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“The moment we were allowed, the moment we’d done everything asked of us, expected of us, we made our way back to the US. But life went on. You had moved on,” Saint says, breaking my damn heart.

My eyes close again, tears threatening to spill. They were gone for eight years. They came back one year too late.

I have no right to feel that way. It’s not their fault. They owed me nothing. They weren’t the ones who hurt me, at least not in the way he did. It wasn’t their job to protect me, to save me from the monsters hiding under my bed.

“We’re so fucking sorry.” Maverick’s voice is thick, filled with emotions. When I open my eyes, I don’t hide the tears.

His face is dark and stormy, filled with anger. But not for me. He reaches up and brushes the tear that slips from the corner of my eye away.

“We were too late, and we will live with that regret every day.”

“You know?” My voice wobbles as it takes everything in me not to break. It’s been a long time since I’ve shed a tear over that monster. He doesn’t deserve them.

Maverick’s jaw grinds together, his nostrils flaring. “That man will pay for what he did to you, Cove. We will make sure of it.”

My breath hitches at the tone of his voice. The look in his eye tells me he’s ready to burn the world down for me. But why?

“He already is. He’s in jail. Where he deserves to rot in hell,” I spit, my body shaking with fury.

Like the three of them can’t help themselves, they step forward, their nearness settling me a bit, and I find myself leaning back into Saint’s body.

They hold me up, never letting me fall.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Now I know why they left. I understand they didn’t have a choice. That this was the life they were always meant to live. But that doesn’t explain why now. Why wait to do... all of this, years later after coming back.

I ask them as much.

“Because we didn’t know how to be in your life, to be with you. We didn’t know anything about who you were, who you turned out to be. So, we took the time to get to know you. We wanted to know everything. So we could better understand you when the time came for us to get the girl who was always meant to be ours.”

“By stalking me?” I huff. “Couldn’t you have just made yourself known? Ask me out on a damn date?”

“No,” Saint says. My head tilts back to look at him. “Because you weren’t ready. You were in pain. You were trying to heal. We just came back from eight years of hell. Fighting, killing, going through unthinkable tests of loyalty. We weren’t in the position to be the men you needed.”

“And now?”

Shepherd snorts. “We realized that we’re all fucked in the head, and if we waited any longer, we were going to lose our everloving mind. Plus, we were driving our father crazy.”

“How?” I ask.

“Because,” Saint huffs out on a laugh. “He thought sending us away would make us forget about you. He was wrong. And we showed him just how wrong when we got back.”

“Let’s just say our obsession with you became so time-consuming that it left little to no time to do the job we were trained to do. And it backfired on him, because everything we endured chipped away at our sanity.” Shepherd taps on his head. “When you mix crazy with three lovesick fools, you get men who would stop at nothing to get what they want. So, pretty much Dad gave up, and we’re free to do what we want.”

“Just like that?” I raise a brow, looking between the three of them. “After all of that, after years of expecting you to be what he wanted, and years spent at some fucked up boot camp, he just gave up?”

“Not exactly," Maverick grunts. “He gave us a condition.”

“And that would be?”

“To our father, we’re not what he deems... sane enough to take over as head of the family when it’s time for him to step down. Mind you, that won’t be for a long time, but still. We have no plans on doing what he’s asking of us. Not that we could. We’re not joking, Bunny.” Shepherd grins. “We’re way past the point of obsession.”

That should scare me. But... it doesn’t. If anything, it fills me with excitement.

“You didn’t answer me. What does he want in return for letting you three go?”

“An heir,” Maverick states.

“Okay... do you have an uncle or cousin that could take your place?”