“Guardians protect their charge from many things, but the most important is emotional pain. Your charge is weakened by emotional constraints, and if so, they can’t complete their mission on this world. The connection between a guardian and their charge is spiritual and unlike anything ever felt before.” The man watches me after his explanation but I just stare with a blank look. Why do I care about guardians?
Carter leads the way through the house to a garage attached to the opposite end. Cooper blasts the horn just as the door closes behind us. Zane’s nowhere to be seen; he must have left without us. Maybe he has a separate car or something? Then again, if their mother is as well off as my dad, they probably all have their own cars.
Cooper leans his head out the window with a mischievous grin and blares the horn again. I cringe from the sound and his grin grows. “Sorry.”
I roll my eyes. “Sure you are.” I climb in the backseat while Carter holds my door open. He waits for me to click my seatbelt before closing it and joining his brother in the front seat.
“Well, it’s not my fault you two decided to take the long way to the garage. Jax and Zane already left.”
“Jax?” I ask, intrigued. He’s the only one I haven’t yet met.
Cooper nods, his focus on the road. “Yeah, he’s our older brother. Fair warning — if you think I’m a dick, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you meet Jax. He’s his own personal ray of sunshine.” I sense the sarcasm and hold my tongue.
I’m here until my trial and who knows how long that will be. I’d rather not antagonize the people I’m living with. I need to be the bigger person. Hopefully they find the real person who hurt Natalie and these murder charges go away. I’ll be free to live my life and stay far away from my mom. It’s gonna be hard without seeing Nat’s shining face every day, but I know she’d want me to move on.
I still don’t understand who would have wanted to hurt her. She was a light in most people’s lives and helped you see the brighter side of life. I hope Sally and Jess are okay and that they don’t get into trouble for being at the crime scene. I wonder if they miss me as much as I miss them.
Then there’s my co-workers. Do they even know where I am? Did Dad talk to my bosses? I’m sure they heard about everything on the news, but still, I never even got to explain I was leaving.
We pull into a parking lot behind an Italian bistro and climb out of the car. I stretch my hands over my head. I straighten and freeze when I see Carter and Cooper staring at me. “What?” I glare at them.
Cooper is the first to snap out of it, grabbing my hand and pulling me after him without a word.
Does he think I can’t walk through a door on my own? I pull my arm away, crossing them behind my back so he can’t reach them again. He only grins before waiting for me to walk in ahead of him. When I don’t move, I feel a hand on my lower back pushing me through the doorway. Carter smirks at me, his eyes twinkling as his hand trails lower. I almost jerk away when I notice Cooper has moved to stand in front of me, blocking any kind of escape.
“What”—my voice comes out on a squeak so I clear my throat—“what are you guys doing?” I ask, hoping they can’t tell how affected I am by their sudden nearness.
Cooper’s eyes light up with a whole new kind of hunger. “What’s wrong, babe? You afraid of us?”
“No?” I ask. All of my bravado leaves me as Carter runs a hand up my back. The touch is gentle yet hot and makes me want to dissolve into a puddle at his feet.
He leans down, whispering in my ear. “What are you afraid of?”
I try to think, only to jump a foot in the air when a large clatter sounds in the room. Cooper and Carter separate from me as if nothing happened and lead me to a table over in the corner. Thankfully the restaurant isn’t packed otherwise I’d be utterly mortified by what just happened. How the hell did I just let that happen? Why did that happen? Shit! I need to snap out of it. Have I really let myself get so starved for touch and contact?
We get to a booth and I move to slide in but Carter starts pushing me up against the wall as Cooper slides in on the side next to Zane.
“Where’s the elusive Jax?” I ask, glancing around for a sign of the eldest brother. I’m starting to think he’s avoiding meeting me.
Carter lifts his arm and rests it behind me. “He’s getting the pizza. Probably got caught at the counter by Joy. She’s kinda obsessed with him.”
The jealousy that I feel leaves me feeling disconcerted. What the fuck is happening with me? I don’t even know this guy and these feelings are surfacing. I’ve fucking lost it. That’s the only explanation. I’m officially insane.
The smell of fresh pizza and focaccia bread assaults my senses and I moan. Damn, that smells good. I look up in time to see the tray holding the food placed on the table by none other than the man of my dreams. Just seeing him throws me back to the first time he appeared three years ago.
I screamed, the shadows holding me down as fear clogged my heart. Why are my own dreams hurting me? I cried and cried, the pain becoming too much to bear, when a bright light filled the room and chased the shadows away. He stood there, towering over me with rage burning his amber eyes. He’d seen me huddled in on myself, the small whimpers of pain escaping every time my body twitched. His eyes softened and he reached down, pushing my sweat soaked hair out of my face. “Shhh, I’ve got you now. They won’t ever hurt you again.”
From then on, whenever I had the dreams and the shadows made an appearance so did he. I never dreamed he was real.
I sit, frozen to the spot. How is one of the men I’ve been dreaming about here?
He stares at me, shock on his face before he lets a mask fall in place.
Maybe it’s a coincidence he was in my dreams? Maybe I saw a picture of him somewhere or something, and it resulted in him being burned into my mind. Shit! I need to get out of here. I start to nudge Carter so I can get as far from here as possible to think about what this means when Jax speaks. “You must be Valerie. I’m Jaxson.” He holds out a hand to shake, and I take it, hesitantly. The moment we touch a sharp pain runs up my arm and into my shoulder.
He lets go of my hand, pulling a chair over to the end of the table, and the rest all dig in to the food as if nothing just happened. I lean back as Carter puts a few slices on my plate and pushes it towards me. “Eat. You’re too thin.”
I pull the plate towards me, eating a slice as the others do. When I finish my first slice and look up it’s to see Cooper watching me.
“So … how old are you, Valerie? Troy didn’t give us too many details until yesterday. It’s been kind of a shock finding out he even had a daughter,” Cooper says between bites of his pizza.
That’s just great. My father was so ashamed of me he didn’t even tell his stepsons I existed. Nice way to make a girl feel loved.
Zane and Jax both stare at me, waiting for me to respond. Carter ignores the conversation, shovelling food into his mouth as if he’s been starved.
“I turned twenty-one a few days ago. What about you guys?” I ask, trying to be polite.
Carter grins beside me. “Sweet. We turn twenty-two next month. We’re having a bonfire at the house to celebrate. You should totally join us. It will be wicked fun.”
I hesitate, unsure if I want to commit to something. “Ah sure, I guess. It’ll depend how my classes go.”
The table drops into silence as we continue eating. I pretty much ignore what little conversation happens after that, too absorbed in my own world to really pay much attention, when fingers clicking in my face startle me.
Zane is leaning across the table, an amused grin in place. “You back with us babe?”
I blush, embarrassed. “Yeah. Sorry, what’d I miss?”
Carter chuckles, pulling me closer. I try not to enjoy the feeling, but I admit it feels safe. I feel protected. Something I haven’t felt in a long time.
Zane leans back in his seat. “I said, we have a friend who’s having a party tonight. We thought you might want to come with us and meet some of the people here. A few of them may end up being in your classes.”
Oh. I hesitate, unsure if I really want to go out in a group with a bunch of strangers. Screw it, what’s the worst that can happen?