“Rats,” I whispered.
“Rats? You thought there were rats on you?”
I nodded as I wrapped my arms around myself and then winced when I bumped my broken finger.
“I…I don’t like being in the dark…I start to feel them on me.” I glanced around the room. Even though there was a sliver of light peeking through the curtains, they were heavy enough that they kept the room dark even though it was clearly daytime outside. I noticed the clock said it was ten o’clock in the morning and I realized I’d been asleep for almost 24 hours. Memphis had shown me to the guest room shortly after he’d finished outlining how things would proceed with the men who’d come after me. The curtains had still been open at that point so I hadn’t had any trouble falling asleep. Brennan had woken me up that night so I could eat and take my medicine, but I’d fallen asleep again within minutes and I hadn’t noticed him closing the curtains. It had been the same when he’d woken me up again just a couple of hours ago.
“Brennan doesn’t know…I must have fallen asleep before I could turn them on this morning.” I looked at Memphis and explained, “The apartment I lived in when I was a kid was overrun with rats…I’d wake up in the middle of the night sometimes with them on me. Even…even after I moved in with my dads, I could still feel them and the light was the only thing that made me feel better.”
I couldn’t read the expression in Memphis’s dark eyes so I dropped my gaze. “Please don’t tell Brennan.”
“You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about, Tristan,” Memphis said.
Memphis’s cat chose that moment to come into the room and I smiled when she jumped on the bed, walked over Memphis’s lap and then settled on mine. “Morning, Tink,” I said softly and then dropped my face so she could rub her nose against my chin. I felt a measure of calm go through me and I looked at Memphis again.
“I’m nineteen years old, Memphis. And I can’t get over a child’s silly fear.”
Memphis didn’t respond, but as soon as I dropped my eyes again, his arm went around me and he pulled me against his side. I felt his lips skim my temple and another rush of heat went through me.
“Nothing about your fear is silly. And if you do figure out how to get over it, let me know, because I have a few of my own I could do without.” With that, Memphis released me and stood. “I’ll be out on the balcony if you need me.”
Memphis left the room and I immediately felt the loss. From the moment the man had opened the car door yesterday and his smooth voice had rolled over me, I’d felt safe. I couldn’t explain it, but something about being around Memphis comforted me. But that wasn’t all. Because his touch wasn’t just comforting…it was incendiary. I didn’t know how else to describe it. The rush of energy and heat every time his skin came into contact with mine was overwhelming and something I only felt in the presence of one other person.
The idea that I could be as attracted to Memphis as I was to Brennan was confusing. Physically, they were nothing alike. With his coal-black hair, piercing green eyes and rangy, fit body, Brennanlooked like someone who should be on the pages of a fancy fashion magazine while Memphis had a darker, more exotic look. His skin was several shades darker than my own pale skin and while he wasn’t a heavily built guy, I’d gotten a hint of how hard and muscled his body was when he’d held me earlier. Both men were so beautiful that I felt incredibly ordinary around both of them.
As tempting as it was to lay back down, I gently lifted the cat off my lap and forced myself to stand. My body ached from all the stress I’d been through in the last week and my finger hurt like hell, but it felt good to finally not be trying to deal with everything alone anymore. I’d been stunned when Ray had shown up at the apartment, but I hadn’t ever guessed he would throw me to the wolves like he had. Yes, he’d shown his true colors when he’d slapped me after I’d refused to ask my fathers for the fifty grand he needed to pay back the loan sharks, but I thought that had been the end of it. Never in a million years had I thought my one bad choice would literally follow me home.
Okay, it was more than one bad choice.
I’d known giving money to the man who’d sired me, but was not and never would be a father to me, was a mistake, but I’d been searching for something that I hadn’t really missed until I’d left the safety and comfort of my true family. Maybe it was because so many people at school had started rejecting me that I’d latched onto the idea that someone I’d been told didn’t want me actually did. But it had just been one lie among many and I’d been both humiliated that I’d fallen for his act and ashamed of what my fathers would think of me if they found out.
After the loan sharks had attacked me the first time, I’d wanted to tell Brennan. But the shame had been too much and I’d foolishly thought I could get the men to leave me alone if I gave them everything I could come up with.
Tears stung my eyes as I thought about the brutal attack two nights earlier. I’d been sure the men were going to kill me. The punch had hurt like hell, but when the bigger of the two men had bent my finger to the side until the bone had snapped, I’d screamed in agony. Only the other guy had held his hand over my mouth sono one would hear me. I’d managed to drag myself to my room after they’d left, but I’d been so scared about what to do next.
And then Brennan had been there and he’d taken over. I’d been afraid to go to the hospital even though I’d known that was what had to happen. I was sure they’d call my fathers, but Brennan had assured me they wouldn’t since I was over eighteen. I’d been given some painkillers so I’d actually fallen asleep in the curtained-off cubicle we’d been waiting in for my discharge orders to be completed. Brennan had shaken me awake a couple of hours later and he’d started to drive us home, but I’d been too scared to go back to the apartment so we’d gone to my fathers’ place to talk, since they’d left for Disneyworld a couple of days earlier.
I’d told Brennan the whole humiliating story and he’d insisted we call my fathers or at least my Uncle Cade who hadn’t gone on the trip. I’d staunchly refused and my shame and fear had been so profound that I’d begged Brennan until the tears had been streaming down my face. He’d finally relented and as he’d held me in his arms, he’d whispered that he was going to take care of me. He hadn’t told me where we were going right away and luckily my fathers kept a supply of my medication on hand, so we hadn’t had to risk going back to the apartment. I’d still been groggy from the pain pills and had fallen asleep within a few minutes of getting on the Interstate and hadn’t woken until the GPS on Brennan’s phone had started giving him directions. It was then that he’d explained who we were going to see and the role Memphis had played in saving his life nearly two months earlier.
I’d been horrified when my fathers had told me about Brennan’s shooting and how close he’d come to losing his life. The truth about what had happened to Eli had been just as hard to hear and while both of my fathers had been devastated, it was Dom who was going through the greatest torment since he’d been the one to introduce Eli’s abuser to Eli’s mom. I’d gone to see Eli myself last week before everything had gone to hell with Ray showing up. Eli and I hadn’t really talked about the abuse, but I’d gotten to meet Mav, the man who’d saved Eli in more ways than one and I had no doubt my big brother was as happy in his new relationship as myfathers and all the other men and women in my family were in theirs.
I went to the bathroom and got cleaned up and then pulled on my jeans. I managed to find a new toothbrush in one of the drawers next to the sink and hoped Memphis didn’t mind me breaking it open. Once I was feeling fairly human again, I left the room and was pleased to see Tink following me.
Memphis’s house was gorgeous with lots of neutral, warm colors, earthy textures and comfortable-looking furniture. It had definitely been built with comfort in mind, but it didn’t take away from the raw beauty of the surrounding land because many of the windows went all the way from the floor to the ceiling. While my guest bedroom had been on the main floor, there appeared to be a second floor that looked more like a loft. I made my way through the kitchen and found the door that led to the balcony. The deck ran the length of the back of the house and had a breathtaking view of the lake as well as Mt. Hood off in the distance. I spotted Memphis and the other man he’d called Phoenix sitting in a couple of oversized patio chairs in one corner of the balcony. They were both looking at a laptop, but Memphis closed it when Phoenix noticed me and said something to him.
Both men got up and met me halfway.
“How are you feeling?” Memphis asked.
“Better,” I said.
“Good,” Memphis nodded, his eyes staying on me until I shifted them to Phoenix. That seemed to snap him out of whatever reverie he’d been in because he said, “Tristan, this is Phoenix. Phoenix, this is Tristan Barretti.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, holding out my right hand before I remembered my broken finger. I extended my left hand instead and smiled when Phoenix carefully shook it. I couldn’t exactly say I blamed him for acting like he was worried he might inadvertently hurt me because he was a really big guy. There were several intricate tattoos on his dark skin including both biceps. His shirt fit snugly across his bulging muscles and his hair was cropped short. He had a neatly-trimmed beard and a wide, kind smile.
“Phoenix is going to be shadowing you,” Memphis said. “Like we talked about yesterday.”
I nodded. As tired as I’d been, I’d listened intently as Memphis had outlined his plan to have someone watching me 24/7 until Memphis found the men who’d hurt me. I hadn’t asked what he planned to do to them because a part of me didn’t want to know.
