The Healing Touch - Apryl Baker Page 0,81
not even that. I’m ashamed to say I forgot some of their names, especially the one-night stands.”
He hated the censure in her eyes, but he couldn’t change his past. All he could do was concentrate on their future. And getting her to agree to marry him. Why she was being stubborn about this, he didn’t understand.
They loved each other.
They enjoyed being around each other.
They could have long conversations about silly nonsense or some deep subject.
They were meant to be.
So why the fuck wouldn’t she say yes?
The conductor’s voice announcing their arrival interrupted his silent struggle. Best to get their things together. He’d already packed their luggage while she slept, so there really wasn’t that much to do. He shooed her into the bathroom so she could brush her teeth and take care of anything else. The girl hated fuzzy teeth.
They were the last ones off the train, but it didn’t mean the station was empty. It was crowded as hell, and he glanced at her, worried. Her hand was wrapped tightly around his, and he felt the tension in her body.
“It’s okay, baby. I got you.”
She nodded and looked down. He could all but hear her counting in her head. She told him it helped her to focus on something other than the panic.
“Motherfucker, it’s about damn time you got here. I was getting ready to go get pizza to wait on your ass.”
His baby brother, Mason, stood lounging against the wall by the exit. He was the spitting image of Nikoli. The two of them could pass for twins. Mason had a laughter in him Nik didn’t, though. The kid was always smiling and goofing around. It set him apart from all of them.
“Mason.” He let his brother take the rolling luggage from him. “This is Becca. Krasivaya, this is my brother.”
“The cutie pie from the phone.”
“I like her already. She knows which brother got all the looks.” Mason laughed and bowed. “At your service, milady.”
“Really?” Dimitri quirked a brow.
“Have you seen all this?” Mason gestured at himself. “I have to beat the women off.”
Becca laughed, suffering the pain. He was probably right. He was as beautiful as the rest of the men.
“You look like dog meat.”
They all jumped at the sound of the voice—well, everyone but Mason. Conner Kincaid stood just to the left of them.
“Well, if you had a crazy ex-girlfriend try to smash your face into a mirror, you wouldn’t look so hot either,” Becca quipped.
Conner shook his head, a smile cracking his face. She hadn’t seen him since high school, but the change in him was dramatic. He was older, his face harder. She saw the darkness lurking in his eyes, but she saw something none of the rest of them did. She saw the pain. She knew what that pain was about and why he was the way he was now.
Disentangling herself from Dimitri, she limped over and pulled him to her in a hug so tight, she knew she had to be cutting off his lungs.
Conner stood there, unmoving, and she just hugged him harder. He hated that he’d confessed everything to her in a drunken moment, hated that she knew his pain. It was why she’d told Dimitri to leave him alone. Conner would come through this, but he would do it in his own time and when he found someone who could see past the brutal exterior to the weeping wound below.
Finally, his arms came up and wrapped around her. He crushed her to him. “You know I’m the one who usually does the smashing, Sunshine. All you had to do was call.”
He’d picked up on Nikoli’s nickname for her. She didn’t mind. She loved the Kincaid boys. They could call her what they wanted.
“Conner, if you don’t get your hands off my fucking woman, I will hurt you.”
Conner laughed, the sound so dark and full of rage, she winced. He’d probably welcome a fight, and poor Dimitri would come out of it looking worse than she did.
“I do believe I’m the one who hugged him.” She leaned into him and whispered, “You good?”
His nod was barely there, but she saw it. She stepped back and let Dimitri wrap himself around her again.
“Dude, don’t be hating on Conner.” Mason struck a pose. “Not his fault she was so blinded by all this that she got confused and hugged the wrong brother.”
“You are not right, brat.” Conner shook his head and slapped the kid on the back. Mason stumbled, not having the