“Oh, did you hear what I told Joe?”
He nods, a smile playing on his lips before his expression turns serious. “You’re not my best friend either. You’re my big sister. You’re my protector.”
“Justice, I did what anyone -”
“No!” he hisses low, so as not to wake Joe, stepping closer. “No one helped. Not one of those righteous holier than thou fuckers in Eden’s Keep helped me when I was hurt and bleeding. Not one of them stopped him from entering my body over and over again -”
He gasps when I pull him into my arms, holding him as tight as I can possibly hold him, just like I did the day I found out what had been happening to him since he was a little boy. He gulps down air before burying his face in my shoulder and wrapping his long arms around me.
“I did what anyoneshoulddo, Justice,” I whisper.
“And yet they didn’t. You did. You saved me, Loyal, and for that I love you,” he pushes me back and tries to smile, “as a sister-cousin.”
I smile back. “A sister-cousin.”
“And protector.” He brightens a little more. “Like Batman.”
I roll my eyes. “Get outta here before I kick your butt.”
“Oooh, someone is getting sassy hanging out with these men.” I move to swipe at him but he dodges my hand and rushes into Joe’s room, slowing as he quietly moves to sit next to her.
I watch them together for a moment. One I’ve known most of my life, the other feels like I’ve known her my whole life. Smiling, I leave them to it, knowing that Joe is in good hands. Now, to find something to do until the man who means more than I ever thought I deserved returns.
Chapter 11
Vex
“You’re sure this is the right place?” I eye the rundown looking house that Damian has dragged me out to. Actually, no, I’ve dragged him here. If he had it his way Barbara would be living at the clubhouse with him.
“Sure is. I remember clear as day. Miss Joe lives over that way,” he points to a brightly colored cottage across from the rough looking home we’re standing outside of. “And this is the address on the tag.”
I nod, moving onto the porch and knocking on the front door while Damian stands behind me, whispering sweet nothings to the huge mastiff in his arms. I bang again, this time louder, then move to the side to peer through the window. Nothing looks out of place, but it does look like nobody is home.
“Shit,” I curse beneath my breath.
Damian eyes me when I turn to look at him. “Here, go on an’ hold her for me a minute. Lemme take a look,” he says, climbing the shitty steps and passing the big dog over to me.
Why the hell we’re cradling a mastiff, I have no idea. Not that Barbara seems to mind as her tongue lolls out of her mouth as she gazes up at me. I stare back at her, our eye contact brokenwhen I realize Damian is not only quiet, but also nowhere in sight.
“Prospect?”
“In here,” his voice drifts out through the open door.
The door that was most definitely locked when I tried it. How he got in is beyond me, and I wouldn’t normally care except Bellefont is the type of town where you shoot first and ask questions later.
“Prospect! Get out here before someone shoots your ass!” I whisper yell at him.
“That ain’t happenin’. Hate to say it, but looks like the owner’s dead.” He hooks his thumb over his shoulder as his big frame clears the house.
“Are you sure?”
“Well, I already gave him his last rites and got his drawers back on him, so pretty sure.” I stare up at Damian and he shrugs one massive shoulder.
“You put his underwear on him?” I ask with a frown.
Damian scoops the big dog out of my arms and cuddles Barbara to him. “Well yeah, I’m a man’s man. I’m gon’ help a man in need. Ain’t no man need the damn police or undertaker showin’ up round here and findin’ him with his cock out. That ain’t right.”
I blink once, then twice and realize it’s not actually worth trying to understand what he’s got going on. “Right. Well, I guess we better call emergency services.”
