Chapter Five

Ronin walked into Darian’s home office and found several men sitting around, all of them looking worried.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he set the file he brought with him on Darian’s desk.

“Something’s going on with our girls, and none of them are talking,” Gage said.

“Do you have any ideas?” Ronin asked as he reached for the glass of scotch Kane handed him.

“None,” Darian said. He picked up the remote and turned on the large TV over the fireplace.

“That’s why we’re here,” Travis said. “We’re hoping they will give something away so we can figure it out. When these girls pinky-swear, it’s next to impossible to get anything out of them.”

Ronin sat in one of the chairs and watched the girls. They were fun to watch, and sometimes he would rather watch them and their antics than any TV show or the news.

He heard Larkin’s voice.

“We’ll find a way,” she said.

That had the men sitting forward. They listened for another few minutes.

“Hey, wait,” Duncan said. “There are too many girls. What am I missing?”

Darian narrowed his eyes. “There are only supposed to besix girls, but I count seven.”

Kane pointed. “I don’t know the one in the purple t-shirt. Do you guys?”

They all shook their heads.

“She does look vaguely familiar, though,” Warrick said.

A few of them nodded.

They listened for a few more minutes.

“I have a bad feeling they’re in over their heads. They all look anxious and sad,” Kane said.

“This has been going on for three days now. Let’s bring them down to talk,” Darian said. “What do you guys think?”

The men agreed.

Ronin sat back and waited for the show to begin. He smiled to himself. Having littles around made his life so much more enjoyable. He heard Darian call up the stairs to the girls.

“Hey, girls, we’d like you to come down, please. We have some questions.”

Ronin watched the girls scramble around and whisper. He couldn’t understand what they were saying.

“And bring your friend with you,”Darian said.

All the girls froze for a moment and then freaked out, running around in circles, some of them tearing up. The new girl panicked.

One of them said something to calm everyone down. The new girl relaxed and nodded, and he wondered what that was about. Darian had come back in and sat watching it unfold like the rest of them.

They watched them head down the hallway. They stopped at the doorway to the back steps. Larkin pointed, and the girl took off.

“Fuck,” Darian said and headed toward the girls.

Ronin and the others followed, and Darian stopped them when they were halfway down the steps. They froze with wide eyes and grabbed each other’s hands.

“Where is your friend going, Baby?” Darian asked.

The girls looked at each other and then nudged Larkin.

Larkin cleared her throat. “Um, well, she had to leave.”

“By going out the back door?” Gage asked.

“Oh, well, she was in a hurry,” Sienna said.

Kane growled. “Baby, you’re already in enough trouble. If you keep lying, I won’t go easy on you.”

Sienna’s chin rose. “We’ll just have to see about that.”

A few of the girls looked horrified by Sienna’s attitude, and a few giggled.

Darian turned to him. “Hey, Ronin, could you go find the girl for us? I doubt she went far. It’s dark out, and the back garden doesn’t have a lot of light.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said and headed for the back door.

Within a few minutes, he knew where she was. She wasn’t very good at hiding or being quiet, but then it was dark, with barely enough light from the moon and the few lightsaround the garden.

It felt like someone punched him when he came around a tall bush to see the girl huddled on the ground with her arms holding her legs to her chest. He suspected she was trying to look as small as she could. What hurt him the most were the sounds of crying. She was trying to muffle the noise, but he could tell it was a desperate sound and it broke his heart.

Ronin walked to her. He hated that he’d probably frighten her, but he wasn’t going to stand back and listen any longer without giving her comfort. He crouched in front of her, trying to look as small as possible, but he was six feet four inches tall and two hundred thirty pounds, so it was a bit hard.

“Hey, Honey,” he murmured.

Her head jerked up, and she screamed as she tried to crawl away from him. He grabbed onto her arm.

“Easy, I’m not going to hurt you. I swear. I’m here to help you,” Ronin said.

She kept crying and started shaking her head. “Just let me go. I’ll leave, I promise.”

He shook his head. “No, Honey. I can’t let you do that. I’m guessing you’re at the end of your rope and exhausted. Let us help you.”

“I don’t think you can,” she said and stopped fighting to get away from him.

“Have you and the girls come up with anything that will help your situation?”

She shook her head and sniffed. “No.”

He sat down next to her and leaned against the tree. Ronin kept his hand on her forearm and moved his thumb back and forth, trying to soothe her.

“Why don’t you tell me the problem?” he asked.

The tears started to run down her cheeks again. “I can’t.”

“Honey, listen to me. Your friends have very good men who will do anything to protect them. Now that they have befriended you, those men will help you in any way possible, including me.”

She settled down a bit, and he could tell she was thinking. He guessed it was difficult for her because of the exhaustion on her face.

“How about if we go in and talk with them?”

Her eyes widened. “W-will the girls be there?”

“Absolutely.”

Ronin gave her a minute and then stood. He held out his hand. “Let me help you up,” he said.

She grabbed his hand, and he was pleased she hadn’t pulled away from him.

They got a few feet from the door when she balked. “No, wait, I …I ’m afraid.”

“Of what, Honey?”

“That you guys will make me go back,” she said.

“Let’s discuss this inside. I can promise you we’ll do everything in our power to keep you safe and happy.”

The woman nodded and exhaled.

He led her down the hallway and into the office. She froze and started to back up when every eye in the room stared at her.

Ronin wrapped an arm around her waist. “Easy.”

The girls rushed to her and surrounded her, pulling her from his arms. Everyone was crying and hugging her. He didn’t hear much of what they said, but he could tell the girl was relaxing.

“Girls, go to your daddies,” Darian said.

The girls reluctantly went back to their men, leaving him and the girl standing.

Ronin walked over to the chair he’d been sitting in, pulling her along beside him. He could tell he surprised her when he pulled her onto his lap. She looked at him for a minute and then relaxed against him.

“Hello, my name is Darian, and I’m Larkin’s daddy. Can you tell us your name?”

The woman looked at the others and relaxed when they all nodded.

“I-It’s Courtney.”

“Hello, Courtney. My name is Kane, and I’m Sienna’s daddy. Are you Courtney Warner, the girl the police are looking for?”

Ronin felt her stiffen. He tightened his grip on her because he felt she was about ready to run again. “Sit still, Honey.”

Warrick handed him some tissues, and Ronin used them to wipe her face. He pressed against her nose. “Blow.”

Without thought, Courtney blew into the tissues.

“Good girl.” Ronin kissed the top of her head. “Now, tell us why they think you were kidnapped?”