Page 113 of Shattered Silence Duet

“But you all look so… upset.”

“Of course we’re upset!” Gideon says loudly, making me flinch. “Knowing you’ve been through all of that, and that you’ve been dealing with it on your own all this time… I… I need some air,” he says, not making eye contact with me as he storms out the room.

“I’ll go with him,” Jasper says, jogging through the door after him.

“Kitten?” I look back at Dom and realize I’m gripping his forearms tightly. I loosen my grip as he speaks. “You know he’s not upsetatyou, right? He’s upset about what happenedtoyou.” I nod. I think I understand that, but seeing him so angry is upsetting.

A nurse comes in and detaches me from all the machines and gives Ben some paperwork to sign for my release.

“Alright, now let’s get you changed so we can finally take you home,” Dom says, helping me sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed as Tucker brings a bag over to us. I watch as he pulls out a pair of dark green fleece sweatpants, a matching hoodie, a pair of pink fuzzy socks and the prettiest pair of pink underwear I’ve ever seen.

Dom takes the socks and kneels in front of me, taking great care with my feet as he puts them on. I can’t help but smile as I watch this gorgeous man, on his knees before me, being so gentle with me. He sees me smiling at him and winks at me, making me blush. He chuckles as he reaches for my hips and helps me to stand.

He doesn’t say anything as he reaches for the underwear and helps me step into them. Slowly, he starts to slide them up my legs and as I reach to take over, to pull them the rest of the way up, helooks at me sharply, then raises an eyebrow at me, like he’s daring me to take them from him.

I’m not sure if he wants me to or not, but I pull my hands away and swallow the lump that has suddenly appeared in my throat. He doesn’t break eye contact with me as he pulls them the rest of the way up, sliding his hands under my hospital gown.

He takes his time, running his fingers around the waist band, making sure they’re sitting smoothly. Unable to keep staring into his serious pale blue eyes, I glance around the room at the others. They all quickly avert their eyes, looking at the wall, ceiling or floor, anywhere but at me, like they don’t want me to know that they were watching me. But something about them watching him do that to me sends a shiver down my spine.

“Step in,” Dom says, making my head turn back to him. He’s holding the sweatpants on the floor, so I place my right hand on his shoulder for balance as I slowly step into the pants, one foot at a time. He pulls them up, a bit faster this time.

He stands up and Tucker gently pushes him aside as he pulls the sweatshirt down over my head in one smooth motion. I start to push my arms through the sleeves, but he stops me. “No, Sugar, pull your arms out the hospital gown first, so we can take that off you.”

I try to do as he asks, but the gown isn’t giving me enough space to do it. “Too tight,” I rasp. Dom turns me around and lifts up the back of the sweatshirt. The gown loosens, and Dom’s hands slide over my shoulder blade and up to my shoulder as he helps me pull my arm out. He repeats the motion on the other side, then reaches around my stomach to grab the hospital gown. He pulls the sweatshirt back down as I push my arms through the sleeves.

Dom readjusts my clothes from behind me while Tucker does the same from my front. I lick my lips nervously, wondering why I’m breathing so heavily right now. Something about them taking care of me is making me feel ridiculously emotional.

“I think she’s good, guys,” Ben says with amusement. It worksto break the trance the three of us are in as they both step back from me.

Atlas wastes no time stepping in and gently scooping me up into his arms.

“Shouldn’t she leave in a wheelchair?” Ben asks him.

“Why? I can carry her, and she’s safer with me.” I watch Ben roll his eyes at Atlas. When he sees me watching him, he gives me a wink. As we head to the exit, Jasper and Gideon join us silently.

Atlas carries me to the SUV where I’m placed in the middle row, between him and Jasper. They constantly ask if I’m okay and fuss over me the whole way home, and I can’t say I hate it.

Home.I sigh. Is it true? Can I call their home mine? I hope so. And for the first time in years, I don’t cringe at the thought of hope. Maybe I need hope after all. Maybe it’s what has kept me sane all these years.

When we pull up to the house, Tucker jumps out of the passenger seat and as soon as Jasper gets out, he snatches me up before anyone else can, causing Atlas to swear. I giggle at them all wanting to help me. It’s such a stark difference from my life before.

When we get inside, I look around. Everything looks just as I remember it. I’m not sure why I thought it’d look any different.

“Tuck, let me have her now,” Max whines as they all follow us.

“Uh-uh. You snooze, you lose, brother!” Tuck laughs.

“I’ll do your chores for a week,” he begs as we follow Jasper upstairs. I’ve never been up here before.

“Nope.”

“Two weeks!”

“Not gonna happen!”

“You’re no fun!” Max whines.

“Oh, I’m plenty of fun, right, Sugar?”