by Becca Van
“It’s not your fault she got hurt, Tom.” Noah clasped Tom’s shoulder. “Those fuckers probably took down her license plate when they saw her car. It wouldn’t have made any difference. I doubt they expected her to even find their crop, let alone take some cuttings and then put them in with her flowers, and I don’t see how they would even know about that.”
Zach stepped in front of Molly when a car came screeching around the corner, flicked his safety off, and aimed his gun. He lowered and secured it again when Ryan got out of his car.
“Get out of the light so I can see.” Ryan knelt down next to Molly and began to examine her. “She has a cut and contusion on the back of her head. She was either whacked with something or fell and hit her head, but she has no broken bones. I’m going to carry her upstairs and examine her properly. You guys get to work and see if you can find some evidence against the bastards who broke into her shop and hurt her.”
“I’m coming with you.” Noah rushed up the stairs and opened the door to Molly’s apartment.
“You can’t be in the room when I examine her.” Ryan carried Molly to her bedroom and lowered her to the bed.
Noah had pulled the covers back and was now heading to the living room. “I know that, but I want to be nearby when she wakes up. I have two statements to get from her and I’m not leaving without them. We’ve been too lax with Molly and that is changing right now. We could have prevented this if we’d done our jobs.”
“It’s not your fault, Noah. I have no idea what is going on and I’m not asking you to tell me but I know you, Tom, and Zach. None of this is because of any of you.”
“Molly!” Steven bellowed before he was in the apartment. Noah could hear him pounding up the stairs.
“Keep them out until I’m done. I don’t want them hovering over me,” Ryan said.
Noah nodded and then closed the bedroom door. He planted himself in front of it with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs shoulder-width apart.
“Where is she?” Steve demanded and he raced toward him.
“Ryan’s with her.” Noah put a hand to Steven’s chest and pushed him back. “You can’t go in there until he’s finished examining her.”
“Fuck, Noah, we’ve seen her naked before.” Giles snarled.
“Doctor’s orders.”
“What the hell happened?” Steve finally backed off when he realized Noah wasn’t budging.
“Don’t know yet. I haven’t taken a statement.”
“Tell us what you do know,” Giles demanded.
Noah sighed. He was going to have to tell them about Molly’s phone call and how they’d found her. He would want to know everything if something happened to Beth. So he told them and had never been so happy to see Ryan. His friend opened the door just as he finished speaking and Noah moved aside in a hurry.
This time Ryan blocked the doorway. “She has a cut on the back of her head and a nasty bruise across her lower back. I closed the wound on her head with butterfly strips and I had to re-stitch her knee. She only just regained consciousness.”
“Good, I need a statement.”
“She’s in pain and a bit groggy from the bump on her head and the pain medication. Go easy on her.”
“You know I will,” Noah replied and turned to enter the room with Giles and Steven on his heels.
* * * *
Steve shoved Noah out of his way and raced to the bed. Molly looked so pale and small and fragile and it took everything in him not to lift her up into his arms, rush her out to his truck, and take her back to their home. But as soon as Noah had his statement, that’s what he was going to do.
“Molly,” Steven said quietly. He didn’t want to make her head hurt by talking too loudly.
She was lying in the middle of the bed on her side and he could see the small white bandages on the back of her head holding her skin together. Her eyelids flickered and then they slowly lifted. She smiled at him but he could see she was hurting. If he could have, he would have taken her pain into himself but that just wasn’t possible.
“Hey, cutie, how are you doing?” Steven got up onto the bed and cuddled up behind her.
“Okay,” she whispered and her eyes started closing again.
Giles got on the other side of the bed and reached for one of her hands. “Molly, Noah needs to ask you some questions. Are you up to answering them?”
“Yeah,” Molly whispered again and then began to move.
“What are you doing, sweetie?” Steven placed a hand on her quilt-covered hip to keep her in place.
“I need to sit up. If I don’t, I’m going to fall asleep.”
“Wait a sec, precious.” Giles propped himself up against the headboard and then after making sure Molly was decent, he and Steve helped her to sit up with her back leaning against Giles’s front, between his spread thighs. Steven pulled the quilt back up over her so she would stay warm and then moved in closer to her and placed his hand on her thigh. He needed to keep touching her and making sure that she was okay.
Noah snagged the chair by the door and pulled it up to the bed, pulled his cell phone from his pocket, and placed it close to Molly.
“What happened tonight, Molly?”
Molly began explaining with halting words and a couple of times Steve had to nudge her when she started to drift asleep again. The more she explained, the angrier he got. Even though he wanted to yell at her for going and investigating alone, he managed to bite back those words. But he wished he’d been there and beat the shit out of the fucker who had slammed into his woman and hurt her so bad.
And when Noah asked her about that afternoon, fury consumed him. He couldn’t believe that someone was out to get Molly, had actually tried to shoot her. The only reason she hadn’t been shot was because she had turned to start walking again, thank God. There was no way in hell he and Giles were leaving her on her own, at least not until whoever was trying to hurt her, was caught.
Noah then asked her where she’d found the crop of cannabis. Molly was able to give a general direction and how long she’d walked for when she’d stumbled on the drugs but not an exact location. She told Noah she was directionally challenged, which was the one and only time Steven was able to dredge up any semblance of a smile through Noah’s questions. He made a note to get Molly a navigational GPS for her car. The last thing he wanted was for her to get lost.
Steve looked at Noah after he had finished asking Molly questions and he nodded toward the door. He needed to ask Noah a few questions himself. He got off the bed and smiled when he saw that Molly was fast asleep against Giles. Even though his brother looked happier than a pig in shit at having her in his arms, he felt the fear that was underlying that happiness. Molly was going to get around-the-clock protection and he knew just the men to call in and help protect her.
His cousins, Dach, Desmond, and Dallas King were just out of the SAS, The Australian Special Air Service Regiment, and he couldn’t think of anyone else he would want helping to protect Molly. They had spent over ten years protecting their country from terrorists and were considered the elite of the elite of all Australian Military forces and he hoped they wouldn’t be averse to coming to their home and being bodyguards. As far as he knew, they hadn’t decided what they were going to do now that they were retired, but knowing his cousins, they wouldn’t be idle for long.
Steve gave a last longing look at Molly and headed out after Noah. Just as he entered the living room, Zach and Tom appeared.
“Did you get any prints?” Noah asked.
“Yeah, but it’s going to take time to run them and they may not even be in the database,” Zach replied.
“Do you think it was just a coincidence, a burglary gone wrong?”
“That’s what it looks like.” Tom rubbed his chin. “But my gut says otherwise. They managed to open the till and emptied it out.”
“Shit. That is going to break Molly’s heart. She’s been working her arse off.”
“At least she’s al
ive. She could have been killed,” Noah said. “Did they trash her shop?”
“Yeah, the arsehole’s even ripped the shelves from the walls. The whole shop needs to be refurbished again.”
“Damn.” Steve sighed. “Fucking bastards. This could break Molly. God knows how she’s going to afford another refurbishment.”
“Did she have insurance?” Tom asked.
“I don’t know and I’m not asking until she’s feeling better. She’s been to hell and back in the last twenty four hours.”
“Are you and Giles going to take care of her?” Noah questioned.
“Of course we are and I’m going to call my cousins and ask them to help out.” Steve went on to explain about his cousins and their military training.
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” Tom asked. “Surely you trust us to keep her safe.”
“I do,” Steven replied. “But who knows what’s going on. For all we know, there could be a large drug cartel in the area. My first and foremost priority is keeping Molly safe. Plus my cousins can take care of our office while we take some time off to stay with Molly. From now on, she’s not leaving my sight.”
“He’s right, Tom. As far as I’m concerned, the more people looking out for the women and children of this town, the better,” Noah said.
“Good.” Steven looked back toward Molly’s bedroom. He wanted to get her home where she would be safe. He spied her purse and keys on the small coffee table and then handed the keys to Noah. “I’m going to pack some stuff for our girl and then we’re leaving. Can you guys lock up after us?”
“Sure.”
“We may have to come out and see her tomorrow if we can’t find that crop, but we’ll wait until the afternoon before we arrive,” Zach said.
“I appreciate that. The more sleep she can get, the better.” Steven headed back to Molly. From the look of it, she hadn’t moved a muscle since he’d walked out to speak with Noah.
“We're taking her home?” Giles asked in a quiet voice.
“Yeah, just let me pack some clothes for her and then we can be on our way.” Steve did just that and hoped Molly wouldn’t care over what he packed for her. After zipping the small bag closed, he helped Giles move Molly and wrapped her up in the thick quilt so she wouldn’t get cold. Steven gently lifted Molly up into his arms, quilt and all, and then headed out. Giles picked up her bag and followed behind.
Giles put Molly’s bag into the back seat and then held the front passenger door open for him. It took a bit of maneuvering on his part and some guidance from his brother, but he was able to get in without any part of Molly touching the ute frame, and then he sat with her in his lap. Giles got into the driver’s seat and moments later they were on their way.
Steve wasn’t about to let anyone get to Molly. Not if he could help it. He wanted everything with her, marriage, babies, and years to grow old with her by his and Giles’s side.
And if he had to give his last breath to keep her safe then that was the way it would be.
Chapter Twelve
Molly was aching and sore in places she’d never been before, but she was also warm and comfortable and didn’t want to move. But she had a business to run so she didn’t have time to wallow in bed. When she opened her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her sleep-hazy eyes, she gasped and bolted upright
She wasn’t in her apartment. Had no idea where she was or how she had gotten here. A hand landed on her shoulder and Molly let out a shriek to rival the best scream in a scary movie. She didn’t take time to look and see who had touched her but scrambled down the bed as fast as she could and in doing so ended up falling off the end of the mattress with a hard thud.
“Geez, Molly, are you hurt?”
“Are you okay, Molly?”
She knew those voices. Molly slumped, the fear she first experienced slowly leaving her adrenaline racing heart. Two pairs of feet appeared before her and then she looked up and up and up. Giles and Steven stood before her in only knit boxer shorts and even though she was still groggy from sleep, had a slight headache, a sore back, throbbing knee and aching muscles, her insides began to do that happy dance again. Her breasts grew heavy, her nipples hardened, and her pussy grew moist and clenched.
Steve and Giles both crouched down before her and even though she tried really hard not to look at their material-covered crotches, she couldn’t seem to help herself. It didn’t help that they were both sporting wood and that their hard lengths were outlined superbly by their underwear. She finally managed to lift her gaze from their hard cocks and met their eyes. It was then that she realized she was also only in her underwear.
Giles moved from his crouched position to his knees and then scooped her up into his arms and, seemingly without any effort or strain, rose to his feet.
“Molly, talk to us, precious, I’m starting to get worried.” Giles sat on the edge of the bed with her in his lap. She finally got her brain to wake up and knew she was in their house.
“Why am I here?” Her voice was sleep husky and cracked. She cleared it, ready to repeat her question, but she didn’t have to.
“We weren’t about to leave you alone when you were hurt. That is beside the fact that we didn’t want those arseholes coming back and hurting you more.”
“You think they would have? What were they after? I didn’t have much money in the till. I always make sure to remove it and bring it up to my apartment every night after I close up.” Molly only then noticed that the sun was quite high in the sky and when she looked at the digital alarm clock on the bedside table, she went into a panic. “Oh, my God. Let me go.” She pushed ineffectually against the arm around her waist. She was late to open up her shop. She couldn’t afford to miss a day of sales, especially if she was going to establish her business as professional and reliable.
Steve took both hands in hers, which made her frustrated, but what could she do? They were both bigger and stronger than she was and she didn’t stand a chance of getting away from them if they weren’t going to allow it. But she noticed that he was being careful not to hurt her hands.
“Calm down, cutie. You’re not going to open your shop today.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Of course I’m opening my shop. Let me go.”
“No.” Steven sighed and then began rubbing his thumbs over the back of her hands.
“No! What do you…”
“Let me finish, Molly. You can’t open your shop because it’s been trashed. Those fuckers destroyed the inside of the store. It needs to be refurbished again, cutie.”
“No.” Molly’s voice came out sounding like a strangled whisper. Tears filled her eyes and no matter how hard she tried to contain them, they overflowed and spilled down her cheeks.
“Please don’t be upset, honey.” Giles hugged her tighter. “The men in town have volunteered to clean up and help Graham fix it up again.”
“They have?”
“Yes, baby, they have,” Steve replied.
“Wait! I need to take some photos as proof and call my insurance company.”
“Zach already took the photos, Molly. If you tell me which insurance provider you’re with, I can sort everything out for you.”
“I can do it, but thanks for offering. They probably wouldn’t even talk to you because of the privacy laws.” Molly wiped the moisture from her cheeks and tried to stem her tears but too much had happened over the last couple of days and it all caught up with her.
She buried her face in Giles’s chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I can’t believe they wrecked my store,” Molly wailed and then sobs wracked her body as she cried.
Giles rubbed a hand up and down her back and Steven caressed her arm. Molly didn’t cry for long, but once her tears dried up, she felt a little better. She wasn’t one to give in and cry very much but when she did, she always felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She always tried to look on the positive side of life. It didn’t matter that she couldn�
��t open her shop or that it needed to be refurbished again. What mattered was that she had only been slightly hurt when she could have lost her life. She knew she shouldn’t have investigated last night and called the police instead, but she’d been so mad that someone had the gall to break into her new business she hadn’t stopped to think before acting. At least she hadn’t paid the ultimate price.
She finally sat up and wiped the moisture from her face again. When she saw how worried Giles and Steven were, she tried for a tentative smile. “Sorry, I don’t usually cry.”
“Molly you don’t need to apologize. If I was you I’d probably be crying buckets, too.” Steven stroked a finger down her cheek.
“No you wouldn’t. You’d be as mad as hell.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Why don’t you go and have a shower? By the time you’ve finished we’ll have breakfast on the table.” Giles helped her to her feet.
Molly looked at the clock again. “It’s a bit late to be having breakfast but I’m starving.”
“We’ll make it brunch then. Your clothes are in the top two drawers of the dresser and in the closet. I hope I picked out what you needed, but if I didn’t, let me know and I’ll go and get some more clothes for you.” Steven headed for the door but paused in the doorway. “Noah, Zach, and Tom may want you to show them where you found that crop of drugs. Do you feel up to going out later if you’re needed?”
“Yes, I’m fine. God, I wish I’d never found those plants. It’s caused me nothing but trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it, precious. Our police friends will find out what’s going on and who is after you. Go and take your shower, Molly. You’ll feel better afterward.” Giles followed Steven out the door.
Molly wondered why Steve and Giles didn’t want to talk about her problems. She wasn’t as naïve as they thought. She knew damn well that she was probably being targeted because of those drug-growing bastards. It didn’t take much to figure out they probably took note of her license plate number and then checked out who owned the car. But what worried her most was how many people knew about her find. It wouldn’t have been hard for those fuckers to realize she’d found the plants and nearly been arrested by Tom for possession.