This wasn’t good. They were Corporal’s cousins. That was another thing. Why hadn’t Corporal told her that? She exhaled and got out of bed. She walked to the bathroom to get washed up. When she was finished, she took her time getting dressed, put on a thick sweater, and grabbed the throw blanket. She headed to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. When it was finished, she unlocked the door to the back porch and stepped outside. It was chilly. In another couple of weeks, she would need wood for the fire. She hoped that her ribs were a lot less sore so she could chop the wood. Her condition right now made her feel incapable. She wouldn’t ask the Cole brothers. No way.
She heard a sound coming from the woods, then a voice.
“It’s Grady, Berlin,” he called out.
She sat up straighter, felt the ache as he approached the end of the woods and clearing. He had been jogging. How the hell could he even see in the dark? As he approached he didn’t seem out of breath. In fact, he was calm as he took in the sight of her.
“You’re up early,” he said to her, approaching the steps and opening the screen door to come inside.
“You, too. Were you out for a run?”
“Earlier. I saw your lights on and wanted to check on your ribs.”
She swallowed hard. “They’re more sore since you wrapped them.”
He stood in front of her and she was intimidated by his size and bulk. She moved the blanket.
“That smells good,” he said and she didn’t register that he meant the coffee. He smirked and raised one of his eyebrows up and down. She chuckled.
“Would you like a cup?”
“Why, yes, ma’am, that would be great,” he teased and she felt a giddy feeling in her gut. She opened the door to the kitchen and he followed.
She grabbed another cup from the cabinet and he stood close. Closer than what was necessary and she was glad she had gotten washed up, even put on a little body spray. “How do you like it?” She turned to ask him, his eyes zeroing in on her body.
He blinked like she said something he didn’t get. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” he asked and looked a bit embarrassed.
“I asked how do you like your coffee?”
“Black is fine.” She nodded and handed him the cup. He took a sip, and she watched his lips touch the rim of the cup then pull away. She couldn’t believe she was staring like this. He was so rugged, sexy, attractive.
She shifted her feet and placed her cup down, then moved her hips and ran a hand along the bandages. They felt so tight. Grady placed his cup down and put his hand on her hip and closed the space between them. She gasped, stared up at him, her head as far back as it could go. He caressed her ribs.
“You’re uncomfortable?” he asked and looked at her lips and then back into her eyes.
“I’m not keeping them on all day. They feel worse wrapped like this.”
“You’ll keep them on because if there was even a slight fracture, keeping them wrapped tight will help them to heal correctly and faster.”
“They’re not broken. Just badly bruised,” she whispered.
He reached up and cupped her hair and neck. He used his thumb to stroke her jaw and then her lip.
“I don’t want you to feel any pain.”
Her lips parted as her mind absorbed the sound of his voice, the expression on his face. It was crazy how attracted she was to him.
“Were you punched or kicked in the ribs?” he whispered, still stroking her chin and jaw while he pressed his other hand against the counter, leaning against her hip, caging her in. She didn’t want to tell him anything.
“What does it matter?”
“The severity of impact,” he stated.
She lost her concentration, thought about Banks and how big and strong he was—fierce, like some trained killer.
“Berlin?” Grady said her name and she looked at him, his eyes narrowed, his lips sealed in a thin line.
“Tell me what you were thinking about. Let me help you get through this.”
She shook her head and pulled away, making his hand fall. She went to move, but he wouldn’t release her.
“Don’t push me away. You’re important to me and I care.”
Squinting up at him, she was shocked.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I want to get to know you. You feel the attraction we feel.” She shook her head and stepped from his hold. He released her. Did he say we? Her belly did a series of flip flops. He grabbed her hand.
“Please, don’t push me away,” he said and the way he held her hand, the strength of the attraction she felt, and the scent of his cologne pulled at her insides. She liked Corporal. Had feelings for Corporal. She couldn’t let fear, loneliness, and lust make her do something stupid.
“My God, what the hell is going through your head? What happened to you? I want to know and so do Damon and Drover.”
“It doesn’t matter right now. I need to heal so I can take care of myself.” She pulled her hand from his.
“What do you mean take care of yourself? We’re here to take care of you. It’s what Corporal asked of us,” he said with his hands on the small island in the kitchen. She stood on the other side, putting space between them so she wouldn’t rub up against him or let the desire to be held by him make her react and hug him.
“I have to be able to take care of myself. Go shopping in town, chop wood for the fire, make sure I have supplies for the colder weather coming.”
“We can do all of that with you. The wood will be chopped this week.”
“No, I can do it,” she said to him, raising her voice. He walked around the counter and closed the distance between them. His dark brown eyes bore into hers. The sight of him in the dark camo hoodie, his shaggy blonde hair and the look of control in his eyes did something to her. She stepped back and he caged her in against the island.
“Stop looking at me like I could hurt you. Like I could force myself on you and take what I want.” As he said the words, she felt the tears reach her eyes and she closed them, tried to look away while the flashbacks of the attack hit her. The way it felt to have Banks’s hands cupping her breasts, ripping her top.
“Oh shit. I’m sorry, sweetie. Fuck, I’m sorry.” He drew her against his chest and held her tight. He ran his palm along her back and pressed her head against his chest. He stroked her, caressed her as he whispered.
“They won’t find you and hurt you again. I swear my brothers and I will not let them near you, whomever they are.”
His arms wrapped around her felt way better then she fantasized about. My God was he solid rock. All muscle and power. The thought had her pulling back and denying what she felt out of fear, out of insecurities after the attack, being on the run, killing Terrance, and also the guilt as she thought about Corporal.
He stared at her as he grabbed her hands so she wouldn’t step further away.
“Trust me. Please, Berlin. I won’t hurt you. My cousin chose my brothers and me to watch over you for good reason.”
“You were soldiers, that’s why, right?” she asked, trying to draw the conversation, the intensity of their attraction away from it and toward something less intimidating. But them being soldiers made her feel more of an attraction. This wasn’t working. It was going to become a mess.
“Stop it. Whatever crazy thoughts and ideas are going through that head of yours, stop it right now.”
He reached up and cupped her cheek, but also gripped her hair in a possessive manner that turned her on way too much.
“I am trying so fucking hard not to kiss you right now, Berlin.”
Her lips parted and she shook her head. “No. Oh God, we can’t.”
“I want to. You think Corporal would mind?”
“What? I don’t know. I mean why are you asking me this? What are you doing?”
“I’m being honest with you. Didn’t he tell you why he sent you to us? That he knew he could trust us to protect you with our lives?”
“He didn’t
even say you were cousins, or that Thelma was his aunt. I don’t know what he was thinking, Grady, but nothing can happen between us.”
“Oh, things are going to happen between us. Between all of us, Corporal included,” he told her.
She widened her eyes, shocked and speechless. “What in God’s name—”
He shook his head, cutting her off.
“Let’s have coffee and sit outside to talk. I think you’ll feel better if you maybe ask me some questions.”
His whole demeanor changed as he released her. He walked around the counter for the coffee pot and added hot coffee to the cups. He carried both cups, heading toward the door.
“Come on, Berlin,” he whispered in a tone that made her thighs quiver.
What in God’s name was going on here? When would Corporal come for her?
Chapter Six
“What’s up with you?” Drover asked Grady. Drover was working on his laptop at the island in the kitchen, organizing some schedules for his employees. He freelanced as a liaison between private security companies and clients, finding the best individuals for a client’s needs. Most of the jobs were hired out to retired military.
“What do you mean?”
Drover continued typing. “You’re staring at the window.”
“It’s a nice evening.”
“You’re staring toward Berlin’s house.”
“I should go check on her ribs.”
“Don’t you think enough happened this morning? The woman is probably scared of all of us now.”
Grady swung around to look at Drover with a scowl on his face. “Why the fuck would she be scared of us?”
“You tried to kiss her.”
“I didn’t kiss her.”
“You wanted to and nearly did.”
“She may belong to Corporal,” Grady stated, and Drover could hear the disappointment in his brother’s tone.
“We don’t know that. We don’t know shit, and it’s going to stay that way if we don’t push her for answers,” Drover added, pausing his fingers on the keyboard and locking gazes with Grady.
“There’s something about her.”
“Of course there is, Grady. She’s gorgeous, smart, sweet, likable, and Corporal sent her our way to protect. We have to wait things out. Whatever happened to her must have been pretty bad.”
“You know as well as I do, by the bruising on her ribs and the scratches by her chest and shoulder, she was assaulted. Whether sexually or not, I can’t figure out. Maybe she got away before the guy succeeded. I don’t know but it’s making me crazy wondering, thinking of all the possibilities.”
The sound of Drover’s cell phone ringing interrupted their conversation. When he glanced down he didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Drover, it’s Corporal.”
He looked at Grady.
“Corporal, how are you? What’s going on? What do you need?” he asked him as Grady approached.
“First things first, how is Berlin holding up?” Drover felt that bit of jealousy. His cousin obviously had feelings for her.
“Stubborn, didn’t let on to her injuries, but Grady took care of her.”
“Shit, I told her to accept your help and to trust you.”
“Well, maybe you should have told her we’re all cousins,” Drover replied. Corporal was silent.
“I probably should have. I was in panic mode and just wanted her out of New York and as far from this shit as possible. She went through enough and I almost lost her. You guys need to be vigilant in protecting her.”
“Maybe you should talk to her and make her understand that then. Unless you don’t want us getting that close.”
Corporal was silent. “I sent her your way because you guys are the only ones I truly trust right now. This shit I’m involved in runs deep. In fact, I need to go under and hide out to recoup, gain strength, and organize a plan.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’ll live. I just think you need to know a few things to understand Berlin and her train of thought.”
“That would help.”
“She’s special, Drover. I wish I had made a move sooner, even brought her to meet you guys, but I didn’t. I was scared to let her know how I really feel about her, and then she gets caught in this shit and nearly gets raped and killed.”
“Raped and killed? What the hell happened?” Drover asked him. He put the phone on speaker.
As Corporal explained in detail what happened and even how Berlin saved his life and killed this guy Terrance, an all-consuming protective feeling washed over him. One look at Grady and he could tell he was feeling the same thing as his eyes remained narrowed and he glanced toward the window. When the floor creaked, he looked toward Damon and then listened to Corporal explain his fears and who he thought was behind all of this mess.
“I have a lot of connections. I can get you out of there and safely here without a soul knowing a damn thing,” Drover stated.
“I know you can. I may need your connections and resources soon enough. The feds are in on this now, and especially after two nights ago when four men working for Forte broke into the apartment safe house to kill me. One of them was a federal agent.”
“Fuck, this is a super fucking mess, Corporal,” Grady stated.
“I know it is, but now that the feds are involved, we should be able to move along in the investigation faster. Connecting the dots takes time. We need witnesses, evidence against Forte. I want a concrete case that he killed Kane, too. I won’t let Berlin be the only witness. They’ll kill her before she even walks into the courthouse.”
“Berlin witnessed Kane’s murder?” Grady asked.
“No, but like I explained, she was there when Forte shot the three cops and witnessed his men, Mozely, Yanni, and Banks, kill Detective Brothers and rape and kill Vaile. Mozely, Yanni, and Banks want to finish off what they started with her in that house in the woods. They want her, and I’ll die before they get their hands on her ever again.”
“We’ll protect her. Now at least we have a better understanding of the situation and we can make plans of protection better.”
They went over more information and set up making plans for when he could get to North Carolina and let the feds and Scuba and his team take over the rest of the investigation.
“I’ll be in touch. Take care of her. In a week or so I’ll try to call back to speak with her. I need to go,” Corporal said and ended the call.
Drover sighed as he leaned back in the chair.
“No wonder she’s so scared,” Damon stated.
“She’s amazing,” Grady added.
“Well, at least we have a better understanding of the situation. We’ll let her know that Corporal explained things so she realizes that she can trust us. It’s going to take time,” Drover said to them.
He watched Grady staring out the window in the direction of Berlin’s cabin. His cousin’s words, his acknowledgement that he missed the opportunity to tell Berlin how he felt about her and to also bring her to meet them, stuck in his head, and surely in his brothers’ heads, too. They needed to be smart about this, but one thing was certain, those men who tried to hurt her, would never get close enough to hurt her again.
* * * *
Berlin was sweating, so she pulled off her button-down shirt and fixed her tank top. It barely covered her belly but served its purpose under the blouse. This log chopping thing was hard work, and the axe was pretty damn heavy, too. She looked at her pile of wood and was feeling pretty impressed with the small stack when she heard the deep voice.
“What do you think you are you doing, woman?” She turned around to see Damon Cole.
Her chest tightened and she stared at him, feeling instantly intimidated and unsure what to do. Her initial thought was to run inside and hide. He was a big man and had a pissed off expression on his face all the time. Throw in the beard and the ponytail, plus all those muscles and, oh yeah, she was freaking out.
&nb
sp; She held her ground though. She couldn’t show fear.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked as he got closer and ate her up with his eyes. Her nipples hardened and he pulled the handle of the axe from her hands. “Give me that before you take off your leg,” he reprimanded her.
“Hey, I was doing just fine,” she snapped at him. He turned around to look at her and she stepped back. The man was a bad ass beast.
“I’ll do this.”
“No, I was doing it.”
“I said I would take care of it. Go inside and lay down or something.”
“I will not go inside and lay down or something. Who the hell do you think you are?” she demanded to know, placing her hands on her hips and staring at him. When he stepped toward her and his eyes locked onto her chest, she got pissed off. “Up here, buddy.” She pointed at her face with her finger. He raised one of his eyebrows up at her.
He licked his lower lip and nodded toward her top. She couldn’t help but glance down and shit, her breasts were pouring from her top and a wood chip was sitting between her cleavage. Her face flushed and heat soared through her body. As she slowly began to move her hand toward her top, he gripped that hand with his free one.
He stared down into her eyes.
“You’re a city girl. We don’t need you cutting off a body part. All your parts are too perfect,” he said to her and looked at her cleavage again as he released her and stepped back.
“Now let me help you with this and you do something else.” He turned around and started to chop wood.
She didn’t know how to take Damon. He was very quiet and she noticed that he didn’t live in the house that Drover and Grady resided in. She walked inside and immediately pulled off the piece of wood chip. She glanced in the mirror and, holy shit, her face was flushed, her coloring amazing despite the bruised cheekbone, and she knew it was because of Damon.
In the Line of Fire [Love on the Rocks 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 6