by Becca Van
He broke every posted speed limit as he raced through the streets and along the Main Street, highly aware of where everyone was as he zipped past them. Thankfully, there were no other vehicles on the road, and before long he was screeching to a halt outside the small but well-equipped hospital. He twisted the key, turning the engine off as he released his seatbelt, and then he was running to the double glass front doors after locking his truck. He almost slipped on the floor when he spotted Jalen and Dante standing outside a partially enclosed exam area as he changed direction after bursting into the emergency department.
“How is she?” he asked before he stopped and peered in through the gap in the privacy curtain. There was a nurse and doctor bending over her, so all he could see of Kat were her legs and feet. She was wearing the trousers and the shoes she’d been wearing at work earlier that day. When he glanced at his watch and saw what time it was, he quickly amended that thought to the previous day.
Dante sneered at him. “Her face and one of her eyes is bruised and swollen. She took a punch to the stomach and is very sore even if she won’t admit it. Where the hell were you?”
Even though he’d expected his brothers’ anger, he was still shocked at the vehemence in Dante’s voice. He sighed, because he knew damn well he deserved their wrath. Mica was still angry with himself, too.
“She locked herself in the bedroom. I left her alone to try to come to terms with what happened this afternoon and get over her embarrassment,” Mica replied quietly so the medical staff and Kat wouldn’t hear him. “I didn’t even think about her sneaking away again. I thought she’d stay after what happened yesterday morning. I’m sorry, I was wrong.”
“Make sure you ice your face and eye every hour for ten to fifteen minutes,” the doctor said, drawing his and his brothers’ attention. “You have internal and external bruising, but you don’t have any internal bleeding.” The doctor turned to face Mica, Dante, and Jalen. He locked gazes with Jalen. “I hope you captured those bastards and arrested their asses.”
“We did.” Jalen nodded.
“You can take her home but keep an eye on her,” the doc said. “She has a headache, and though there’s no sign of a concussion, you need to watch over her. If the headache gets worse or she sleeps too long, bring her back for another examination. Other than that, she needs to rest to recover from her injuries.”
“Thank you,” Mica said as he shook hands with the doctor. As soon as the doc turned to shake his brothers’ hands, he hurried into the cubicle. While Kat’s face and her right eye were bruised and swollen, she was as pale as a ghost. He wanted to get down on his knees and beg her forgiveness for being so lax with her, but on the other hand, he wanted to rile at her for creeping out and taking such a risk. However, she’d already suffered enough at the hands of those fuckers and was probably already berating herself for leaving.
She sighed, opened her good eye to squint up at him, and turned her gaze away.
“How are you feeling, sweetie?” Mica clasped her hand in his, and when he saw her bruised knuckles, he realized that she fought back.
“Like I’ve been used as a punching bag.” Kat shrugged, then muttered, “Nothing unusual.”
Mica swallowed down his anger over the nonchalance of her tone over the last couple of words. He hated that all she’d ever known was abuse, hated that she was so blasé about speaking of getting hurt. But what he hated most was that she’d run from him.
“Why did you leave?” Mica asked before he could stop himself. Kat shrugged again, keeping her face turned away from him. “If we pissed you off, why the hell didn’t you confront us? Are we so scary to you that you ran away?”
She turned to meet his eyes. “You don’t scare me.”
“Then prove it,” Mica goaded. “Prove that we don’t frighten you and stay with us.”
“There’s no need for me to stay with you and your brothers anymore.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, baby,” Jalen said as he walked closer to the bed on the opposite side of where Mica was standing. “Darren Carter is still at large. For all we know, he could be on his way here to get revenge. He could blame you and your sister for the business going down the tubes after all the raids.”
“I doubt it.” Kat snorted. “From what I remember of Carter, he was an idiot who couldn’t think for himself.”
“That may be so, but what about the other crime bosses in Chicago? There are likely wars going on to take over the top position of the criminal underworld,” Dante said from where he was standing at the end of the bed. “Whoever manages to sit on the top rung is likely to pump Carson for information. The men are dangerous, Kat. We’ve dealt with assholes like these while fighting in the Marines. There is always going to be someone out there who wants to sit on top of the pyramid. They’re fanatical about becoming the head honcho and having control.”
“I don’t care,” Kat said, monotone. “I’m tired and I just don’t care anymore.”
Mica glanced at his brothers as he sighed with frustration. There had been so much defeat in Kat’s tone. So much sorrow and pain. It was up to him and his brothers to show her that life could be fun and painless.
But most of all, it was up to them to show her what love was all about.
He just hoped that she gave them another chance, because if she didn’t, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. Mica was already halfway in love with Kat Russo, and he couldn’t imagine and didn’t want to even contemplate the rest of his life without her in it.
* * * *
Kat just wanted to go home and wallow in self-pity, but she had a feeling the three Donnybrook men weren’t going to let her. She thought about calling Niki to come and get her and take her back to the ranch, but she didn’t really want to go there, either.
She wanted to be left alone so she could sleep and recover somewhat. It felt as if every single muscle in her body was sore. She was aching all over, like she’d stepped out in front of a truck and been hit. Yet it wasn’t the physical pain that had her on the edge of breaking down. It was the emotional pain and turmoil she couldn’t seem to control anymore.
Ever since she’d met Jalen, Dante, and Mica, Kat felt as if she’d been riding a rollercoaster. At least with her father and his goons she’d known where she stood. She’d lived under her father’s thumb for so long it had become the norm. Having had over twelve months of freedom, despite her liberty being threatened, was a good thing in her opinion. At least she’d had time to rule over her own life, even if it hadn’t been that long. Yet she also didn’t want to leave the three brothers.
The Donnybrook men were getting to her. The more time she spent with them, the more time she wanted to spend with them. She felt as if her life was spinning out of control once more, and while that scared the fuck out of her, she wasn’t scared of them.
Kat was terrified of what they made her feel. She’d felt so cold, so dead and numb inside for so long, she wasn’t certain she’d ever feel alive again. Nevertheless, little by little Mica, Dante, and Jalen had chipped away at the ice surrounding her heart, and they were slowly bringing her back to life.
She so desperately wanted to reach out and grab hold of what they were offering her, but if she did, she was likely to lose them and get her heart broken. What if they realized that deep down she wasn’t as tough as she tried to make out? Would they be turned off when they saw that underneath her hard as nails exterior she was still just a scared child trying to please others and get the love and devotion her father had never given her? When they saw what she was really like, would they turn away from her with disgust?
But that wasn’t all she was alarmed of.
Kat might not have had much to do with Darren Carter, but she was petrified the fucker would come after her or her sister so he could exact revenge for ruining her dad’s and Vinnie Ramos’s criminal businesses. Was Carter gunning for her and Niki just as Vinnie and Thaddeus Simmonds had?
Chapter Seven
Jalen scooped Kat up
into his arms, ignoring her protests, and headed out of the hospital. Just as he and his brothers exited the main entrance, Niki and her men pulled up near at the curb. Niki was out of the vehicle before her men could stop her and was running toward them, calling her sister’s name. “Kat! Oh god, what happened?”
“Niki, stop running before you fall and hurt yourself,” Rig, one of Niki’s men, ordered as he caught up to her and grasped her elbow. Niki ignored Rig and stopped a couple of feet in front of Kat and Jalen.
“Who the hell did this?” Niki demanded, tears running down her face. “Who the fuck hurt my sister?”
Kat stroked a hand over Niki’s shoulder. Niki swiped at the tears on her face while clasping Kat’s free hand in hers. “What happened, Kat? Are you all right? Who hurt you?” She glared at Jalen and his brothers. “Where the hell were all of you when my sister was being beaten?”
“Niki, stop!” Brent, another of Niki’s fiancés, said as he came up behind her. “Give your sister and her men a chance to explain.”
“I’m fine,” Kat said. “Put me down, Jalen. I want to talk to my sister.”
Jalen ignored her directive and carried her to Mica’s truck. When his brother unlocked it and opened the door, Jalen gently set her down on the back seat. Kat gasped and winced, but when he looked at her face, she met his eyes blankly. With a sigh of frustration, he moved aside to allow Niki to get closer to her sister. Niki sat on the step, clasped Kat’s hand in hers, and said, “Start talking.”
Kat related the story without any inflection.
Niki glanced at his brother and then him. “Did you get those bastards?”
“We did.”
Niki nodded. “Thank you for rescuing my sister.” She turned to face Kat again. “Why don’t you come home with us to the ranch?”
Jalen bit his tongue to stop himself from shouting no and held his breath while awaiting Kat’s answer.
“Thanks, but no. You all don’t need me hanging around getting in the way.”
“Kat,” Niki started, but Kat cut her off.
“I’m fine. I just need to rest up for a couple of days. I’ll probably be asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. The medicine the doctor gave me is already making me drowsy.”
“And also one of the reasons you shouldn’t be alone,” Hes, another of Niki’s men, said.
“You have two choices, baby,” Jalen stated firmly. “You either go home with your sister and her men, or you come back to our house.”
“But—”
Jalen slashed his hand in the air. “The choices are non-negotiable, Kat. You heard the doctor. Someone needs to look out for you. If you don’t want me and my brothers to do it, then you need to go with your sister. Decide.”
Kat scowled up at him, but he didn’t waiver as he held her gaze with his. There was no fucking way he was backing down. She needed to be cared for even if she wouldn’t admit it.
“I’ll go home with Mica,” she said from between her clenched teeth.
Jalen sighed with relief, glad that she wasn’t going to go to the ranch with Niki and her men. He was never certain what Kat was going to do, and while that was good since it would keep him and his brothers on their toes, sometimes he wished she was more predictable. He shook his head. They’d never taken the easy road with anything they’d done, so it wasn’t a total surprise he and his brothers wanted a relationship with a feisty, impulsive woman. They’d be bored shitless if they had someone who bowed to their authority and didn’t fight back.
That was something else that worried him. When Kat had first come to stay with them, she’d argued about everything. He wondered if she’d started sneaking around behind their backs because she didn’t like the bickering. Then again, Kat seemed to come alive when she was standing up for herself. Her blue eyes burned with an inner fire and her cheeks got flushed. She seemed to enjoy debating as much as he and his brothers did. So why the hell had she started doing things behind their backs?
Kat was one of the strongest women he knew. She’d had to be to survive for more than a quarter of a century under her father’s tyranny. Most people, men included, would have broken long ago. Kat’s spirit might be battered and bruised, but her fucker of a dad hadn’t shattered her into little pieces that could never be put together again.
Jalen admired Niki and Kat for surviving what they’d endured and for coming out at the end caring, loving women. He couldn’t wait until she let her guard down and let him and his brothers in.
He was brought back to the present when Niki started speaking. “I love you, Kat. Go with the Donnybrook men and get some rest. I’ll call you tomorrow and see how you’re feeling. If you ever change your mind about coming to the ranch, call me. Day or night, no matter what the time is. Okay?”
“Okay.” Kat leaned her head on the back of the seat and closed her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Niki.”
Niki squeezed her hand. “Of course you will, Kat. I never doubted you would be.” Niki stood and carefully hugged her sister and turned toward her men. Jalen saw the tears in her eyes but didn’t comment.
She moved toward her men and didn’t stop until she was in Brent’s arms. She turned to gaze at him and then beckoned him over with the curl of a finger. Jalen walked over and stopped a few feet from her. “Kat’s had to be tough to survive, but she’s not as hard as she makes out.”
“I know that, Niki.”
Niki shook her head. “I don’t think you do. She has the biggest heart. She put herself between me and our dad’s abuse time and time again. I know he did something to her after our mom died, but she won’t tell me what. She was missing for a whole week. I was so scared that something bad had happened to my sister, I cried nearly all the time. Rosita kept telling me that Kat was safe, that she hadn’t died, but I didn’t believe her until I saw my sister with my own two eyes. It was the longest week I’d ever endured before I saw Kat again. I knew by the look in her eyes that something bad had happened to her, but no matter how many times I asked, she denied it. She changed after that, became closed off even with me. There is so much pain inside of her, I’m scared that one more thing happening to her will wreck her. Please, don’t hurt my sister. If you do, I will find you and cut yours and your brothers’ balls off myself.”
“We won’t hurt her, Niki. My brothers and I want a relationship with her. I’m already half in love with her. We want what you have with your men with your sister. We’d already figured out she has a tough shell and a soft center. She’s more fragile than you think, but we’re hoping that with some counseling and our love, she’ll open up to us and agree to be our woman.” Jalen held up his hand to stop Niki from interrupting when she opened her mouth. “We won’t push her or force her to do something she doesn’t want to, but we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she becomes ours.”
“I don’t think handling her with kid gloves will work. I don’t want you breaking her spirit, but I think if you and your brothers are going to stand a chance with Kat, you’re all going to need to push. Of course, I don’t mean hurt her physically or emotionally, but you need to crack the crusty façade she’s wrapped around herself to get to the true women under the hard exterior.”
Jalen thought about that for a few moments and nodded. He had a feeling that Niki was right. “Do you have any suggestions on how to get to her?”
“Listen to your gut,” Niki said. “I’ve found that listening to my intuition has always led me down the right path.” She smiled up and Brent with so much love in her eyes, Jalen glanced away. “I’m so glad I didn’t ignore my instincts. If I had I might not be with my three amazing fiancés.”
“I, for one, have never been more grateful, baby.” Brent caressed his hand over Niki’s head and down her back.
“You need to take my sister home. She’s scared of getting close to anyone and getting hurt, and not just physically. Our father betrayed us so badly, Kat has a hard time trusting anyone. Earn her trust, and I have a feeling she’ll fall head over he
els in love with you all.”
“I hope you’re right, Niki.”
She nodded and covered her mouth as she yawned. “I do, too.”
“Let your men take you home and look after you. I promise we’ll take care of your sister as much as she’ll let us.”
Niki shook her head. “Don’t let her walk all over you. She might think she hates strong, authoritative men at the moment, but you and your brothers are exactly what she needs. She needs your love, but she also needs three reliable men who aren’t going to turn their backs on her when the going gets tough. You need to deal confidently with her. If she sees any weakness, she’ll pick on that until you all cave, and then she’ll walk away. She respects self-assuredness and dependable people, no matter what she says. Don’t ever lie to her, because if you do that will come back and bite you all in the ass. Be honest and show her how much she can rely on you and your brothers to stand by her side.”
“You’re an amazing woman, Niki. Thank you for trying to help us.” Jalen took a step closer, gazed at Brent with a quirked brow, and when the other man nodded and released his woman, Jalen hugged her. “Don’t ever hesitate to call my brothers or me if you ever need anything.”
“Hey, we can get whatever Niki needs,” Rig said as he came to stand next to Brent.
“Shut up, Rig. You have no idea what we’re even talking about.” Niki frowned.
Rig’s lips twitched as he tried to hide his humor. “Come on, darlin’, you should be in bed asleep.” He wrapped an arm around Niki’s shoulders and guided her away.
“Take care of her. She’s special.” Jalen shook hands with Brent.
“You don’t have to tell me that. I knew she was as soon as I met her,” Brent said. “Good luck with her sister. I think you’re going to need it.”
Jalen nodded in acknowledgement, because he had a feeling that he and his brothers were going to need all the luck they could get. He walked over to where Mica and Dante were standing beside the truck talking quietly. Kat still had her eyes closed, and from the way she was breathing deeply, he knew she was sound asleep. He hoped that she remained that way until morning so she didn’t have to feel any pain, but he had a feeling she was going to wake up as soon as Mica lifted her to carry her inside