open—no electric fences, razor wire, or armed militia. So while you are safe in my house, you’re only as safe as my locks, my alarm, and me and my guns. The next issue for you is, I’m asking my team for help. Period. I will not waver on that. And being as most of my team are your relatives, I hate to say it, babe, but the chance of one of them not telling your dad is zero. Not to mention, as I think I explained yesterday, I respect your father and owe him honesty.”
Always comes back to my dad, doesn’t it?
God, I wanted to slap myself for even thinking that horrible thought.
“Right,” I mumbled and looked out the window.
We were almost there, and once Trey explained the situation, my life as I knew it would be over. One or all of them would move in to take over and lock me down.
“There a reason you don’t want your dad knowing what’s going on?”
There were a million. But instead of exposing my ungrateful, bratty side, I kept all my reasons to myself.
“I already told you why.”
“No one’s gonna make you do anything—”
“Yes, they will and you know it,” I cut him off. “Heck, even you got your way. And I don’t mean that in a thankless, ugly way, I’m just pointing out facts. I don’t want my family to worry. I don’t want you to worry. Even though I don’t think Jake would actually hurt me, I still agreed to move in with you until you check him out and he leaves to go back to wherever he’s stationed, or deployed to, or whatever it is that he does. But you know them. The second they catch wind there’s danger, all of them will swoop in.”
Silence fell, and when it stretched, I regretted my outburst.
Trey wouldn’t understand. Heck, it was happening to me and I couldn’t verbalize my feelings in a way that made a lick of sense. I knew down to my soul I was loved. I knew my family—all of them were protective, kind, loyal, giving people. I was blessed beyond measure to have all of them. But it was stifling, and I felt no small amount of guilt for feeling that way.
Who in their right mind complained they were loved too much?
No one.
Not a single, normal, sane person would whine about being protected and cherished.
“No one is going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, Addy. Not even me.”
“Really? And who’s gonna stop them from trampling over my life and taking over?”
“I am.”
I went rock solid at the vigor in his tone. He was serious. He would stop them—not try to, he would simply make it so.
I remained frozen in my seat in an effort to contain the hope that was threatening to break free. Hope that I promised myself I’d never have again.
A heavy silence fell and neither of us tried to fill it.
I didn’t know what Trey was thinking about and I didn’t dare ask. My head was too muddled with all the garbage I’d sworn to myself I’d never think about again.
Keith had no place in my life. Yet, neither did hope, but there I was sitting next to Trey trusting him.
Man, I really messed up. I knew down deep in my bones Trey wouldn’t give up. Not on me, and he’d be relentless in his pursuit of the truth.
Crap.
“He said what?” my brother seethed.
Oh, heck, Jason was pissed. Madder than I can remember seeing him in recent history. This was because ten minutes after we’d walked into Triple Canopy, Trey had called a meeting. Not just any meeting, he’d requested everyone’s presence. That meant Jason, Nick, Carter, Brady, Logan, Matt, Drake, Luke, Dylan, Trey, and myself were jammed into the conference room, which was not small, yet with all the testosterone seeping from the men, the room turned stifling.
Trey hadn’t even let the men settle before he launched into the scene Jake created at the café. Through this, I didn’t speak or fill in the blanks because there were none to fill in. Trey was thorough, as in thorough. The only thing he’d left out was me finding Jake with another woman before he shipped out. Which, I was fairly certain, was only because I was in the room and he would later dish out that tidbit. Of course, that would only fuel my brother’s anger. Not to mention my cousins’.
Trey didn’t repeat Jake’s threat. Instead, he turned to Dylan.