11. Tyler

Ihadn't expected to enjoy this as much as I was. From the moment I stepped into the forest, I'd been sporting a semi. Watching Layla kneeling by the tree as she tried to figure out her next move had finished the job, and now that I had her beneath me, I was consumed by the feral need to take her. Show her who she belonged to. Feeling how wet Layla was gave me the only green light I needed, even as she struggled beneath me to escape. If she hadn't been so turned on, I might have taken pause. Maybe. Luckily, that wasn't something I had to worry about. I ripped a larger hole in her leggings, baring her entire perfect ass. I pulled that ass into the air and forced my way inside her dripping pussy in one hard thrust.

"Fuck, you feel so good, Layla," I groaned. She answered with a moan as I began to pound her into the earth. I was unrestrained in a way that I never allowed myself to be. I was aware of the others standing around us, but they didn't try to join in. Instead, they watched as I fucked our girl and made her scream. Layla had stopped fighting me as soon as my cock pierced her, and now she was rocking back toward me, filling the forest with the sounds of her pleasure.

It didn't take long for me to come, and as soon as I had finished, Drew picked her up and bent her over one of the nearby boulders she had tried to escape over. He slammed into her and was just as relentless as I had been. I don't know if it was the night air or that we knew there wasn't anyone around for miles, but it allowed us to drop our guards and inhibitions. We hadn't discussed it beforehand, but we all seemed to decide not to take her together. To give each other this one-on-one moment with her in the wild. Colton and Sean took their turns with Layla still slumped over the rock. I'd lost track of how many times we already made her come. When it was Zach's turn, he carried her over to a large tree and fucked her against it. The bark had to be biting into her skin, but she didn't seem to mind as she came one final time around Zach, pulling him over the cliff with her. Zach's roar echoed through the forest as he came, slowly fading until the silence consumed us again.

Without speaking, Zach lifted Layla into his arms bridal style and started walking back toward the cabin. He carried her straight to the bathroom, and we all stepped into the shower, fully clothed. It only took seconds to finish removing Layla's ruined clothes. We sat her under one of the shower heads on the bench as the rest of us stripped out of our clothes, tossing all of them into the corner of the shower. We'd deal with them later.

Layla was well fucked, which meant she was about as helpful as a baby bird when it came to caring for herself. Not that we minded. The opportunities to pamper her were so few and far between because she was so independent and stubborn that we cherished each one.

Colt and Sean supported her between them as Drew and Zach washed the dirt from her skin. I had the honor of washing her hair and took my time doing it.

I first picked out the twigs and leaves from her brown locks. I worked her mango shampoo into a lather and massaged her scalp. A moan slipped from her lips, and it was possibly more satisfying to hear it as I cared for her than it was when I was making love to her. Almost. After rinsing the shampoo, I worked conditioner into her hair, grabbed the comb she had left there from her previous shower, and combed it through. While I let the conditioner sit, I washed her back, noting the scrapes from the tree. I was relieved that they didn't look serious. I'd hate it if we ever actually hurt her.

Once we finished cleaning her up, I rinsed the conditioner from her hair, and we bundled her into a fluffy towel. I grabbed an extra one to dry her hair as Sean carried her into the bedroom. I found her wet brush among her toiletries already littering the bathroom counter and followed them. Drew already had water and snacks he was coaxing into her. Sean tried to take the brush from me, and I yanked it out of his reach before he could.

"I'm doing it," I growled. I was in charge of her fucking hair tonight, and nobody was taking that from me.

"You got to wash her hair," he complained.

I ignored him as I climbed onto the bed behind her and towel-dried her hair. Once I got the excess water out, I brushed her hair in long, slow strokes, soaking up every moment of this as I could. We needed to take a break like this more often. We spent nearly every minute of the day together, but we were always working. Coming out here and having the opportunity to slow down and exist together without any responsibilities makes me realize just how essential time like this was.

Sean brought out body lotion, and when I finished with her hair, Sean, Colt, and Zach rubbed it into every inch of her skin. We tucked her into bed and slid beside her when they finished. We only had one more day here before returning to Atlantic City, but I knew each minute would be engraved into my soul—memories of a pocket of time where everything was perfect.

We had only returned from the cabin for a few hours, and I already missed it. Jumping back into work had been more difficult than expected. I caught up on the progress of the shelter construction while I had been gone. Everything on that front was going smoothly, and the site manager gave me a tentative completion date. Once construction was finished, they would move on to the next one while the interior decorating team moved in and completed the project. I anticipated finishing all the shelters would take a minimum of a full year.

Now, I was figuring out what happened to Autumn's mom. The work nearly made me cross eyed, but I loved it. I love solving mysteries and figuring out how to put the puzzle pieces together. If I hadn't been born into this life, I might have become a police detective.

It was as Autumn had explained. One day, Jennifer Reed just up and disappeared without a trace. In her line of work, the possibility that a John or a pimp had murdered her was high. There was also a good chance that she had been abducted. Unfortunately, her disappearance hadn't been adequately investigated. The cops at the time assumed that she had abandoned Autumn. Autumn was adamant to this day that her mother would have never left her voluntarily. I agreed with the kid.

While they struggled and lived far from extravagantly, Jennifer worked hard to provide a comfortable life for Autumn. She was a prostitute but had recently started a job waiting tables at a local diner and even had a few hundred dollars in the bank. It wasn't much of a savings, but it was a start and a clear indication of her dedication to her child.

Suppose I chose to believe that she was abducted instead of murdered, which at the moment I did; there was only one question I needed to figure out the answer to find her. Was it her prostitution that got her into trouble or her new job? Prostitution is a high-risk occupation, but Jennifer had been at it for years. She was street-smart and an established hooker. She knew how to stay off the wrong person's radar and wouldn't take any unnecessary risks with a young child at home. That left the diner.

Sunrise Diner has been around for decades and tends to favor seedier clientele. All it would take was for Jennifer to attract the wrong person's attention. She was an attractive woman, and it was plausible that working in the diner had given her a false sense of security, and she had lowered her guard.

How the fuck was I supposed to prove that? It was a long shot that anyone still working at the diner worked there when Jennifer did. An even longer shot that they'd remember her given how short a time she had been there before her disappearance, but I had to start somewhere.

I grabbed my phone and keys, went to Layla's office, and poked my head in. "Hey, I want to check something out at the diner Autumn's mom worked at before she fell off the face of the earth. Want to come with me and grab lunch?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Layla replied. "I overheard Cordy talking about serving salads for lunch, and I'd much rather have a greasy cheeseburger and fries."

Layla spearheaded the never-ending war on healthy food in the house, which always made me grin. Cordy had tried to put oatmeal in her pancakes one morning, and Layla had tossed the whole plate out the back door after one bite. She had sent someone out for a pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich, and Cordy spent the entire time she was eating lecturing her about her not getting any younger and that, eventually, she'd have to start eating like an adult instead of a toddler. Layla had told her that if she tried to stick oatmeal where it didn't belong again, she'd ensure there was never any in the house.

"Well then, hurry up before we get caught sneaking out," I urged.

"Molly, do you want me to bring you back anything?" Layla asked as she grabbed her phone and joined me at the door.

"No thanks. I'm fine with salad," Molly replied without looking up. She didn't see Layla looking at her like she had three heads.

I grabbed Layla's hand and pulled her toward the garage. I wanted to get out of here before anyone knew we were leaving. Having lunch with her alone was a rarity. "Keith, we're heading to lunch and taking my car, but you can follow us," I told him as we passed him.

"Yes, sir," he replied.

While I wanted her alone, I wasn't stupid enough to take her to the wrong part of town, with Anton still wanting her head without backup. We climbed into my Mercedes, and while waiting for the front gate to open, I shot a quick message to the group chat.

I need to hunt down a lead regarding Autumn's mother. I brought Layla with me. We should be back in a few hours.

I hit send just as I drove through the gate and grinned. I gunned the engine, making our escape. Layla looked around as we got out of the car at Sunset Diner.

"This is where Jennifer worked?" she asked.

"Yep. She started a week before she disappeared," I replied. We went inside with Keith shadowing us and were shown to a booth in the back of the small diner. The seats were held together with duct tape and a prayer, but it smelled heavenly.

"Can I start you kids off with something to drink?" The waitress asked.

I looked up at the older woman with weathered eyes and leathery skin. This woman had seen some shit in her time on this planet. Could it be this easy? I opened my mouth to ask her about Jennifer when Layla kicked me under the table.

"Ouch!" I rubbed my shin and looked at Layla.

"Oh, sorry, honey," she said sweetly. "I didn't mean to kick you." Her sickly, sweet tone confirmed that the kick had been intentional.

"Can we just have a couple of Cokes, Tammy?" Layla asked, reading the woman's name tag.

"Coming right up," she replied, marking our drink order on her pad and walking away.

"What the hell was that for?" I hissed.

"You can't just come out and ask her about Jennifer," Layla hissed back. "Let's just relax. Chat her up a bit first. What are you ordering?" Layla picked up her menu to look it over, and I was forced to do the same. I had promised her this would also be a lunch date, so waiting a little longer to ask my questions wasn't the end of the world.

I picked up a menu and browsed through my options. In true diner fashion, the menu was massive, and they offered just about any type of food you might want. "I think I'll just get a turkey club with fries," I replied.

Layla wrinkled her nose in response as she flipped through the thick menu. I wasn't sure why she bothered. We both knew she'd get a cheeseburger and fries. Instead of pointing that out, I rested my chin in my hand and watched her.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked without looking up from the menu.

"Because I think you're pretty," I replied. An adorable blush crept up her neck to warm her cheeks, and I made a mental note to compliment her more often. We were always telling her how sexy she was and how much we wanted her, but we never told her she was pretty just because. We needed to do better.

When she reached the end of the menu and closed it, she said, "I think I'll get a barbeque cheeseburger and fries."

"Good to see you broadening your food horizons and trying new things," I teased.

Tammy returned with our drinks and took our orders. When she left to put them in, I finally looked around the diner. I wasn't sure that eating the food here was such a good idea based on the looks of the place. It had good reviews, though, and seemed to be one of the few places left in the city that hadn't attracted the tourists. It was probably because it looked like it was one rat away from the health department shutting them down. Still, sometimes the dirty, hole-in-the-wall places served the best food.

Keith was sitting in the booth behind us. I had heard him tell Tammy earlier that all he wanted was coffee. Insisting that he order food was pointless. He was on the job, and he took protecting Layla seriously, something I was eternally grateful for.

"So you really think this place has something to do with Jennifer going missing?" Layla asked as she sipped her Coke.

"I do. Or I hope that it does. If it isn't, I'm not sure how I'll start looking for her. The truth is that she's probably already dead, but for Autumn's sake, I'm trying to stay positive," I replied.

"Either way, she deserves to know what happened to her mom," Layla replied. A shadow crossed her eyes, and I reached across the table to take her hands in mine.

"How are you dealing with that?" I asked. "I know there always seems to be a lot going on, which makes it difficult to process things."

Layla shrugged. "What's to process?"

"Layla," I warned. "Shoving it down and ignoring it doesn't do any good. Talk to me."

Her sad brown eyes met mine. "On one hand, I know that I should feel some relief knowing that my mom didn't die because of me. Complication during childbirth is just a nicer way of saying your existence killed your mother. I should feel better about not being the cause of her death."

I stroked her hand with my thumb. "But?" I prompted when she hadn't continued.

"But it just makes me feel even sadder," Layla admitted. "It's just one more thing that they took from me. From my father. And proof that their loyalties were never with my father or me. It feels like my entire life was a lie."

"Not the important things," I replied softly. "And you can find some peace knowing your father died without learning the truth."

"That's true," she agreed, "but I can't help thinking I might have had a mother if it wasn't for his misplaced trust. And sometimes, that thought makes me feel angry at him. How could he have never suspected his men were working against him? I feel like there is a lesson for me to learn here; the only correlation I can see is not trusting anybody. And I don't like that."

"He was only human, baby. And humans make mistakes. Nobody suspected that they weren't loyal to the syndicate. Ever. They fooled generations. The only thing you can do is try to do better. Luckily for you, most of your top guys are your lovers and completely dedicated to every cell in your body." I winked at her, managing to coax a smile from her.

"That's true," she conceded.

"And you have the Renegades. You know that you can trust them," I reminded her.

Her smile grew as she thought about her best friends. It was odd that we hadn't met them growing up, but Layla went to an all-girls school, and the prep school crowd wasn't our thing. I kind of wish that we had been able to know them back then, but then again, Layla probably wouldn't have let us in on the big secret. Layla spent a lot more time plotting for her future than we realized. It made me wonder what her original plan for us had been.

Before I could ask, Tammy plunked our food on the table. "Let me know if you need anything else," she said.

"Thank you, Tammy." Layla smiled brightly at the sullen woman, and I wasn't surprised when her lips tipped up in a smile, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening. "Do you think you can do me a favor?" Layla whispered conspiratorially. She gestured to Keith behind us. "Could you bring my guard a cheeseburger and fries, too?"

Tammy glanced at Keith and then back to Layla. "So he is with you," she whispered back. "You're Layla Romano." She said it more like a statement than a question, and I instantly went on guard. It wasn't beyond the possibilities for Layla to be recognized, but it still put me on edge.

"Guilty as charged," Layla laughed.

"I told Betty I thought it was you, but she told me I was crazy," Tammy replied. "I want to thank you. My cousin was one of the girls you saved last month. I didn't think I'd ever see her again alive, and from what she told me, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have."

Layla blushed again. "You're so welcome, Tammy. I'm just trying to improve the world where I can. It was a group effort."

"With you at the helm, girl. Don't sell yourself short. I'll go put a rush on your man's order." Tammy rushed off, and I shared a look with Layla.

"She's right, you know," I told her. I popped a fry in my mouth and was pleasantly surprised it didn't taste like old grease. "You shouldn't sell yourself short. Without you, we never would have been able to save all those people, and we wouldn't be building shelters so that they have a safe place to stay while teaching them how to get back on their feet."

Layla cut her burger in half and didn't respond until she had taken a bite. "Sometimes I don't feel like I'm doing enough," Layla admitted.

"What more could you be doing?" I asked incredulously. I took a bite of my turkey club and moaned slightly as the flavors burst in my mouth. I hadn't expected it to be so good.

"I don't know," Layla laughed. "I keep trying to figure that out but keep coming up blank."

"Did it occur to you that the reason for that is that you're already doing everything that you can?" I asked.

"It has," she replied. "I dismissed the notion."

"Of course you did," I laughed.

Tammy returned to our area, carrying a plate with a cheeseburger piled high with fries, and brought it to Keith. "Your boss said to eat," she instructed before Keith could protest.

Layla looked around me and gave Keith a stern look, causing him to sigh deeply. "Thank you," Keith replied.

"How are ya'll doing over here?" Tammy asked as she paused by our table.

"Can I pick your brain?" Layla asked.

"Pick away. Not much up here," Tammy joked.

"Do you remember a Jennifer Reed?" Layla asked.

"Jennifer Reed?" Tammy pondered. "Younger woman? Trying to get off the street, right?"

"Yes!" Layla replied, grinning at me excitedly. We might find out what we need to know after all.

"Her daughter was one of the people who we rescued. Jennifer didn't come home one night, resulting in her daughter being placed in the foster care system, where she was sold," I explained.

"We just want to find her if possible, and from what we can tell, she was working here about a week or so when she disappeared," Layla added.

"I didn't know she had a little girl," Tammy replied. "Though, I shouldn't be so surprised. Everyone around here has a secret."

"Do you know if she had any others besides her child?" I asked.

"Yeah, a pretty big one," Tammy replied. She looked around the restaurant to ensure we weren't being watched before leaning down to whisper, "She isn't missing. She came in just the other day for dinner."

I looked at Layla and was sure my face mirrored her shocked expression. What the fuck did she just say?