost in thought, and I knew I just had to ask.

“Do you ever think about finding your family, Boogie?” I asked softly.

“Boogie doesn’t remember his?—”

“Liam Jensen,” Boogie said, interrupting King.

I tensed when he said his real name.

“I thought you didn’t remember who you were?” King looked shocked.

“It just hit me,” Boogie growled.

“That means we can look for you in the missing children's database and?—”

“The mayor found your information and gave me your file,” I interrupted King.

Boogie glared at me. “Don’t tell me anything.”

“I can give you the file and?—”

“No!” he shouted and got off the bed. “They don’t need me tainting their lives or hearing about what their brother and son went through.”

He put on his clothes roughly.

“We don’t have to do anything with the information,” I said, as I slipped on one of their shirts, not wanting him to leave. “I just wanted to give you the option, in case you wanted to see Atlas.”

He grabbed me by the shirt and abruptly pulled me forward as King stood up.

“Boogie…” King said in a warning tone.

“Burn that fucking file and forget about what you saw,” he snarled and pushed me back. “No good will come from them knowing about me.”

I lost my balance and fell on my ass. He grabbed his gator, slipped it over his head and grabbed a jacket before leaving the trailer.

King sighed and reached for me to help me up. I didn’t know what to say, a part of me knew I had fucked that up.

“Boogie doesn’t do well with the past,” he sighed. “I wish you'd come to me first, but we might have gotten the same reaction.”

“I had a feeling this might happen, but I—” I sighed. I knew this was going to happen and I still pushed the issue. “I should have kept my mouth shut and just given him the file.”

King pulled me into his arms, and I leaned my head against his heart.

“Maybe we can talk about it in a few weeks.” King kissed my head.

I shook my head. “I don’t want him to have any more pain. His family was torn apart much like mine, but I thought maybe seeing his brother would?—”

I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know what I thought it would do.

“I think I was selfishly thinking that maybe we could see our families together,” I sighed. “That sounds stupid.”

I pushed King away to look for my pants and shirt.

“It’s not stupid. Boogie and you went through some fucked up shit being ripped from your families,” he said as he grabbed a pair of sweats and put them on.

“You’ve done this all alone and now that you have someone who has gone through what you went through, it's not stupid to want to find comfort in each other, especially going back to your families.”

My lip trembled as I put my bra on and pulled my shirt on.

“Doll.”

“I’m fine,” I snapped, grabbing my shoes to slip them on.

“Ally.” King growled.

“I'm fine,” I snarled, and grabbed my coat.

“You’re not.” He grabbed my upper arm and pulled me back as I tried to run for the door.

I looked away as a wave of emotions hit me.

“It’s ok, not to be ok, you don’t always have to be ok,” he said. He grabbed my face in his large hands and made me look up at him.

His brown eyes were soft with understanding, it was almost jarring since I was used to seeing violence and dominance in them.

“I don’t know what you’regoingthrough and I can’t give you the understanding that he can, but I can still be here for you.

” He leaned his forehead against mine. “I can be the rock you lean on when life gets too hard, but you have to let me try or give me the opportunity. I can’t be what you or Boogie need if you shut me out. ”

I relaxed in his embrace.

“We forget that we don’t walk alone in our darkness,” I whispered.

“I’ll never leave you alone in your darkness,” he said against my lips. “I will stand by you until you are ready for the light and even if you aren’t, I thrive in the darkness, Doll. I was made in the shadows, and I will protect you anywhere.”

I crushed my lips against his wishing I didn’t have a past that constantly ruined my future.

“Don’t ever give up on us,” I said, in between kisses.

“Never,” he growled, deepening the kiss, reminding me that I wasn't alone anymore. I’d always have them, even during the hard days, but I had a feeling that we had a lot of hard days ahead of us.

“Mommy!”

They held me down as another man took the previous man's place. The smell of cigarettes and alcohol made my eyes water as a large man leaned on me.

“So pretty.”

I gagged as he pet my back and the sound of a zipper and laughter echoed.

“Please,” I cried.

“Beg, I love when they beg.”

Hands slid up my legs as I tried to move but too many people were holding me down and…

“Ally.”

“Wake up.”

“It’s just a dream.”

I woke up screaming, hands were holding me and I pushed them away, scrambling away till my back hit a solid surface.

“It’s just us.” The triplets held their hands up.

My heart pounded as I looked around the room, my brain was sluggish as I realized I wasn’t back in that room where Kris used to keep me for his “Poker Night”.

It was the second night this week that I had had a nightmare about my past except this time, I remembered what I had dreamt about. The feeling of being held down made me shiver and it seemed I woke up the triplets this time.

“Are you ok?” Maverick asked softly.

“Y-yeah.” My voice was raw from screaming.

Ruger got up from thebed and left the room abruptly as Winchester and Maverick stayed.

“Want to talk about it?” Winchester asked.

“You want to hear how I was passed around during Kris’s poker nights when I was younger?” I whispered, hugging my legs to my chest.

“Give us names and we can bring their heads on a platter for you,” Maverick said, a gleam in her eyes.

“I wasn’t privy to names, and I was usually held down,” I said, as Rugger came back into the room.

He had a water bottle and a cup of tea along with a few snacks.

“Chamomile,” he grunted, leaving the cup on the nightstand and opening the water bottle before he handed it to me.

I nodded, grabbing the water bottle and taking a few sips.

“You need anything else?” Ruger asked.

I shook my head, feeling vulnerable that they saw me at my weakest, but I didn’t want them to leave just yet.

“Have you seen Christmas Vacation?” Maverick grabbed the remote to my TV and turned it on.

“No, I haven’t,” I said, as Winchester and Ruger got on the bed too.

“It’s a Christmas staple that you have to watch and I cannot in good consciencenot let you watch it,” Maverick said, getting comfortable as she searched for the movie.

“Ok,” I said, as I forced myself to relax. I was grateful that they weren’t leaving me and we weren’t dwelling on my nightmare.

I untangled myself as Ruger leaned against the headboard, his shoulder pressed up against my own, passing my tea to me as Winchester laid his head in his lap.

Maverick snuggled closer with her back against my legs, and I put a pillow under her head.

Winchester threaded his hand through hers and as I watched them get comfortable with each other, it tugged at my heart strings.

I knew they weren’t related, but the triplets always seemed to function as one. It was a bond I had never seen before and at first, I thought they were together romantically and maybe they were, but something told me what they had was deeper than that.

I drank my tea as we watched the movie. Winchester laughed the most, Maverick snorted, and Ruger mostly rolled his eyes at the other two, but I saw the amusement in his eyes. The movie was ridiculous, but that's what made it funny, it was exactly what I needed to forget about my dreams.

The tea relaxed me, and I leaned my head on Ruger's shoulder as the parents in the movie frantically decorated their home for their daughter who decided to come to Christmas at the last minute.

Fuck that, I would have taken the cruise as my eyelids grew heavy and the comfort of having the triplets close by lulled me to sleep.