34. Vaughn

Chapter 34

Vaughn

I linger outside Resa's bedroom. Garrison warned me to give her space when I rushed up the stairs. Blaine looked like he'd been about to.

But she was alone and upset.

She hasn't made one sound, but she's crying. I know she's crying.

It's agony to think of Violet, but with her, I was never alone. Part of what made being in juvie so much worst was the fact she wasn't there. I was five minutes older, but Violet liked to say I would treat her like it was five years.

Five years or five minutes didn't change the fact that I was her big brother. Part of what pushed me into being so stupid as to think I could get away with pickpocketing was her. I didn't care if I went to bed hungry. Didn't care if I got caught. Anything was worth it if it meant Violet would have what she needed.

Until the first night in the cell.

The first night of my two years away from Violet was hell. That's when I realized how badly I'd fucked up, and how used to I'd gotten to being a pair. Mom never forgave me for being so stupid, but Violet did. She understood why I'd done it, even if Mom didn't.

And I get it. I was an idiot. Violet always wanted to do what I was doing. Mom knew it wouldn't be long before Violet wound up in juvie just like me.

I get it. But I can't pretend it didn't hurt when I got out and I didn't have a home to go back to. I was on my own. Until I met Garrison and Blaine who gave me a home and a job when no one would touch me because of my past. Then Violet tracked me down, wanting to be with me instead of with Mom back in California.

I never left Violet alone when she was hurting, and she didn't do the same for me. To know Resa is hurting and to do nothing…

I lift my knuckles to knock again, and then I remember Blaine. He was hurting so much after the car crash. I pushed. And I pushed. And I pushed .

I lower my hand, not wanting to push so hard, I push Resa away. If she needs a little space for a bit, I can give her that.

I can try and give her that.

I walk back downstairs. No one has moved from the table, and Blaine is frowning as I sink into my seat. "I just wanted her to know I was sorry. And, uh, that I could kill the guy if she wanted."

"Vaughn…" Garrison rumbles.

"Yes, I know. I'm giving her space," I say. It's not easy to wait for her to say what she needs instead of asking, but I'm trying.

Blaine relaxes into his seat. "She'll come down when she's ready to speak to us."

I bite my tongue before I ask if that theory also applies to him.

I look at Garrison. "Are you sure I can't kill him?"

"Do you really want to?" he surprises me by asking.

I think of the man in the photograph. I didn't get any sign he was a bad guy. Nothing about him seemed cruel. Maybe he thought Resa wasn't coming back or was even dead. It's not the first time we've worked a case where someone disappeared and turned up months later to find the person they loved had moved on.

"No. But he hurt her," I say. He should have waited for her. Resa is a woman worth waiting for. How could he not?

Something about that woman upstairs hurting makes me want to bury a throwing star in the neck of whoever hurt her. The more I get to know her, the more that feeling grows, and the more I want to do something—anything—that will make her laugh and smile.

It's a strange feeling to have someone's happiness affect mine the way Resa's does.

I do things just to make her smile. Stupid things like extended stretches that nearly throw my back out because she does that half-smile, lip flattening thing that tells me she wants to laugh but is desperate to stop herself.

And she's so beautiful I have to keep reminding myself to stop staring.

"Has she said anything to you about a nest?" Garrison asks me, frowning.

I shake my head. So does Blaine when Garrison looks at him.

"I know Sadie said not to overwhelm Resa with anything new, but?—"

"She needs a nest," Blaine says, surprising me with his firmness. "She's not going to ask for one, and we've waited days now. But she needs a nest."

And if any omega needs the comfort of a nest right now, it's the one quietly crying upstairs.

Garrison takes a long draw from his mug and returns it to the table, pushing his chair back. "Get up. We're extending omega territory."

I stare blankly up at him. "But where?"

Lucas Security has taken up almost every room. If not with computers, then equipment. A six-bedroom mansion with all the isolation and security we were looking for in a building, and it's like a high-priced office the way we treat it.

A ballroom transformed into a meeting room and an elegant dining room we turned into a gym because we preferred to eat at the big dining table in the kitchen.

It's definitely more workspace than home at this point. That was okay before. We all worked hard to grow Lucas Security into one of—if not—the best in the business.

Now I look around, and I can't be the only one who sees a place not fit for an omega. It's work stuff, hard edges, masculine furniture, and black. A whole heap of black.

Nothing bright or feminine.

Absolutely nothing soft and snuggly to bring comfort to an omega.

Nothing that would make Resa think this was a home. She wouldn't when none of us do.

"The pool house," Garrison says suddenly.

It takes a second to remember we even have a pool house. The last time I was out there was… a while. A long, long while ago. Way before I started using Ever Safe as an excuse to stay away from the tension in the house. Probably when Violet was still alive.

"It's a space we don't use, and no one is in danger of walking in and surprising her. I know it's not much right now, but there's no reason we can't make it into something," Garrison says.

It's going to be a bigger job than any of us realizes. The walls were black. I think. Resa is pregnant. We can't have her inhaling toxic fumes in there. So if we're going to do something about all that black, we need to get odorless, fast drying paint.

At one point, we started using it as a dumping ground for stuff we didn't want in the house. Tools and other stuff I've forgotten now. I used to oil the wooden handles of my guns with lemon seed oil before I started using the attic. The damp towels in there are probably musty and have stunk the place up.

Yeah, this is going to be a really big job. But that's okay. Resa is worth it.

I push myself up from the table. "Let's go. No time like the present. Lex can stay close in case Resa needs us while we're out there."

And I have to admit, even saying it feels hard. I want to go up there again, knock on her door, check if there's something she needs.

"Good idea. Come on, then." Garrison gives my arm a squeeze before walking out first.

I hang back, leaving a couple inches between Blaine and me as I lower my voice. "So…"

He gives me a rapid glance and keeps walking. "I don't want to talk about it, Vaughn."

"About what?" I blink at him innocently. "What could there possibly be to talk about?"

When Garrison steps outside, Blaine stops and turns to fully face me. It's been years since Blaine hasn't shut me down. We spent hours in the gym sparring, then the car crash happened. Now, his usual tactic is avoidance.

This is new.

"You noticed, didn't you?" he asks.

Garrison must be wondering where we are. We were only a step behind him, after all. That he isn't immediately backing up to find out what we're doing must mean he knows we need to talk and is giving us the space to do it.

"I might have noticed something," I concede.

And that something was how increasingly hot and bothered Blaine was getting during the tail end of Resa's self-defense lesson. He came down still looking tense, which I attribute to the photograph of the fiancé he unearthed, rather than the other kind of tense that made him sprint out of the gym. I imagine he rushed upstairs to deal with the issue himself.

If only he knew how hot and bothered I was getting with her in my arms. The fear that Resa would realize and stop the lesson kept my mind on task.

His expression turns oblique. "Did Resa?"

I blink innocently at him. "Did Resa what?"

He leans closer, lowering his voice. " Notice ."

The fact he's leaning toward me instead of away is also new. "Notice what?" I feign misunderstanding.

His brow furrows. "Vaughn…" he growls.

"Okay, okay, I'm joking," I admit, peeking at the backdoor. Blaine is finally, actually, for the first time in years initiating a conversation instead of shutting it down. If he doesn't want Garrison to know, I'll do whatever it takes to keep this conversation going. "She didn't notice. She thought she'd done something wrong since you couldn't wait to get away from her."

"You think I should speak to her, don't you?"

"I said nothing of the sort." I eye him for a beat. "Maybe an apology. Though, she might ask why you're apologizing and you'd have to tell her you were nursing a massive er—" The front door swings open and I swing around and wave brightly. "Er, hey, Marie."

I needn't have bothered worrying about Lex's girlfriend, Marie, overhearing anything. The only planets that orbit her world are Lex and technology.

Marie is pale, a few inches taller than Lex, with a short blonde bob, in skinny black jeans, white tee, and combat boots. She barely spares me a glance as she taps out a text message, works on coding, or whatever it is she and Lex constantly do on cell phones they never put down. The one time I saw Lex without his phone, I thought I was in a dream. Walked into a wall and everything.

"Hey," she mumbles, heading for the kitchen as Lex trails her.

"Ah, Lex. We're doing stuff in the backyard. Check in with Resa every now and again, will you? But give her space if she needs it. She just had some bad news," I say.

"Sure." Lex follows Marie into the kitchen.

"Aren't you going to ask what we're doing in the backyard?" I call after him.

He waves a hand distractedly. "I'll see it soon enough."

I stare after him. "It always amazes me that he doesn't have a curious bone in his body."

"That's because you have enough for the both of you." I jump at Garrison's voice. Blaine must have walked out while I wasn't paying attention. Garrison pushes the door open. "Come on. We have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. I want this finished by tonight."

And it's mid-afternoon. Which doesn't leave us much time to turn a disused pool house into a perfect nest for an omega who needs it more today than any other.