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“We texted her from your phone,” Maverick explains. “Told her you needed some time away and you were using your grandparents’ money they left you to travel.”

“I don’t have any money that my grandparents left me,” I argue. “What the fuck? You had no right to do that. She’s going to see right through it. I want to speak to her.”

“We can’t allow that,” Maverick says.

“Why the fuck not!?”

“It’s better if no one knows where you are,” Saint says.

“She’s my only family!” I shout, chest heaving.

“Sorry.”

“Fuck you!” I snap. “Fuck all of you. You can’t do this. I’m a fucking person. This is my life you're messing with.”

“Cove.” Maverick’s brows furrow as he takes a step.

“No.” I shake my head. “Just leave me alone. All of you just leave me the fuck alone.”

I take off, running to the room I guess is mine now. I slam the door shut and let out a scream that leaves me panting for air. My throat hurts, my head’s a fucking jumbled mess, and I’m so damn angry!

All of this is too fucking much. I don’t know what to think, what to feel.

A wave of exhaustion slams into me as I stumble over to the bed. I don’t want to think, I don’t want to feel.

Right now, I just want to sleep and maybe, just maybe, when I wake up, all of this will have just been one fucked up dream.

Chapter Sixteen

Cove

Even though I went to sleep early last night, that didn’t mean my sleep was any good. I tossed and turned, plagued with dreams of what my life could have been like if the guys never left that summer. If they stayed and pursued me as something more than just a friend.

I always used to think I was delusional because in reality I knew I couldn’t have all three of them—that's not how things worked. I would have had to choose one, but back then, teenage Cove was too head over heels for all three that she never could have picked.

Now, years later, all three of them are telling me they want me? To share me? To put a damn fucking baby in me?

When I heard about what their father did to them, asked of them, it made me hate the man before even getting the chance to meet him. I understand the kind of life they live isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. That it’s rough, dangerous, and even evil.

But who would do that to their kids? Parents are supposed to love and protect their children, not force them to endure various forms of fucked up torture with the intention of turning them into soldiers to do their bidding.

I guess it was all for nothing because, in the end, even after they had their psyches fucked with, he still didn’t get the little puppets he wanted. Not exactly.

I can’t help but feel a little smug about it. He wanted them gone all those years ago, for them to be away from me so that their heads were clear and focused to be the men he envisioned them to be. What he got were three sons that were so infatuated with the same woman, to the point that the only thing that got them through all the horrors they were forced to take part in was her. Me.

Shepherd came into my room last night when I was sleeping, something I realize was a common thing for him. It didn’t scare me, didn’t make me feel uneasy. If anything, it was settling. I felt safe, protected. It’s messed up, but true.

He played with my hair, his touch soft and loving as he whispered to me, telling me how I was what he thought about every time he felt like giving up.

He was a strong man, all of them are, and I know it would have taken a lot to break them. So it makes me wonder: what exactly was done to them? I’m not sure I actually want to know.

I’ve been lying here for hours, unable to sleep after being jolted awake by a very realistic sex dream. I thought it might have been Shepherd again, but when I sat up, chest heaving and body covered in a layer of sweat, I was alone.

The disappointment that swept over me was a surprise.

“We will not just lie down and accept our fate, Cove,” I mumble to myself in the darkness of the room. Luna is lying next to me, curled up in a ball and fast asleep. Sighing, I roll onto my side and start to pet her soft fur. “What should I do, Luna?” I ask her, her little engine starting up, and a second later, she is full-on purring. I smile, huffing out a soft laugh. “This is all so messed up. On one hand, they’re literally the guys I’ve been dreaming about coming and saving me for years. On the other hand, they kidnapped me. They’re holding me against my will. Sure, they’re not treating me badly, but it’s the principal, right?”

Luna says nothing—because why would she? She’s a cat—and stretches and rolls over, demanding belly rubs. Smiling, I begin playing with the fur on her belly as I continue to talk.