He rests his hand on my shoulder, almost too heavy. The three of us haven’t been in one room since the night it happened. Since they buried what was left of my father and pretended we never knew him.
Dimitri whispers, “You okay?”
“I’m always okay,” I whisper, and I almost believe it. Jax and Knox move out of sight and Dimitri scans the lot.
“Do you think someone will come for us?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he sighs. “Whoever called him…” He leaves me by the window and I listen as he unlocks the apartment door and waits for the other monsters. My monsters.
My fingers go to the scars on my chest before I can stop them, tracing the pale ridges under my robe.
I hear the front door open, the thud and shuffle of boots in the hall but I still don’t move. The silence stretches for a while before they actually come up. I count the footsteps, and in my head I guess which one is which, but the truth is I know their weights, their gaits. Dimitri is steady, Knox is louder, and Jax… he’s sneaky, silent like a predator. But I can hear the change, as if they all know I listen closely now, more aware of my surroundings.
Jax’s the first to stand by my side, his fingers grazing over my swollen cheek as he sits down beside me. He glances down at the plate in my hands and says, “You eat?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I look at the knuckle of his right hand, split open and scabbed, and ask, “Did it hurt?”
He looks at me, and for a second I see how much he wants me to care, how much he needs this to mean something. “Not really,” he says. “But Jared wasn’t any help this time.”
I should be grateful for them, but the torment weights just as heavy and I wonder what would tip the scale. Will I be safe and happy with them, or only safe…?
“When do you three need to go back to the team?” I ask and my ribs tighten, fear settles, and I hate that I’m leaning on them.
“Why? You’re ready?” Knox asks and I almost scoff.
“You want to wait until I’m ready to go back?” The corner of my lip twitches as a smile threatens to escape.
“You set the rules,” Jax says and tugs on my robe.
“Rules? What’s that supposed to mean?” I fear if I set the pace, I’ll never leave this freaking apartment. Knox’s apartment, actually. I haven’t been back to my own, fearing there’s someone watching me there.
“Look at me,” Knox says, his voice sharp and tough.
Jax teases me with an eye-roll and I meet Knox’s dark and heavy stare.
“Want me to decide? Want me to tell you what to do?” he chuckles. “Be very careful with what you decide, sweetheart. Very careful.”
Asshole. He’s a fucking ass. But I need it. When they push my buttons, taunt me, it makes something stir inside me and I feel the strength that comes from my resistance.
A strength I need, desperately.
“No,” I mutter. “I don’t need you deciding what to do.”
“Then tell us. We need fucking words, Hope,” Knox grumbles.
“I don’t like staying here,” I whisper.
His thick brows crease together. “You don’t like the bed? I can get your mattress if you want.”
Too nice.
“Well too bad, Hope. You’re not leaving, so get used to it,” Dimitri snaps at me, but I see what he did there. I notice the faint curve of his lips.
“Fuck you,” I say.
Dimitri’s smile treads further. “Don’t tease me now.”
“I’m lost,” Jax whispers as he glances between Knox and Dimitri until Dimitri fills in the blanks.
