“And he won’t ever get anywhere near you again,” Carlos said in way of greeting. Zach gave me a small smile before taking a stand against the back of a chair.
“No,” I said. “One less thing to worry about now.”
“You have worries?” Melio asked, tilting his head to the side. “Like what?”
“Only that my brother wants me to meet his girlfriend,” I grumbled out.
“You’ve met her before,” Zach hinted.
“But not with Travis there,” I said. “She can be a bit frightening when she’s in her element.”
“No worse than what I am,” Zachariah said, shooting me a wink. “She’ll be careful of how she acts, knowing how new you are to everything.”
“How is the progress going with you guys?” Carlos asked towards Melio. “Julia doesn’t keep me up to date on everything.”
“Slow, but we take it one day at a time,” Melio answered. “Toby is starting to show a bit of trust, right buddy?”
Toby nodded against me, although he blushed beet red at the attention on him.
“With other men, not so well,” Violet said. “But we’ll get there. It’ll take some time, which we certainly have.”
“That’s good. I would have hated to see things not work out,” Carlos said.
“I’m good. Please, don’t make me leave,” Toby whimpered out.
“You won’t be going anywhere,” I soothed him instantly. “Everyone here cares about you.”
“Not him,” Toby muttered out, glaring daggers at my husband.
How the heck was he able to change emotions so quickly?
“Well, he’s a bit scared of you, actually,” Violet said before I could think of something to say. “He just hides his fear in anger instead. But he won’t hurt you either.”
Once again, I had to wonder what this boy really had to go through. I knew that part of his chaotic emotions was due to what he went through, and also partly due to him trying to find out where he belonged now.
Maybe he was one that needed to write his thoughts down, just like what I did. It was something I’d definitely bring up with Violet later when there weren’t so many people around.
~oOo~
“You’re positive you didn’t get hurt by Cody?” Carlos asked after pulling me aside as everyone went to go sit at the dining room table to eat.
“He didn’t touch me,” I repeated. “What’s done is done. He’s not going to be an issue anymore.”
“Figured my son wouldn’t let him be,” Carlos stated. “Just wanting to make sure you are okay and Travis mentioned you were under the weather a couple of days ago.”
I blushed, ducking my head. Why couldn’t anyone in this family keep things quiet?
“I’mfine,” I growled out.
“Good to know. If you want me to talk to Zach to tone stuff down…” he trailed off.
“Quite the opposite, but we’re good,” I said, feeling awkward now. Was Carlos seriously trying to give methe talk?
“Alright,” he laughed. “I’ll let you be then.”
“Thanks,” I said, giving him a small smile before making my way to sit at the table.
My husband in question had waited, standing behind the chair for me to come and take a seat.
