This truly was cruel and unusual punishment. There was no way the poor girl would be able to pull this off. Stryder and Anson would be able to stuff down whatever green concoction Jennie came up with, but Zoya? No way. She was half their size and had already eaten more than she ever had before. Plus, he and Anson were seasoned professionals at this. His brothers and he had mastered this act a time or two. It wasn’t always pleasant, but so worth the BBQ delight.

As they sat down at the kitchen table, Stryder looked at Maddox, who wore a shit-eating grin. His brother knew they stopped at their secret place, and he was enjoying every minute of this. Maddox knew the torture they were going to have to endure by having to cram even more food into their bellies. It had to give Maddox some joy, and since he didn’t get any ribs, his only enjoyment would come from watching his brothers pay the price.

“Zoya, dear,” Jennie began. “I know you have been through quite the ordeal. Your poor stomach must be full of knots. Maybe it’s best you only nibble on the side salad that Adira and I made. It’s full of fresh vegetables from our garden. Only take a little and eat what you can. I won’t be offended at all.”

“Plus, Jennie made rhubarb pie for dessert later tonight if you find yourself hungry,” Adira chimed in.

Zoya looked at Stryder with a twinkle in her eye and gave a very small smile. It was clear she knew she was off the hook and was loving that she didn’t have to suffer the same misery that Stryder and Anson would have to.

“Thank you, Jennie. I think you are right. It was such a long trip, and to be honest, I’m not hungry right now,” Zoya said.

“But you two,” Jennie continued, “have got to be starving! Extra helpings for you! You can just work it off later.” Jennie walked over to where Stryder sat and added, “In fact, I will dish it up for you. I was so proud of you both when I heard of all the good work you did in Moscow that I made something special.” She removed the lid off the large casserole dish. Leaning forward, and trying not to scowl, Stryder scrutinized the gray mushy pile inside. “I made meatloaf!”

“Meatloaf?” Stryder asked in disbelief, not understanding what exactly he was seeing before him, and wondering how it could ever be considered meatloaf. It was gray! And there were odd looking seeds inside of it. What kind of meat was gray?

Jennie scooped a large pile of mush onto his plate, then another, and then another. It was enough gray matter to feed an army. She then walked over to Anson and did the same, covering every square inch of his plate. “Oh, yes. You boys deserve the best tonight.” She sat down as everyone else was passing dishes of cooked vegetables and the salad bowl around. Everyone else seemed to avoid the meatloaf, not that Stryder blamed them.

“So you cooked meat?” Stryder asked as he scooped the first helping of gray goo into his mouth.

“Well, of course not!” Jennie said as she dished salad onto her plate. “It’s plant based and vegan. But it is supposed to give you the meat appearance and taste. When I saw the recipe, I just knew you boys would love it. It may have to be a staple at our dinner table for when you men do something extra deserving of it. I’m sure you will love it.”

Oh fucking hell! She was wrong. She was so very fucking wrong. There was nothing meat tasting about this. Stryder looked at Anson, who was chewing, but having a hard time swallowing the wad he had just jammed in his mouth. Stryder’s poor brother grimaced with every movement of his jaw. This didn’t just taste bad, it tasted like shit. But not normal human shit. This tasted like the type of shit that would come out of the ass of a tree-hugging hippie. And it had the consistency of paste. Paste mixed with birdseed. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t prevent the mass of fake meat from sticking to the roof of his mouth. His entire tongue was coated in meat cement! Jennie had cooked many an awful dish in her time, but this meatloaf was by far the worst thing he had ever tasted. And he had three pounds of it piled high on his plate!

He glanced over at Zoya, who was nibbling on a piece of lettuce. He could see the amusement all over her face. She knew he was miserable having to eat so much food on a full stomach, but she had no idea the true misery of this meal. He would rather lick the fungus off a cowboy’s foot than eat another bite of this, but he couldn’t refuse. The Steele men never refused Jennie. It was the rule of the house.

“Have you ever been to Texas before?” Drake asked Zoya casually as he ate a cooked carrot. Stryder noticed his dad hadn’t taken any of the meat hell, but he wouldn’t mention it to Jennie. This meal could very well be the death of his poor pops if he were to eat it. He wasn’t going to make his father suffer the same excruciating pain he and Anson were in.

“No, sir,” she said softly. “I’ve never been out of Russia.”

“Well, welcome to our ranch,” Drake said with a warm smile. “After supper, Stryder will show you the ranch and then to your room. The ladies worked all day getting it just right for you.”

“Thank you,” Zoya said even softer than before. “I hope I’m not too much of a burden.”

“Nonsense,” Jennie said with a tiny wave of her fork. “We love guests here at The Black Stallion Ranch. And Adira and I are very happy to have some more female energy around here. We get outnumbered.”

“I plan to help wherever I can,” Zoya said with more spirit this time. “I definitely will pull my weight.”

“Zoya is an artist, and a gardener too,” Stryder said.

“An artist?” Jennie seemed genuinely happy to hear that news. “And a woman who gardens. Oh, we are going to get along perfectly!”

“Stryder and Anson were hoping I could draw portraits of everyone involved with…” she paused and looked down at her small portion of a salad, “involved with the auction in Moscow.”

“It will be a great help,” Maddox offered softly. “If you can bring yourself to do it.”

“I can,” Zoya said with a weak smile.

“Reliving memories won’t be easy,” Adira said, clearly observing Zoya and her actions.

“I know.” Zoya looked at Adira and then Maddox. “But I will do whatever I can to help. Some of those women sold off to those monsters had become my friends.”

Drake cleared his throat, signaling that business talk wasn’t allowed at the dinner table. “We will get started on that once Zoya is settled in. No need to ruin a perfectly good meal with talk of evil.”

Jennie looked at Stryder and Anson with a raised eyebrow and asked, “How do you like the meatloaf, boys?”

Stryder had just been shoveling the pig slop into his mouth as fast as he could. He could see Anson was doing the same. The quicker they did, the quicker their hippie hell would be over. The only good that came from this was that the taste and consistency was so awful, he had all but forgotten about the fact that he was so full of BBQ that he could burst. That pure heaven of a meal was long forgotten.

“I would prefer real meat,” Anson grumbled.

“I don’t even know what the hell I’m eating,” Stryder said. Although they both complained about her cooking, which was normal in their household, neither would simply not eat it. They would never hurt Jennie’s feelings. They loved her. Hated her cooking, but loved her.

Stryder glanced up at Adira and Maddox, who both were looking as if they were trying to hold in laughter. Neither of them were eating the meatloaf. Taking a quick look at everyone’s plates, he noticed that no one other than he and Anson were eating the gray goo of poo.

“Why aren’t you eating any of Jennie’s meatloaf, bro?” Stryder asked Maddox, not caring that he was ratting Maddox out. “You sure don’t want to miss out on this dish.” Spittle of gray chunks fell from Stryder’s mouth. He couldn’t help it. A thick coating still overwhelmed his mouth. The more he chewed, the bigger it seemed to grow. It felt like his tongue was now papier-mâché.

“Oh no,” Jennie answered for Maddox. “I made that special for our heroes. You boys did so good in Russia and deserved a treat just for the two of you. Such good, honest, trustworthy men like the two of you deserve my special attention.”

Maddox chuckled and Adira giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Stryder asked, looking at Anson who appeared to be just as confused as he was. Although it seemed that Anson couldn’t talk because of the layers of thick imposter meat still in his mouth.

“Nothing, bro, nothing,” Maddox said as he looked at Adira, and they both burst into laughter.

Stryder put down his fork, now knowing something was up. “What’s going on?”

“Oh nothing, dear,” Jennie said with a large smile on her face. “I just knew that after all that BBQ you two ate today,” she gave a dirty look toward both Stryder and Anson before clearing her throat to add, “that you would be grateful for my meatloaf. I made it with special ingredients that would help ease your belly from all the toxins you just recently consumed.” She looked around the table at everyone with a knowing smile. “I was only looking out for your best interests, of course.” She then smiled at Zoya. “And since Zoya here is new, and surely just obediently doing as her two rescuers say, I felt she could be saved from this detox tonight.”

Zoya’s mouth opened wide and she looked at Stryder with big saucer eyes. “I didn’t rat you out! I swear!”

Jennie giggled. “You didn’t have to. How Stryder got BBQ sauce on his elbow might be a mystery but I can smell the stench of carcass on his breath.” She turned to look at Anson, “Plus, I know exactly how long it takes to drive from the airport to the ranch.”

Zoya giggled as Stryder lifted his arm, and seeing a tell-tale reddish brown smear, he shook his head.

Anson pushed the gray matter around on his plate, and Stryder did the same, examining it closer.

“Detox? What did you put in this?” Stryder asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Oh you know,” Jennie answered casually, “just the basics in any good detox meal.”

Drake snorted, but kept his eyes down on his plate. Maddox and Adira tried to do the same. It was clear that they were all in on the joke.

“The meatloaf is plant based, but I also added some Chia seeds, some fig, some crushed up probiotics, and then mixed it all with some fresh and powerful kombucha tea,” Jennie said with a look of pride on her face.

“In other words,” Maddox said, “it’s full of every natural ingredient that you can think of that is going to make you both shit your brains out in the next thirty minutes or so.” He laughed so loudly that it cut the restraint that was holding back the others, and everyone else joined in with huge belly laughs.

“It’s for your own good,” Jennie said between her fits of laughter. “You don’t need all that processed junk, and all those high cholesterol chemicals in your body. I bet that meat you ate wasn’t even organic.”

Stryder couldn’t hear Zoya’s laugh over everyone else’s, but the shaking of her shoulders next to him told him she found this highly amusing. “Jennie…”

“She put laxatives in your food?” Zoya asked Stryder between her laughter. “I think I’m going to like Texas.”

“Are you kidding me?” Anson asked as he took a large swig of water.

“You play, you pay, sons,” Drake said as tears welled in his eyes from laughing so hard. “Hard lesson to learn. But don’t mess with Jennie.”

“You pay, you shit, is more like it,” Maddox added.

“A good purge will do you good,” Jennie informed them with such a warm smile that it was impossible to be mad at her.

The rumble in his stomach warned that the thirty minutes that Maddox spoke of may have been generous. Stryder needed to get to his room and private bathroom before this got ugly—and even more embarrassing than it already was. And when he heard the legs of Anson’s chair scoot back as he rose to leave the table, Stryder knew his brother must be feeling the same rumblings brewing as well.

“Well played, Jennie. Well played.” Stryder gave her a wink and then chuckled. Yeah, the next hour or so was going to suck. He knew all about the power of Jennie’s detox blends. But he had to hand it to the woman. She was damn clever. And even though he was moments from exploding, Stryder looked at Zoya and chuckled again. “Welcome to the Steele household.” With that, he quickly left the room, hearing nothing but joyous laughter behind him.

The one good thing Jennie’s prank had done was give Zoya some time without him hovering over her. Stryder didn’t want to suffocate the woman, but he also hated being away from her. It wasn’t just because she was his save, either. He enjoyed her company, but he also felt the need to have her near him just so he one hundred percent knew she was safe. He wanted to make sure of it, and the only true way to do that was to stay with her at all times. Yet, he knew that his overprotective ways would most likely drive her crazy.

He knocked on her bedroom door, knowing it was late, but he doubted she had turned in for the night. “Zoya?” he called. “It’s me, Stryder.”

When the door opened, a beautiful blonde in a white nightgown and satin robe welcomed him with a warm smile. Zoya appeared angelic. So pure and innocent. It was hard to believe by looking at her that she had just experienced one of the darkest moments of her life. Nothing but beauty and light exuded from her crystal blue eyes. “Did everything come out all right?” she teased. She didn’t laugh, but he could tell she wanted to. She opened the door wider so he could enter the room.

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“That was a really nice dinner. I like them. Your family.”

Stryder nodded and walked to where an oversized armchair sat in a corner of the room and sat down. “They have their moments.”

She walked over to join him and sat on the edge of the bed across from him. “Your father allowed me to make a call on some special phone?”

“We use what are called burner phones for certain calls. Basically untraceable.” He paused and then asked gently, “So, did you speak with your family?”

“I did… they were glad to hear that I made it safely to Moscow. I-I didn’t tell them much as I had to fight not to cry, but they just believe I am a bit homesick.” She looked up, her eyes shimmering and yet she smiled. “Thank you. I needed to hear their voices.”

“You’re welcome. When this is all over, you can speak to them again.”

She nodded and changed the subject. “Oh, and Adira showed me around the ranch after you left, so you don’t have to worry about doing so.” She fiddled with her hands in her lap. “The place is lovely. Is it true that you, your brothers and your father built the ranch yourselves?”

He nodded. “Labor of love.”

“It’s obvious. I’ve never seen such a pretty home. And the land…” She looked down at her feet, nervousness was clear in her actions. “But like I said, Adira showed me the place, so you didn’t have to return tonight.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” Stryder admitted.

“Your father said after you left that we wouldn’t get to work until tomorrow. He said we all needed our rest.”

“That’s not why I’m here, either.”

“Then why are you?” She swallowed hard. Was he scaring her? He would never do so on purpose, but he knew softness was not one of his finest qualities.

“I’m going to sleep with you tonight.”

“Wh-what? You want to sleep with me tonight?” The tiny motions of her fingers playing with her nightgown ceased, and the delicate flesh on her lovely cheekbones pinkened.

“Yes. I don’t want to leave you alone.” He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “It’s my job to keep you safe. I don’t take that mission lightly. I know you are safe under this roof. We have the best security a man can buy, but I would still feel better if I am with you at all times to protect you. It’s how I do things.”

“You want to stay in my room to protect me?”

“Yes. Does that bother you? I’ll sleep in this chair, and you won’t even know I am here. But you’ve been through a lot, and I don’t think you should be alone.” He had seen this before with other women they had saved in the past. Nightmares, screams in the middle of the night, crying heard throughout the quiet hallways of the house. He wouldn’t allow that to happen for Zoya. She had already suffered more than any woman should. If him sleeping nearby could help prevent any of those things from happening, then he would make this chair his permanent bed until the day she left the ranch.

“Yes, I mean no, I mean…” She took a deep breath. “Yes, you can stay in my room tonight.”

He wasn’t really asking, and would have stayed regardless, but it certainly made it easier that she agreed to having him room with her. She paused for a moment but then pulled down the down comforter of her bed and crawled between the sheets. She was surrounded in white as though she lay engulfed in fluffy clouds. Fitting of the angel she was.

She leaned over and clicked the light off that rested on the nightstand, casting them in darkness. “Goodnight, Stryder.”

“Goodnight, Zoya.” He twisted and turned his body to find the most comfortable way to sleep in the chair. Thankfully, he was exhausted, and by the weight of his eyelids, he knew it wouldn’t be long before he completely passed out, no matter what type of furniture he was sleeping on.

“Stryder?” he heard her small voice ask from the dark room.

“Yes?”

“How long will I be scared? Of Poplov? Of the rest of those men? Of everyone and everything?”

His heart shattered. He felt physical pain when he heard the tremor in her voice as she asked such a truthful and vulnerable question. He wanted to jump up, crawl into bed with her, and hold her tight, rocking her to sleep. God, he wanted to take away her pain, her fear, her awful memories.

“I don’t know. But it’s my job to make sure that you are safe. I’ll die trying to take away your fear, and I will never leave your side until the day you look me in the eye and tell me you feel safe. Truly safe.”

“It sounds like you take your job seriously.”

“I do.”

The room went silent again, and just as Stryder was assuming that Zoya had fallen asleep, she asked, “Are you comfortable?”

“Yes.”

“Are you lying?”

“Maybe.”

“Would you like to sleep in the bed with me?” He heard shuffling and movement in the bed as she made room for him. “It’s large enough for the two of us.”

“It’s okay. I’m fine.” He didn’t want to scare her off. He knew that it was common for saves to panic and suddenly try to flee. Zoya seemed okay now, but he needed to tread lightly.

“Okay,” was her only response.

Another few minutes passed and he heard her soft voice cut across the darkened room again. “Will you hold me?” There was a long pause. “I’m scared, Stryder. And I could really use a hug.”

He thought his heart had shattered before when she showed her vulnerability. But nothing compared to what he felt now. Hell yes, he would hold her. Not only would he hold her, he would never let her go.

Silently, he got up and moved to the bed. “Yes, I’ll hold you for as long as you want.”

When he lay down, he didn’t have to make the first move. Zoya instantly scooted toward him and snuggled her warm body up against his as she burrowed her face into his chest. Wrapping his arms securely around her, he whispered, “You’re safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Goodnight, Zoya.”

“Goodnight. Thank you.”