JAXON Her soft hazel eyes glisten with fresh tears when I ask her the question. I frown, and my grip on her hand tightens. Malachi reaches for my shoulder, but I don’t respond to him. If that motherfucker laid his hands on her… Sarah slowly tries to pull away from my grip, but it’s only when Malachi squeezes my shoulder that I let her. I watch with keen eyes as she wipes her tears with the back of her palms. I stay silent despite the storm brewing inside me. Hoping, praying—fuck! I don’t even believe in that, but I need her to say the word, the name I’m itching to hear. That’s the only way I’ll be able to put an end to his stupidity…for good. When she drops her hands to her sides, she looks up at us. Her eyes fall on Malachi first, and I don’t look at him, but I know his eyes have silently warned her not to speak, at least not yet. Slowly, she turns to Ronan, and I can feel that he’s done the same thing. Her eyes finally land on me, and she forces a smile. “It’s nothing serious, Jaxon. Just…” she pauses to clear her throat. “Work stress.” BULLSHIT. EVERY FUCKING WORD OF IT. I force a smile, leaning backwards into my seat. “You’re not a very good liar now, are you?” Her eyes widen in shock, but before she can speak, Roman sits up. “Are you alright, kitten? Do you need anything?” She sniffs in her tears and shakes her head. I can see the tears she’s fighting behind her soft hazel eyes shaped like that of a dove’s. Sarah Wellspring is beautiful in every way a woman can be… in every way a person can be. From the wild cascade of red waves that crown her head to the delicate curve of her small, perfect feet. She is art, poetry, and fire wrapped in soft delicate skin. Her soul is a beautiful balance—peace laced with fury, overflowing with a love so deep it could drown you. We want to be the ones she drowns. How could anyone ever think to hurt her? How could that bastard bear to touch her with hands only fit to touch the dirty whores he disrespects her with? If she were ours, we would never let her forget what it feels like to be wanted…truly wanted. Not owned. Not tolerated. Desired, utterly and completely.By the heavens. We want her. We want her more than We’ve ever wanted anything. So I do not understand why my brothers are so reluctant to do what needs to be done. They keep holding her like she’s fragile. She’s not. She’s fire. And I don’t care if I get burnt. If they won’t do what needs to be done, I will. I always fucking will—for her. “I have all I’ve got here,” she looks down at her plate of food. “Thanks. But you guys really didn’t have to come here. I can manage fine on my own.” “It doesn’t mean you have to.” Malachi replies. She shoots him a look I cannot explain, but he doesn’t budge. Ronan leans in next. “Listen, kitten. You said it yourself. We are your brother’s best friends. What kind of men would we be to see you like this and let you be?” “We want to be here for you. Why…why won’t you let us?” “Because I don’t need another man or men to swoop in and save me!” Sarah’s fist bangs the table. From the corner of my left eye, I see a waiter approach us, but Ronan dismisses him with a wave. “I trusted him, and with my entire life. I would have given…I would have given anything to make our marriage work. I would have…I…” Her tears begin to flow, making it impossible for her to speak. “He told her about it. The one secret we could have kept as a couple. It’s not even the women he slept with, it’s the fact that he didn’t…he didn’t…” A lump forms in my throat when she buries her head into her hands and breaks into tears. Thankfully, the restaurant is almost empty. Ronan contacts the manager and pays to make sure that no one steps in until Sarah is calmer. We know how much she hates for other people to see her cry. The fact that she’s letting herself show this much emotion in front of us shows she trusts us, and we do not take it for granted. “Maybe if I could give him what he wanted…” “No.” I cut in. “Stop right there.” I feel Ronan and Malachi’s eyes on me. And I ignore it. “You are not going to blame yourself for his bullshit, Sarah. Not while you’re seated in front of us. He wasn’t good for you. You knew he wasn’t good for you. Yet, for some fucked up reasons, you stayed and let him continue to treat you like shit.” I hate it. I hate watching her cry herself into oblivion for a man that doesn’t deserve her. It reminds me so much of…her. Our mother. She wasn’t our biological mother, but she was the one who gave us a shot at life. Three of us, all nobodies from different homes. But she loved us like no one else ever could. And HE took her away from us. “It’s done, Sarah. It’s over. You better have your clothes in the car because you’re coming with us.” I was seething. She tries to speak. “You know what? Fuck it. Even if you don’t have your clothes, we’ll get you new ones if you bloody want us to. But you’re coming with us, kitten.” “Jaxon, I can’t possibly…” The rest of her sentence is cut short when I lean forward into the table to get a closer look at her. She bites her lower lip softly, and my throat bobs as I swallow hard. Not here. Not now. But fuck, does she make it hard to be good. I cannot be strict with her if I get a hard on whenever she does something as mundane as blinking. “You can and you will. You have us all wrong if you think we’re going to let you spend another night with that bastard.” Her lips spread into a small smile as she wipes away what remains of her tears. “My bags are in my car.” She says. And those are the sexiest words that have ever left a woman’s lips.