My voice trembled. “The wind tried to escape the dark cloud and go to her friends that weren’t frightened by her strength, but the dark cloud and atmosphere caught the wind, discerning her intentions. They burned everything she had to remember her friends by, hating what the wind had done privately. They left nothing, except a memory and threat for if she ever tried to leave again. That night, they named her, and branded her with a blazing knife.”
Shed agony wet my face. I sobbed, but pushed on as the men’s bodies held my trembling body. “The wind planned and waited until the atmosphere finally died. The wind thought her chances were better to escape the dark cloud and his loyal friends then. She disappeared, taking everything that she could.” I choked on suffering. “Now, she’s lost in even bigger storms. Life.”
I don’t know how long I wept for, but they curled around me, protecting me. They were my ground and tether as I floated ina sea of unwanted memories, remembering vividly everything I had told them. And everything I hadn’t.
I tilted my head to Brent. Our eyes met, mine pouring, his glistening, and I whispered, “I can’t tell Ally this…I just…can’t.”
He nodded. He knew she was too soft, even when she tried to protect.
As he stared at me, I could see that he was still scared. Still. After all these years, he still thought I wouldn’t love him enough. He was afraid I would leave him. He was still that scared little boy, but...determined to be stronger. I could see that, too.
Cole kissed my shoulder, his eyes catching mine, steadfast and bare. He held nothing back, showing me all. I was sure he knew Brent could see, just as he had seen Brent’s burden, but he didn’t balk. He let me see his fear of becoming too like his father. That he would miss the beauty of the world being cold and heartless and ruthless. He was as broken as Brent and I.
That night neither man complained as they held me. We were one in agreement that we were all screwed up. Fighting wasn’t in the cards and nothing else needed to be said.
Chapter Thirteen
THE NEXT morning therewasan interesting occurrence. And it didn’t include Stash butt naked. Mr. Fresby called and asked to speak to me directly while everyone, but Ally, was getting ready for work. He asked me to come in with the crew today. They were going to be holding “interviews” to get to know the employees and their procedures better. He wanted me with them to “sniff” out the bad seeds. Evidently, I was the proverbial bloodhound.
I honestly didn’t have an issue with it, though, and told him I would be there. It would be nice using my “talent” for good. It would be a first for me on a professional level. I was actually excited about it and hurried and got ready, wearing a black vintage button up with fluffy sleeves, grey, cuffed pinstriped capris with D-Rings on the bottom, and black, platform sandals with tiny skulls around the edges. I was running out of clothes, and really, this was as professional as I wanted to go.
When I exited the bedroom and walked into the living/dining room’s flurry of activity, no one noticed me at first as they ate or rushed into the kitchen or tried to straighten a tie in the reflection off one of the picture frames hanging on the walls. I shrugged and got a bowl of grub and sat down. I was eating carefully, praying I didn’t spill any oatmeal on my shirt when Cole looked up from his newspaper that had been plastered to his face – sans glasses – and glanced at me. He looked down, and then his eyes snapped back to mine.
Oh, hello. Yes, it’s actually me. Out of bed before 10:00. Was the building on fire?
He took in my attire slowly, ogling my chest that just wasn’t all that, before asking coolly, “Where are you heading off to today?”
I’m thinking it was that dose of danger he let drift into that one question that had heads turning to him and then following his line of sight. I felt like waving and saying, “Good Morning, everyone!”, since I was in such a fine mood. There really is something to sharing your dark and twisty past with someone, or someone’s, who care. Plus, I got to use my blasted “talent” against the bad guys today. I felt like doing the jig.
But instead, I spoke as calmly and professionally as I could, placing my spoon in my bowl right before the spoonful slipped off and plunked, splattering the edges of the bowl. Whew. That was close. “Mr. Fresby called this morning. He asked that I attend today’s meetings with the employees.”
If anything, his face went colder. “To do what, exactly?”
“Analyze.” I shrugged and started to pick up my spoon.
“BRENT!” Cole shouted at the top of his lungs, and my spoon clattered into the bowl. I inspected my clothes frantically. Nothing. They were fine. That didn’t stop me from scowling when I looked up at Cole.
“What?” Brent hollered from the communal bathroom. They had to use that one since their bedrooms had been invaded by their staff, once they saw their bosses had vacated. I wasn’t fond of being woken up in the mornings to my bathroom door banging shut constantly…or the bickering.
“Did you know that Mr. Fresby asked Ember to join us today at Sensations? And she, evidently, accepted to analyze during our meetings?” Cole yelled, his eyes never wavering from mine.
I kept on scowling and crossed my arms. What the heck was this about?
“The hell he did.” Brent strode out of the bathroom, buttoning up his shirt. I noticed Chloe checking him out. Myscowl faltered to her for a second, before I remembered I had bigger problems at the moment, and snapped my attention back to the men who were behaving oddly.
“Why wouldn’t he?” I asked, a frown on my face. “Why are you two so mad?”
“Because we told him that you weren’t going to be working on this assignment,” Brent hissed, placing his fist on the table next to Cole, leaning on them.
“Why would you do that?” I was mystified. “He didn’t seem to mind me so much after talking with him after the limo ride.”
“Because you don’t like doing it! It was obvious after the Peter debacle!” Cole stood up and started pacing. Everyone sort of backed away. Brent stood motionless, fists still on the table, staring down at the gleaming, dark wood. Chloe was staring at his behind that looked pretty darn good in his dress slacks.
I was starting to get ticked. At a lot of people. Plus, my breakfast was getting cold. “Look, that was very kind of you, but I’m actually looking forward to this. I’ll get to do something I haven’t been able to do before. I’m not actually going to be talking to anyone. Just listening to you question them and taking notes.” I paused. “I want to do this.” Chloe caught my eye again, and I growled. “Chloe will you please quit doing that!”
Clearly startled, she asked, “What?”
I huffed in exasperation and got up and walked behind Brent, resting my back against his. There. No explanations needed, and I took care of the problem.
