“What do you want to do?” I ask. “Just sit here and let her have me?”
“No,” Grant says slowly. “You go somewhere she doesn’t expect. Somewhere we’ll have the advantage.”
“You want us to bring her back to Happiness,” Sterling says.
My lungs lurch into my throat. “No. Absolutely not. I won’t put my friends in danger. My town?—”
“Is full of people who care about you,” Valen interrupts. The pain in his gaze cuts me to the quick. “People who would do anything to protect you.”
“Savvy’s got Grey and his family,” Chief adds. “Madison’s got that big inn with security and space. Elle’s got half the town’s gossip network at her fingertips. You got resources there, kid. Real resources. The kind Terra can’t buy or threaten away.”
“Community,” Roman says. “That’s what Terra has never had.”
“You think my friends would fight for me?” I know they love me, but when push comes to shove, I’m expendable, aren’t I?
“For fuck’s sake, Honeybee. They already are.” Valen tugs me into his lap, and I don’t object because his strength buoys my own.
“He’s right,” Grant says. “Madison’s been texting me and demanding updates every three hours like clockwork. I don’t even know when that woman sleeps. She’s even threatened various forms of bodily harm if anything happens to you.”
“Savvy’s made Braxton create an entire IT position solely focused on running background checks on anyone and everyone you’ve come in contact with for the last year,” Sterling says. “I like how she thinks. And Elle?” He smirks. “Well, she’s organized a town watch that’s more sophisticated than some of Valen’s programming at Styx and Stone Security.”
“What?” I pull out the phone Roman gave me, but there are no new messages. “They haven’t said anything about that to me.”
“Because they don’t want to worry you,” Chase says. “But they’re concerned, and they’re preparing for anything. That’s what family does, Clover. That’s why we’re here too.”
Family.
The kind built on choice. On love. On showing up.
“Terra won’t expect Happiness for that exact reason,” Valen says. “She’ll assume Clover will worry about her friend’s safety, and Terra could never anticipate a group of people willingly stepping into the fire for Clover.”
“It’s a small town,” Chase adds. “Newcomers become gossip. They’ll see her coming a mile away.”
“And we’ll have backup,” Roman says. “Valen can pull our best men, and I’ll quietly organize a team on the ground to keep watch.”
“I can reach out to some…contacts,” Chief says. “People I trust within my law enforcement family. People who won’t ask too many questions but will have our backs if things go sideways.”
I glance around the room and at these men—these good, complicated, terrifying men who’ve inserted themselves into my life and decided I’m worth protecting.
Then I look at Valen.
“What do you think?” I ask.
“I don’t know what the future holds.” Valen glances around the room, but his words are spoken directly to me. “But what Iwant is to be with you. I want to take you home and meet your friends, not as your bodyguard but as your boyfriend. I want to be part of your world, and not just the run-for-your-life part of it. I want my brothers to be your brothers. I want the fear and the nightmares to stop.”
Tears stream down my cheeks.
“We may not be able to outrun the decisions of our parents, Clover.” He squeezes my thigh. “But if I get to choose? I choose you now, tomorrow, and every day you’ll give me.”
I can’t see through the river filling my eyes. “You choose me?” A garbled giggle escapes my lips. “And you want to spend time with my friends?”
It seems like a ridiculous time for the conversation, but after waiting for fourteen years, I’m not about to stop him now.
“I want to spend time with everyone. I want to see this town that helped you become who you are without the constant fear of the unknown. I want—” His voice cracks, and I lean my head against his chest. “I want to live without constantly trying to fill in the blanks. If I can get that by always looking toward a future with you, then that’s what I want to do.” He shifts below me, and I glance up to see him staring at his family. “And if taking her back to Happiness is how we achieve all of this, then I’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen safely.”
Roman is the one who nods. He and Valen are always on the same page.
I look at the others. “You really all want to come back to the town that made me and get the full experience this time?”
