Page 17 of One (The Towns Syndicate #2)

King

I t was too early to be up, but if we wanted to make it to Ally before the snowstorm then we had to leave at four in the morning. The morning sun felt good as we rode the last leg of the trip to Christmas town, it quickly disappeared as the storm rolled in.

Boogie was driving a little too fast, but he woke up anxious to get to Ally already. Since he had walked out on us five days ago, he had been on a mission, and until today I had no idea what that mission was. Boogie didn’t ever apologize and this was as close as we were going to get to it.

The town slowly came into view as the first few flurries started to fall.

We took the road to the back of the compound, entered our code and opened the new gate that had just been installed.

Before I had my helmet off, Boogie was already knocking at the door.

We messaged Lance this morning before we took off, and hopefully he was already up.

He knocked again as he held his phone up to his ear.

I walked up and it opened abruptly with a disheveled looking Lance glaring at us.

“It’s seven-thirty in the morning,” he grumbled.

Boogie didn’t say anything but pushed his way past Lance.

“He’s anxious to see her,” I said, clapping his shoulder.

“Whatever,” he said, as he locked up, reset the alarm and walked away from me.

I chuckled as I followed Boogie and ran into him as I walked into her room.

“Damn don’t they look cute,” Boogie whispered.

“Who looks cute?” I looked over his shoulder, growled, and pushed Boogie out of the way.

“King,” he sighed.

The triplets were in bed with Ally. Maverick was spooning her as Winchester faced her with Rugger behind him on his back. Maverick smirked at me as she pulled Ally closer to her.

“Get the fuck out of her bed,” I snapped, at the foot of the bed.

“Hey.” Ally grinned sleepily at me. “I've missed you.”

She held out her hand to me. She looked so fucking adorable, I wanted to stop being mad and join her in bed.

“I’ve missed you too, Doll.” I leaned over and kissed her hand.

She grinned.

“The rest of you get the fuck out of her bed,” I growled while I looked at each of them.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist.” Winchester rolled his eyes as he stretched out in the bed while Ruger got up cracking his neck.

“I think I’m fine right here.” Maverick snuggled into Ally who laughed.

I unzipped my jacket ready to grab my gun when Boogie pulled me towards him.

“Come on guys, daddy doesn’t like it when you sneak into mommy's bed without him,” Boogie scolded them like they were his children. “Behave.”

Boogie kissed me quickly as the triplets got off the bed.

“Good morning, Doll,” he said hesitantly as he climbed into bed with her.

I wanted to follow him except they needed a minute alone. Maverick smirked at me as she passed me and if Boogie or Ally wouldn’t mind, I’d fucking strangle her. Ruger glared at me as I followed them out, like he knew what I was thinking.

If I had to kill them all then so be it, because they were getting on my last fucking nerve. As Ruger left the room, I slammed the door on them but one of the fucking shit’s head stopped the door.

“I’m not in the fucking mood for any more of your fucking antic this?—”

“She’s having nightmares,” Winchester interrupted. “She screamed so loud last night we thought she was being tortured.”

I paused at the new information, searching his face for any hint of a lie.

“It was the second night this week,” Ruger said. “The first night she woke up before we could help her but last night, it was like she was stuck in her nightmare.”

“We didn’t want to leave her alone, we know what it's like to be alone in your worst nightmare, and especially after we heard what Kris used to do to her,” Maverick growled. “We won’t let her suffer alone.”

“Do we know what triggered the nightmares?” I asked.

‘Thank You’ was at the tip of my tongue, and I didn't know if I wanted to utter those words yet.

“Not that we know of,” Winchester said. “If they persist, I can offer her a light sedative and see if it helps.”

“Offer, don’t force her and only light, we can’t have her impaired in case something happens at night,” I said wondering what happened in the last few weeks to trigger her nightmares. “Could it be what happened with Shepard?”

Ruger shook his head. “I think we would have seen this happen sooner.”

“Unless her nightmares are getting worse and we are barely noticing,” Maverick said, biting her lip. “She did say she hadn’t been sleeping well last week.”

“I’ll talk to Boogie, but we have a solution that will keep her from sleeping alone and safe,” I said. “But thank?—”

“Oh, boss man, we can keep your woman safe and make sure her bed is never empty,” Maverick chuckled.

“And here I thought we were going to get along,” I deadpanned.

“We would do anything for her,” Ruger said, a promise in his gaze that made me feel better. “We will go check on the house for you.”

He was the most serious of the three, which made me feel better. I nodded, not surprised Boogie had already told them before I closed the door. Even though they irritated the shit out of me, their loyalty to Boogie extended to Ally and I couldn’t be more relieved.

“It was selfish of me?—”

“It wasn’t selfish.” Boogie interrupted Ally. “I don’t think I can see my family. I’m not the same man I was, and I’m not a part of the same world they live in.”

Ally nodded as I walked to them. “I think the same thing. I’m not the sweet sister they used to know but I don’t know, maybe even a distant relationship is better than not having one. If you ever decide you want to talk to your family, I will be there if you need me.”

Boogie nodded. “Maybe one day.”

“Now what the hell are you doing here so early?” She looked up at me.

“We have a surprise for you,” Boogie said, giving her a kiss. “Dress warmly, we leave in twenty minutes.”

Ally narrowed her eyes on us, but I zipped my mouth, excited to see her surprised reaction. She got off the bed, and headed to her closet as I made my way to the kitchen to grab us some coffee and food.

Ally met us out back in her leathers, her brows furrowed when she noticed I had the SUV open. The snowfall had gotten heavier and while I was ok driving in the snow, I didn’t like putting her at risk and besides, we had brought a few things with us that we couldn’t carry on our bikes.

“It’s snowing, Doll,” I said, closing the trunk. “I don’t feel comfortable riding with you in the snowstorm either.”

Ally pouted. “I was hoping to ride you. I mean ride with you.”

“Uh huh.” I leaned down to kiss her.

I would have feasted on her against the SUV if the gust of cold hadn’t hit us and reminded me that we were about to get a foot of snow.

“Get your ass in the car,” I said, and spanked her.

“Yes, sir,” she purred, walking to the passenger side.

Boogie walked out of the compound with a few bags, and he jumped into the car looking like he was ready to crawl out of his skin because he was anxious. I caught the door before he slammed it shut, kissed him hard in an effort to ease the chaos in him.

I got into the driver's seat, pulled up the directions on my phone and was relieved it was only a shorter drive. Ally played Christmas music and opened a bag that had a bunch of Christmas snacks, including sugar cookies she and the triplets had made. They looked awful with more sugary decorations on them than there needed to be, but they didn’t taste half bad.

Ally sang along to most of the songs while Boogie grimaced at most of them until a few songs that sounded like dark Christmas versions came on.

He finally looked like he wasn’t constipated.

It might have been the half pound of sugar he and Ally had eaten but he had started to relax when I turned onto the driveway.

Boogie dove forward covering Ally’s eyes. “What the fuck, Boogie?”

I chuckled as she slapped his hand.

“Patience, Little One,” he growled. “I want you to get the full effect.”

The cabin came into view and even though I had only seen pictures, I was surprised at how good it looked.

I didn’t expect anything from Boogie, but a part of me was worried we might get scammed since he had literally bought it within a day of him beginning the hunt for a house.

The lights were on, and it looked like the triplets had turned on the fireplace.

I parked in front of the door, and hopped out as Boogie gave Ally instructions not to open her eyes.

He got out to help her. “Alright, Little One, open your eyes.”

She blinked a few times, focusing on the cabin in front of us.

“It’s ours,” Boogie said, when she stared at the Cabin. “I thought that since?—”

“You bought me a cabin?” she interrupted him.

“He bought us a house,” I said, as Boogie got tongue tied.

A small blush fell over his face, and I wanted to take a picture to remember this day.

“It’s right in the middle of us,” he said softly. “I thought this might be?—”

Ally launched herself at him and kissed him, effectively cutting off his words. He groaned as she ran her hands into his hair, deepening the kiss. My chest grew tight as I watched them together and the wind blew just right to swirl the snow around them; this moment began to feel a little magical.

Boogie grabbed me, and yanked me close, as Ally kissed me too. His cold nose brushed my cheek as I deepened the kiss, and Boogie kissed my jaw. Despite the cold, I felt warm all over as we all kissed together.

“I can’t believe you bought us a house,” Ally said against our lips.

“I don’t like being away from you, I can handle it for a day maybe two but going a whole week,” Boogie sighed. “I fucking hate.”

“It doesn’t feel right when you're not with us,” I said, nipping at her nose.

“This is an hour and a half from us and this will be easier for us to come and go from to see each other at least a few times a week,” Boogie said, holding Ally closer as she shivered. “I refuse to be apart from you for more than a few days.”