Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

LAYLAH MOORE

“ S it right here, baby,” Aiden said as he set me on the hotel sofa. He wrapped my thick blanket around me. I felt like I would never be warm again. I also felt like I would never have a good night's sleep again. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my father, beating me with that damn broomstick, and then leaving me. The sound of him pushing things against the door played over and over again in my head. The door opened to the inside, so I was pretty sure him stacking things in front of it was just the drugs, but it didn’t make it any less haunting. I’d been locked in the room for five days.

We’d stayed in the hospital three days after Aiden, Justin, and Micah found me. It had been a blur. The police were always there, wanting to ask more questions. That had made the boys growly. Apparently the police hadn’t been interested when I was missing. They’d found my dad. He’d been high out of his mind. He’d confessed and was going to prison. I wasn’t sure what his charges were, but I’d applied for a lifetime no-contact order. After leaving the hospital, we’d stayed in town to settle some things and today was our first day on the road. Damn weather.

I jumped when Aiden sat on the cushion beside me.

He held his hands out placidly. “It’s just me, baby, I’m sorry.”

“I really wanted to get home.”

“I know, baby.” He held out his arms, and I shifted into his lap slowly. I was still very sore and bruised. His big hands rubbed circles over my back.

Only seven hours into our trip back, the weather had gotten bad. They were calling for icy conditions and the guys had decided to stop for the night just to be safe. I knew it was the right thing to do, but it didn’t make it easier to accept.

Justin sat on the sofa beside me and gently moved my legs to his lap before rubbing my feet.

“Do you feel like you could eat something, little love?” he asked. My stomach flipped at his endearment. My stomach flipped at all of their endearments, actually. They were all so good-looking and very kind—big hearts and big dick energy. I’d had a crush on them for as long as I could remember. I’d never admitted that until I’d been tied up and left in that disgusting trailer. Thinking back over my life, never sharing my feelings with them had been my biggest regret.

“No, I’m okay. Thank you,” I answered.

“You didn’t eat very much at lunch,” Micah pointed out. He crossed the room and sat down on the coffee table in front of me.

“I just don’t have an appetite.”

“I know, but we can’t have our best girl getting sick,” Aiden said.

“I’m sorry.” To my horror, I felt my lower lip tremble. I’d put them through so much and they were still worried about me. I was so blessed to have them.

“Oh, baby. Don’t cry. It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Aiden’s soothing voice rumbled below me.

“We’re right here with you, little love,” Justin promised.

“Forever and always,” Micah added.

I wiped at the tears rolling down my face.

“I’m so lucky to have you all,” I said, trying to control my emotions.

“Oh, you silly girl. We’re the lucky ones,”Aiden chuckled.

“I’m sorry I went to him when he called. I just thought…”

“You thought your dad was doing better, baby, and you wanted a relationship with him. Nobody can fault you for that,” Aiden interrupted.

“And nobody can fault you for that big heart you carry. You wanted to help a man who didn’t deserve your help. You’re such a wonderful person,” Micah said.

“I just… I did want a relationship with him, but I have everything I need with you guys. Support, unconditional love, encouragement, you provide it all. It was selfish to go.”

“Oh, honey, it wasn’t selfish at all. It was a very normal wish,” Justin said, pulling my legs a little more into his lap. “Hell, I think we all still hope we get a call that we have a biological family out there that wants to meet us, it’s just a part of our human nature.”

I rested my head on Aiden’s shoulder and traced the tattoos up his thick arms.

“I love you,” I said.

“We love you too, little love,” Aiden answered as he pressed a kiss to my back while still holding me in his arms.

“I realized I could never do this life without you guys,” I said, yawning. I was so tired.

Aiden patted my back. “You’ll never have to, baby. We’ll always be here.”

Justin Hart

“I’ll take her to bed,” Aiden whispered before standing with Laylah in his arms. She’d fallen asleep so quickly, but it wasn't surprising considering how little she’d been sleeping.

“She’s breaking my heart,” Micah said once Aiden had disappeared into the bedroom.

“Mine too, but we’ll get her through this,” I answered.

“I think maybe this has helped us put some things in perspective.”

I nodded. I knew where he was headed with this.

Aiden came back into the room, sat on the couch, and rubbed his bearded chin.

“I’m going to call that counselor Leland’s girlfriend is using. I think maybe Laylah will need to talk to someone,” he said.

Leland was a friend of ours and his girlfriend had been through some rough shit. She was in counseling and flourishing now. We’d met them a little over a year ago at a local BDSM club. Rouge, his girl, had made amazing progress in the time we’d known her.

“I think maybe we all need to do some talking,” I said.

Micah nodded. “Me too.”

Aiden was quiet while he processed the implications behind our words. He nodded as well. “Yeah, we do. We all know that we’re wired a bit differently.”

“Probably because of our fucked-up childhood,” I interrupted.

“It made us value the ones we have in our corner,” he continued. “We’ve always known we’ve wanted to share our partner and for a long time we’ve wanted Laylah to be that partner.”

Micah nodded his head. “I know we were waiting to see if she showed interest, but I think this last week has made us realize we can’t live without her either.”

I hate that it took something tragic to make us wake up,” I voiced. “But you guys are right, she’s a huge part of us.”

“Yeah. When she was missing, I felt like I couldn’t breathe,” Aiden remarked.

“It felt like a part of me was missing,” Micah added.

“A part of us was missing,” Aiden corrected.

“When she’s better, we’ll sit down and have a big talk,” Aiden said. He was usually the most sensible one of the three of us and we trusted his judgment.

“I may be naive, but I think she’ll feel the same way. Maybe she doesn’t have romantic feelings for us because it hasn’t been presented to her, but I think we could grow into something beautiful,” Micah said.

“I think so too,” Aiden agreed.

A cry snapped us back to the problem at hand.

“I’ve got her,” I said. “We’re all going to be okay.”

I rushed into the master bedroom and climbed in the bed with Laylah.

“Another nightmare?”

She wiped her eyes before laying back against the pillows again.

Laying on my side facing her, I lifted one arm in a silent invitation. She scooted up against me and I cuddled her close.

“We’re not going to let anything hurt you ever again, little girl.”

“I know. I know I’m safe now, but I just can’t shake the sounds and…” She shivered.

“When you go through something so horrific, it takes you a while to process it. There’s no rush on your healing, baby. We’re not rushing you, take all the time you need.”

She nodded into my chest. “I love you, Justin.”

“I love you too, sweet girl, we all do.” I looked forward to the day when she would understand how deep our love went.