SARAH “Wait!” I call out. Malachi closes the door behind me and starts to walk away. They’re mad at something…maybe me, and I get it. But they cannot blame me for wanting to know what is going on. “Why won’t any of you talk to me? What’s happening? That was your father out there. Why don’t you want him to see me?” I turn towards Ronan who also has his back to me. Are they just going to let me stand there in the living room while they retire into their bedrooms? Yes. I know I was stubborn. Clearly, there’s something going on with their dad, and I shouldn’t have been here to see it. Still, I have. So I need them to open up to me. I’m here for them as much as they’ve been for me. Why? Why can’t they see it? “Is he gone yet?” Jaxon’s voice cuts through the heavy silence. As if on cue, we all look up at him. His eyes are heavy and red, with a certain forlorn, lost look on his face. There’s a tiredness in his voice, one that makes my heart ache. His shoulders are slumped as he slowly staggers down every step. I can’t take my eyes off him, but he doesn’t seem to notice me. Ronan straightens once Jaxon reaches the foot of the staircase. The defeat in his stance is gone. I watch as he rushes to Jaxon with his hands spread out. The latter falls into his arms, holding onto his brother like it’s all he needs to stand straight, to steady himself, to breathe. My hands squeeze the sides of my skirt as I watch them. The three brothers who have been through hell and high water, who will continue to be there for each other, with each other, no matter what. Lips parting slowly, I suck in a deep breath while trying to fight the tears that rush to the corners of my eyes. “He’s gone,” Ronan mutters slowly. “He’s never coming back.” “Liar.” Jaxon croaks. Ronan stiffens. I can tell by the way the muscles of his back move. Slowly, Jaxon’s tired brown eyes rise to find me. They widen in shock at first, before they fright I found in Ronan and Malachi’s eyes slowly settle into his. He frees himself from Ronan’s hold, and walks towards me. “What are you doing here?” That’s the third time I’m hearing this question tonight. He looks over at Malachi who’s standing beside me. “Did you bring her here? I asked Timothy to let her know the date was cancelled. Did one of you…?” “She came here with Timothy,” Malachi cuts in. “She must have made him drop her here when he went to deliver your message.” Without looking at him, Jaxon continues to probe me. “Why? Why would you do that? I tried to call you but I couldn’t. You still have us blocked on every possible place. Calling Kevin would have been suspicious, so I had to get Timothy to send you a gift and a note telling you we will explain it all in the morning. Why…?” He stops speaking as he closes the distance between us. Jaxon’s shoulders tremble as he stands in front of me. “Why didn’t you listen?” Good question. Except… “I didn’t know,” I reply. “I never opened the box.” A cold, empty laugh wrenches from Ronan’s throat. “Yet, you came all the way here without a second thought.” I frown at him. “I thought that…” “What?” When he turns to me, his blue eyes are narrowed into slits. He slips his hands into his side pockets, returning that aloof, careless expression to his face. “What did you think Sarah, that had you coming all the way here so late at night? Don’t lie to me.” Clearing my dry throat, I try to steady myself. My knees wobble from the intensity of his gaze. I can’t lie to him. Ronan HawkThorne would know. They mustn’t know the truth either. Yet, my fucking brain can’t think of anything to say for myself. I can’t make up any words or excuses. I’m so good at lying, but right here, in front of them, my tongue fails me. A small smile forms on Jaxon’s face. Slowly, he reaches for my right cheek. I hear him suck in a deep, tired breath before he speaks. “You thought we had someone else here, didn’t you?” My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. His words slice through me. There’s no use pretending after all. I mutter the only words that have been in my head since I realized they were mad at me. “I’m sorry,” Two words. Yet it’s enough to bring a certain calmness to the room that hadn’t been there before. “I’m sorry that I let my trust issues get the best of me even after I promised I wouldn’t. I just couldn’t help it,” My gaze shifts to Ronan, and his scoff makes my throat tighten. “I keep judging you through Aaron’s lenses, and that’s not fair. You three helped me stay afloat despite all the drama that came with him, and I’m grateful for that,” then to Malachi. “I really am.” “But?” Malachi raises a brow. I almost laugh. It’s funny how much he knows me. How much they know me. “But,” I continue to speak. “If there’s something wrong, I should know. And I know, okay? I know that men have this thing where they do not like to tell women their problems because it makes them feel weak or whatever…” Jaxon laughs, and Malachi follows. My face twists into a frown, but I continue regardless. “But I want to be here for you three. Everyone thinks you’re dangerous.” “And they’re right.” Ronan says. “But I know there’s more. I know that the world might see you three as dangerous monsters, but it’s only because that’s what you want them to see. I don’t know what your father did, but I know it must have been really bad.” My next words belong to Ronan, so I turn to him again. “You’ll never hurt someone who didn’t hurt you first.” His gaze softens. He heaves a tired sigh and points at the couch beside him. “Take a seat, we’ll tell you everything.” I can’t hide the happiness that comes from his words. He turns to Jaxon, “Get her a bottle of wine. She’s going to need it.” Whatever they have to say, I’m here for it all. For the next thirty minutes, Ronan and Malachi spend time telling me about their experiences growing up, while Jaxon silently rubs my right hand. Their mother adopted them from the same orphanage, but their father hated her for it. Stella Langford, their mother, came from a wealthy family. She eloped with Luke HawkThorne when she was nineteen, got pregnant, and had a miscarriage that took her womb. I find myself holding onto my stomach when Ronan narrates that part of the story. Knowing she couldn’t give birth anymore, she decided to adopt three boys when she turned twenty two. She was able to reunite with her older brother—Abel—after her father who didn’t approve of her relationship with Luke died. Through him, she was able to get her inheritance back, which she willed to the three of them since she had no children of her own. Luke, their foster father, became enraged. He treated her awfully because of it. Threatened her countless times, constantly nagged her, asked her to return the boys to the orphanage, even beat her for it. She never listened. She never gave them up. “On a fine weekend, she gave us five hundred dollars to spend in an arcade. It was Jaxon’s birthday the next day. She said she needed time and space to make his cake. She said the house was too rowdy with all three of us around,” his voice breaks, and Ronan raises his head to the ceiling with his eyes closed. He snaps his neck to the right, then left, before looking down at me. “When we returned, her dead body was dangling from the ceiling.” My eyes stretch in disbelief as the rest of my face freezes. I can’t believe it. They had to see that? Pain flashes in Ronan’s gaze as he watches me carefully. He’s haunting my eyes, looking for any sign of fear, of hesitation. He expects me to back away. Maybe he thinks I’ll find them too damaged. He’s in for a lot of surprise, because everything I’ve heard makes me want to stay even more. “Is that when he left?” I ask, putting up a brave face. I might not have been with them for very long, but I know the last thing they need from me is an apology or condolences of any sort. On hearing my question, Jaxon squeezes my right hand. Still, I don’t take my eyes off Ronan. I’m up to the task. I need him to know it. Ronan doesn’t hesitate to respond. “Yes.” He glances over at Jaxon. “We called the police and told them everything about his abuse, how he had threatened to kill her over and over again. The police searched for him, to interrogate him. But he was never found.” “We never saw him again,” Malachi adds. “Until today.” I sit up straight. “You could contact the police, tell them that he’s here.” “Too much time has passed,” Jaxon replies. “It’s been fifteen years. The case was closed. Her death was caused by suicide. We honestly don’t want to remember any of it. But his face…it brings it all back. That’s why we wanted you to stay away. We didn’t want him to see you. He’s not a…he’s not a good man.” He continues. I flash him a warm smile as I place my head on his shoulder. “Nothing is ever going to happen to me. Not when I have you three to protect me.” Ronan moves to sit beside me. Between him and Jaxon, I feel so warm, peaceful, happy. Malachi moves to put his hands around my shoulders as he leans in. I’m with the three of them, and I trust them with my life. Despite all Luke did to them, they never tried to hurt him, they let justice fight for them. Luke was the coward who tried to run away. Even today, they welcomed him into their home. I would have gunned him down on sight. Julian is wrong about them. Kevin is terribly wrong about them too. No one knows or loves them like I do. They’ll never ever hurt anyone.