For me, the exotic woman in front of me felt nothing like a sister. I learned that she was even more innocent than I ever imagined. Another reason I needed to keep the feelings plundering through me in check and stay away from Gemma as much as possible.
However, when the subject of someone driving her home after the meeting came up, I knew I would be volunteering.
“Why did you go out with this tool in the first place?” Rowan asked.
She shrugged her shoulders like she didn’t know, but then her answer made it clear she knew exactly why she’d caved into the thousands of requests from this guy to give him a chance.
Her eyes scanned the room, breezing over mine quickly. “I was lonely and I want what you all have.”
I knew what that felt like once, but I didn’t have it any longer. My hand went to my chest and I rubbed the ache that automatically started when I thought of what I’d lost. I’d just begun to realize what loneliness felt like, so I could relate to how she was feeling there.
“You’re going to find that, but with a good man,” Gyth said.
“And we should probably all meet these guys before you go out with them,” Kace added, giving Gemma a sharp look.
The idea of her finding any man left a bitter taste in my mouth. The feelings I had after only spending a few times in her presence were strong, even if that seemed crazy.
“Now you’re taking the whole sister thing to the extreme,” Gemma told the guys.
When her eyes met mine, it confirmed what I’d been thinking moments before. No sisterly thoughts were running through my mind. When Lyric started talking, her gaze left mine and I could concentrate again.
“We just want to protect you,” he told her, softly. “As a friend and former cop, I encourage you to press charges.”
Gemma shook her head. In the end, she decided not to press any charges. She wanted it to all go away, not get worse and to just finish the school year in peace. She didn’t feel like that would happen and only would make Brett more pissed, along with his friends.
But between the asshole and finding out that Gemma received a note recently that suggested that someone else may be gunning for her also, we talked her into a big change and also spoke with her about taking more precautions.
Everyone learned she came into a large amount of money the year before, something she’d kept to herself. Yet, there was a stranger out there that knew about it and her family. She’d given Braxton the note, which he’d read aloud.
The money isn’t yours, just as your father wasn’t always your mother’s. You should never have been born. That money will come to the people it is truly owed to. I will make sure of that.
It may have been short, but it suggested not only a threat, but also made her doubt her father. I could see in her face how much that hurt her and it tore me up.
Gemma had a weird hold on me that I didn’t know how to decipher.
And the big change that was coming? It was her moving into the empty condo right down the hall from me. A tug of war began inside me when that decision was made. I wasn’t sure I could handle her right there all the time when I thought about her way too much already and she wasn’t seconds away from me. The part of me that wanted to protect her was satisfied with how close she’d be for me to be able to help do that.
“I think with everything that has come to light, you moving is the best choice,” Braxton said. “We will help move anything you need this weekend.”
Gemma gasped. “That fast?”
“The sooner the better. You left us in the dark long enough and now you need to let us help you. That is what you came here for, right?” Braxton sounded both a little ticked and hurt.
Throughout the meeting, as the guys spoke, I could tell they all felt the same way. But what was done was done, now it was about keeping her safe.
“I’m sorry,” Gemma told the room. “I just thought…” She trailed off and didn’t finish the sentence. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“Just don’t pull that shit again,” Kace said but winked at her as he did. “If you do, we may have to lock you in the condo.”
It was clear they had a good relationship since she laughed and smart-mouthed him in the next second.
“Don’t even think about it or I will sic your wife on you.” She then gave him a wink back.
“You fight dirty,” Kace retorted.
They smiled at each other and then Braxton jumped back in.
“So, this weekend.”
