“Everly.” I dropped my bag, moved over to her. “Are you okay?”
The bruise on her face had already formed, the skin swollen and red, with black rimming the bump. There was a small scratch over her eyebrow and another on her puffy lower lip.
“I’m fine.” Her hand settled over mine on the door. “You broke up with Danny?”
“Yeah. No biggie.” I glanced around the interior of the SUV, not looking at the driver for too long. “Where’re you going?”
“To stay with Isaac and Ian for a couple of days.” She motioned toward the house with a slight tilt of her head. “You know. Just in case he comes back.”
“Ah.” I stood tall, pulled my hand from beneath hers. “Dante going, too?”
“Yes.”
Well, then. Looked as though I was on my own.
Not that it mattered. I was familiar with being by myself.
In fact, it seemed to be the story of my life.
THREE
ISAAC
From the driver’s seat, I watched the interaction between Everly and Heaven. When I wasn’t observing them, I was watching my brother. Ian was standing outside the Escalade, his full attention on Everly.
I found it interesting, especially since he liked to give me shit about how I was head over heels for her. Right there in front of him was a very attractive brunette he should’ve been charming, yet his attention was snagged by the one woman who had changed my entire world simply by breathing. If my hunch was right, Ian was trying to figure out how to protect her and I didn’t need the twin bond to know that. He looked pained, almost at a loss, and it made me curious.
His eyes shot to mine. I nodded.
“We need to get out of here,” Ian told the girls. “Why don’t you come stay at our house for a couple of days? Just until we’ve had time to figure out who this guy is, what he wants. We’ve got plenty of room.”
Heaven pushed away from the back window, disappearing into the blind spot between the doors. I glanced at Everly because I couldn’t seem to stop looking at her.
“I don’t want to impose.” That sassy voice floated in through the open window.
This woman had an edge to her. Very standoffish, almost volatile. I wondered what had prompted the behavior. More importantly, I wondered how two obvious submissives had ended up with a friend who was, for lack of a better term, dominant. And I wasn’t referring to her sexual desires. Heaven just seemed like the type who wanted to be in control of her decisions.
“You aren’t,” Everly and Ian said at the same time, making me smile.
Heaven reappeared outside Everly’s door. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Please. Come with me. I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe.”
With far less argument than I’d expected, Heaven nodded. Before she could reach for her bag, Ian was hefting it toward the back of the SUV.
“What about my car?” she asked, her gaze swinging around.
“We’ll bring you back here when it’s safe,” Ian said absently.
I reached back and tapped Everly’s knee. “Sit up front.”
Her eyes met mine. “Yes, Sir.”
Passing a look to Heaven, she opened the door. They traded places, Everly relocating to the front passenger seat. She buckled herself in while Ian got into the back behind me.
It had taken far longer than it should have, but a minute later, we were on the road, the Camry behind us.
“Whose Camaro is that?” Ian asked.
“Dante’s,” Heaven offered. “But he didn’t drive it. Said he hates that car.”
I glanced at Everly to see if she had something to contribute, but she was staring down at her hands.
Ian and I lived roughly forty-five minutes outside of Chicago in a rambling ranch house in the middle of a subdivision parsed into narrow, five-acre tracts. We’d bought it a decade ago, rehabbed the interior over the course of a couple of years to turn it into exactly what we wanted. Five bedrooms, six bathrooms, formal dining and living room, workout space, along with a huge den, where we spent most of our time. On one end of the house was a guest suite, complete with separate living area and spa bathroom, though no one had ever stayed in that space. The basement had been converted to our office, the attic into what would pass as a fairly decent library.
Although we were rarely home these days, I still loved that house, longed to be there for longer than a couple of days at a time. Having taken jobs with Ransom Bishop and the security division he was running for Trent Ramsey’s talent agency, we found most of our time spent these days with A-listers who were in need of personal protection. This was supposed to be our downtime, after having spent the past two months in Los Angeles, and to ensure that happened, I’d cornered Ransom back at Zeke’s, informing him of what was going down. He’d agreed to keep us out of the rotation for as long as he could, or until we found the fucker who’d attacked Everly.
