SARAH Hours. I’m not certain how many, but that’s how long I predict Nel stays glued beside me, tapping my back to award me some type of comfort while I bawl my eyes out—heart constricting painfully in my chest, seizing my breath, my very life’s essence. “I don’t understand, Nel.” I burst out at regular intervals. It’s only one sentence among a host of other things I want to say, questions I need to ask. Of what use will it be to ask him? The poor young man only shakes his head, saying nothing. What could he possibly say? He knows close to nothing about the type of man Aaron Connor truly is, the things he’s done to me. The knock on the door is the only thing that pulls my head from the warmth of my palms. “Who is it?” I try to scream, but my throat throbs in pain. Nel seems to notice this. He gets up and walks towards the door. My eyes are on him for as long as they can be. He peeks out of the small corridor, into the living room where I’m seated. “It’s the HawkThornes.” He says. Relief comes in waves, flooding my chest, soothing the ache in my heart and head. It’s hard to tell where my sad tears ended and where the happy ones started. I nod, biting my lip to stop me from breaking down into loud sobs. Somehow, I’m always on their radar. They never fail to be able to tell when something is wrong with me, and they never hesitate to come to my rescue. It happened the day I found out about Debbi Rose and Aaron—that she was pregnant with a child that turned out not to be his, and now…they’re here again. Once the door clicks open, they all rush in, pushing past Nel and hurrying towards me. I can sense the panic in their quick struts, the fear in their stances as they take their places around me. In a matter of seconds, I’m surrounded by the three men I love the most. “You can go now,” Roman says to Nel. The young man, however, keeps his eyes on me, waiting for my approval. He doesn’t move an inch until I nod weakly, swollen eyes approving Ronan’s order. Nel bids me goodbye, tells me he can’t wait to have me back in the office, and turns his back to leave. The door softly clicks behind him, and Jaxon locks my fingers with his. “Hey baby.” He speaks softly, bringing his mouth to the top of my right ear. The warmth sends shivers down my spine—hot and cold in all the best ways. My previously tense shoulders relax when Malachi’s long and lean fingers wrap around them. He slowly works his way through the tension built up in the muscles beneath my soft skin. For a brief moment, everything is alright in the world again. “You came.” I sniff. “We will always come, kitten.” I stare into Ronan’s eyes, blue as the ocean. He lowers himself before me, warm palms cup both sides of my cheeks after tucking the wolf strands of hair behind my ears. My ponytail is an absolute disaster. His eyes search my face. Although I’m not quite sure what he’s searching for, I open up the door to my heart and my head, let them see and know what’s really going on. “I was going to call, he…” They know why I’m in tears, but they do not interrupt me, don’t ask me not to talk. They’re here for me, and want to listen. I shake my head. “He’ll be out of jail in ten years. I don’t understand. Why would they give that ruling?” I look up at Ronan, like the answers to my questions rest on his shoulders. “I should have testified. I was a fucking coward, and now…” My back meets the couch. “When he got arrested, I thought he had gotten the karma he deserved. In a way, I believed I had escaped facing the anger in my heart. I should have said my truth, I should have faced it.” “Baby,” Ronan smiles softly, sweetly. That, as little as it might seem, reassures and slowly grounds me. He squeezes my free hand. “You did say your truth during the press conference. The entire world was against you, ready to bury you right beside him but you stood firm. You held your own.” “But it wasn’t enough!” “Hey,” Jaxon’s fingers curl firmly around mine. “It’s okay.” Malachi is quiet, but he taps my shoulders in an effort to keep me calm. They don’t fully understand what’s happening yet, do they? It’s obvious the brothers came as soon as they heard, with little time to process what this fully, actually means for us, the danger I’m in. “It’s not.” Both hands find my stomach, and Ronan traces my movements with keen eyes. “You three don’t know him as much as I do. Shit, I barely knew the man either as it is. Aaron is horrible, bitter, vengeful. You can’t pay him enough to not ruin my life. Can’t you see?” My frustration grows with every sentence, every question. “Don’t you trust us, Sarah?” Malachi’s voice is calm and sturdy. There and then, I suck in a deep breath. “I do, I do. But…” a shaky sigh escapes my lips. As the seconds pass, I feel my chest tightening. The confusion and fear slowly dissipates, making room for something…hotter. “I don’t want him to ever make it out.” Ronan’s eyes widen. I don’t bother seeing the look on all their faces. His evident shock is more than enough for me. I swallow hard. This must be it, the darkness Kevin warned me about. The one that clouds your mind and poisons your heart, leaves you blind to any form of morality, and thwarts your sense of reasoning just to protect the people you love. “He can’t live.” I speak up, loud and clear, in case they didn’t hear me the first time. “Sarah,” Malachi pleads. THIS ISN’T YOU. It’s silent, but I can hear it. “I know, okay?” I turn to him. “I know you think I’m freaking out, and there’s nothing he can do to me. Maybe you’re right, but what about the kids? There’s only a number of places they can be guarded.” “He wouldn’t dare.” Ronan’s tone is dark, dangerous. “But he would. He lied to me, tortured me every way he could after giving me what I believed was the best one year of my life. I want him gone.” Then, I sit up. “I need him gone.” To Jaxon, “do this for me, please.” They exchange glances, then Ronan inhales and exhales. Whatever they have discussed in silence with their eyes alone, it’s in agreement with my request: Aaron’s head on a platter. They’ll do it. They’ll kill—for me. “You don’t have to ask us, kitten.” Jaxon smiles. “Your enemies are our enemies, remember?” I nod as a smile creeps up to my cheeks. It’s embarrassing, really. Tears in my eyes, snot in my nose. Jaxon pulls out a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his jacket. Why does he always wear them in this heat? “Here,” he gives it to me. “Blow in this.” He reached for the snot filled fabric when I’m done. My grip around it tightens, but he takes it regardless. “You haven’t eaten yet.” Malachi’s gaze is no doubt fixed on the pack of food on the table. “Understandable.” He leans in, his lips gently grazing my earlobe. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”Lips pouted, I fold my arms. “But I don’t wanna…” “Shhh…” Ronan picks me up from the chair and spoons me in his arms. He carries me up the stairs and into my bedroom. There, they slowly undress me, and with every brush of their hands against my bare skin, I melt under the heat of their touch, the intensity and hunger in their eyes. They want me, and by all the forces of the universe, I want them too. “Sit, I’ll run you a bath.” “Just me?” I drawl, settling into my bed naked—save for my yellow lace panties. Yellow is quite the color, now that I think about it. I lay backwards with my elbows pressed into the mattress, propping me up. I stretch my right leg forward and spread it wide open to reveal the wet patch in the middle of my lace. Ronan swallows hard, my men can’t take their eyes off me. “We could use the bathroom down the hallway. It’s spacious, you know,” I wink. “For four.” Malachi growls. “You haven’t eaten all day, baby.” As if that’ll stop me. My smile spreads even higher. “Maybe,” I rise to my feet, cupping my breasts with both hands and squeezing hard. “I’m hungry for something else.”