“I don’t know if everyone knows, but I love Vee with everything I’ve got,” I continue. “And when she told me she loved me… and two others.” I gesture toward Luke and Doc. “I didn’t know how to handle it.”
A few guys shift in their seats, but nobody interrupts me, letting me say what I need to.
“In the heat of the moment, I said things about her that weren’t fair. That aren’t true. And I want Doc and Luke to know how sorry I am. When Vee is ready to talk to me, I’ll apologize to her as well.” I swallow hard because I’m not done. “I also want to apologize to the brothers in this room who are in a similar group dynamic.” I don’t need to say their names; they know who they are. “The way I talked… it might’ve sounded like I think what you have isn’t real.” I pause for a moment and take a deep breath. “That’s not how I feel.”
Silence fills the room. My body goes weak as I lower myself back down into my chair.
Nobody moves or speaks, most likely unsure of how to react to what I’ve said.
Then Ryker suddenly stands up. He claps his hands together once, the sound loud in the quiet room, then again. “Well, damn,” he says with a crooked grin. “’Bout time the teddy bear got his head outta his ass.”
A few chuckles ripple through the room, and Ryker points a finger at me as he laughs.
“You better hope your woman forgives as easily as we do.”
The brothers erupt into a fit of laughter, and Earl calls the meeting to an end.
I did it. Fucking spilled my guts in front of my brothers, spilling out my heart for them.
Chapter 40
Vee
Iwakeslowly;themorningcreeping through the curtains. It’s been two months since I was taken and my life went to hell. I thought I was never going to come out of it alive. But here I am, and I’m doing okay. I’m surrounded by two men who love me. At times they are suffocating, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Each morning there’s coffee on my doorstep along with my favorite pastry of the moment. I asked the guys if it was them and they both said no. That leaves one person, but surely it isn’t him. Luke and Josh don’t seem concerned though, so I’ve settled on not worrying about it.
I wanted to go back to work right away. Sitting around the apartment, being watched every second, makes me feel weak. Broken. Like I am some fragile thing they have to guard so she doesn’t break. All they could say was I needed time. What they didn’t understand, until I told them, was that I was okay. I needed to move on and not dwell on what happened. I needed to live.
Somehow it sank in for them, and three weeks to the date of my rescue, I went back to work.
So now I’m back. Mostly. I’m not back working my full shift, but it’s a start. Which is probably a good thing. I’ve noticed I’ve become a little dizzy at times. But I know it’s because my body hasn’t acclimated back to working. If I told Josh he’d have me getting a full workup which I know I don’t need.
“How’s work been?” Luke asks as he rolls over and kisses me.
“Good,” I tell him. It’s not a lie it has been, but it’s been weird too.
Hank is always there, somewhere in the room, but he won’t look at me. Won’t talk to me. Won’t come near me. He’s doing exactly what I asked and leaves me alone. Yet, I hate that he’s listening to me.
The one thing that does bring me joy is knowing that Jennalyn was fired the night I was kidnapped. She showed up at the club one night after I returned, and my heart thrummed with anger and hurt. I didn’t want to see her and Hank curled up together.
What I didn’t expect was for him to publicly tell her to fuck off. That she was never anything to him and that no matter how much she tried, nothing was going to happen between them. When Bash saw she was there, he banned her from the club. He even told her that if she showed up again she’d be arrested for trespassing.
“Where’s Josh?” I ask, noticing he’s not in the bed with us.
“He hasn’t got home yet. He had to work late, but he should be on the way.” Luke kisses me again. “I’m going to grab a shower before I go to work. You have coffee and a pastry on the kitchen counter.” Luke winks, before getting up from the bed and heading to the bathroom.
I lay there for a few more minutes before the lure of coffee waiting has me sitting up in bed. I push the blanket off me andswing my legs off the side and stand as soon as my feet hit the floor.
“Ugh…” The movement is too fast, and the room tilts slightly. I drop back down onto the bed and squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for it to pass.
It doesn’t. Instead, a wave of nausea crashes over me so suddenly my stomach lurches.
Oh God. I’m going to throw up. I’m off the bed and running toward the bathroom, barely registering the sound of the shower running and not really caring either. Luke seeing me throw up may be a game-changer in our relationship.
The door flies open and I drop to my knees in front of the toilet just in time to flip the seat up before everything in my stomach comes rushing out. I dimly hear the shower shut off behind me. Water splashes on the tile as the curtain is shoved aside.
“Vee! Fuck, are you okay?” Luke asks.
