by Becca Van
“They never made it home. One of the tires on their motor home blew out. Dad must have lost control and the thing tipped over. They were traveling down a steep incline with sheer drops on either side of the road. The motor home tipped over the guard rail. Neither of them stood a chance.”
“I’m sorry,” Tori said, her voice cracking slightly, and when he looked up into her eyes he saw the tears on her eyelashes and more spilled over and down her face.
And that was the moment Bryant fell head-over-heels in love with her. He hated seeing her crying and needed her close. After unclipping her safety belt he gave her hand a gentle tug and he was pleased when she didn’t resist. She scooted into the middle of the seat. He made sure she was clipped into the middle seat belt and then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her up tight against his side. Tori leaned her cheek on his chest and cried quietly. Bryant had a feeling the tears she was shedding were due to so much more than telling her about when their parents had died.
Now that he seemed to have broken through to her heart, would she open up with them and accept being in a relationship with them?
He glanced into the rearview mirror at Luther and nodded his head. His brother would know what he wanted without having to tell him verbally. The truck slowed and then Luther pulled off into a parking area on the side of the road. Bryant was pleased that the trees would obscure the truck from any passing cars. He didn’t want any interruptions while they talked with Tori and just hoped she would actually talk to them more from now on.
Luther turned off the ignition and he and Jeremiah got out of the truck. Bryant released both his and her seat belts, and after opening the door he scooped her up into his arms and got out. He carried her over to the timber table and bench seats and sat down with her on his lap.
She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and a tear-streaked face, and she looked so beautiful and vulnerable his heart did a flip in his chest. This was the moment he and his brothers had been waiting for, and they had to tread very carefully with her. The last thing he wanted was for him and his brothers to screw this up.
“I’m sorry,” Tori said, her voice breaking on a hiccup.
Luther and Jeremiah sat on the table on either side of them, their feet on the wooden bench seats, facing him and Tori.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Luther asked in a soft voice.
Bryant was surprised by his big brother’s tone. He’d never used that voice with anyone before, but he was glad his hard-ass brother was being cautious with her.
“I’m sorry you lost your parents. It’s really hard to lose someone you love.”
“You sound like you know from experience?” Bryant made his words into a question, hoping she would supply them with more information about her life.
She nodded. “My dad died when I was a little girl.”
“Damn, honey, we’re sorry, too.” Jeremiah stroked her cheek and looked sad for Tori.
“How did your momma cope?” Luther asked, surprising Bryant again with his compassion. His big brother usually didn’t give a shit about anyone else. This sensitivity proved to him that Tori was special to all of them, which he’d already known, but seeing Luther working hard to get into the depths of Tori’s soul gave him more hope than he’d ever had that this could actually work out.
“She didn’t.” Tori sighed. “She cried a lot of course. We both did, but with each day she seemed to close herself off a little more.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if trying to control her emotions. “Six months after my dad died she met Frank Stuttgart. The moment my mother started going out with him she changed even more.”
“That doesn’t sound good, darlin’.” Bryant rubbed his hand up and down her back when he felt her tense up further. He hoped that his caresses gave her the courage to continue talking as he offered her the little comfort he could.
“No. Momma became much colder. She used to read to me all the time just before it was time for bed, but after Daddy died she stopped doing that. She used to hold me on her lap and cuddle with me, but after my father passed on and Frank came on the scene she kept me at an arm’s length. She never hugged or kissed me again. Never told me how much she loved me like she used to do.”
“Shit.” Luther bent down, took her hand in his, and threaded their fingers together. “How old were you when your dad died, baby?”
“Five,” she whispered.
Bryant’s heart clenched with the pain that five-year-old Tori had suffered and knew that suffering had continued on throughout her childhood. She was still suffering and it hurt so much to see the sadness and dejection in her eyes. No wonder she’d kept trying to push them away.
He glanced at his brothers and saw that they were hurting for her, too. Tori Springer had been hurt so bad by her mother, she’d been too scared to get close to anyone ever since. Now that they understood why, hopefully they could show her just how special she was.
“Your stepfather and mother should be horsewhipped,” Jeremiah said in an angry voice.
Tori looked up at him as if she was shocked by his statement and Bryant realized then that she had no one but herself to rely on. As far as he was concerned that was all about to change. He and his brothers wanted to be there for her. Bryant wanted her to let go of some of that control and lean on them. He knew it wouldn’t happen overnight, but if they played their cards right they could have something really special with Tori.
Failing wasn’t an option.
“That wasn’t the worst of it.” Tori’s quiet voice broke the silence, but her words caused him and his brothers to tense up.
Jeremiah had one hand clenched into a fist and Luther was grinding his teeth. Bryant’s thigh muscles flexed and he had to consciously concentrate on relaxing them and hoped that Tori hadn’t felt the change in him. He didn’t want her to feel his emotional turmoil right now. He wanted her to keep talking.
“What was worse, darlin’?” Bryant asked the question they were all waiting to hear the answer to.
“Frank was going to try and marry me off to one of his business colleagues to get into a sector of business he’d been trying to break into for years.”
Bryant suppressed his roar of fury, barely, and from the look of horror on his brothers’ faces they were doing the same.
“Fuck!” Jeremiah’s knuckles cracked from clenching his fist so hard.
“I heard my mother and Frank talking one night. I was thirsty and was heading to the kitchen to get a drink of water, but my mom and Frank were already in there. The door was slightly ajar and I stopped when I heard my name mentioned.” Tori paused and swallowed audibly before taking a deep breath to continue. “They planned to take me out for dinner, but they were going to haul me in front of a justice of the peace and try and make me marry a man I’d never even met.”
“Fucking hell.” Luther released Tori’s hand, jumped off the table and began to pace back and forth.
“How old were you, honey?” Jeremiah’s voice was tight with anger.
“Eighteen.”
“Jeezus,” Bryant whispered, scared he would upset her if he spoke any louder, but it had been really hard to keep his voice so soft. He was raging inside and had to swallow several times before he was able to even think he’d be able to speak.
“What did you do?” Jeremiah asked in a raspy voice, beating Bryant to the question he’d been about to ask.
“I packed a bag, waited until I was sure they were asleep, and left.”
“Where did you go?” Luther asked after he sat down next to them on the bench.
“I’d been working part time in a restaurant after school, on the weekends and during the holidays. I went to one of the other waitress’s home and stayed there for a couple of nights.”
“Only a couple—” Bryant began to ask but she cut him off.
“Frank was horrified when I got a job and tried to get me to quit, but I stood my ground. I’d been saving every penny I could since I intended
to leave once I started college anyway. He didn’t want me boarding at college and wanted to give me an allowance, but I refused to take his money. I swear that man was born in the eighteenth century. He thought that a woman’s place was in the home and only allowed out when he wanted someone to decorate his arm or make him look good to his business colleagues. But that’s not me.”
Tori sighed. “I roomed at college, and after I got my degree rented a small one-bedroom apartment. It took a year before my mother contacted me to see if I was still alive and all right, I guess, and even though I’ve seen her a couple of times, she and Frank keep trying to run my life. She called me this morning and wanted me to drop everything to go back home to look after the great ugly museum they call a house, but I refused. There’s no need since they have a contingency of servants who live on the property.
“My mom told me I was a disappointment to her and that I was no longer her daughter.” She finished the last sentence on a sob and Bryant couldn’t stand seeing the pain in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight while she cried. He hated to see her so upset but there was nothing he could do about her mother and stepfather. But from now on he and his brothers would show her how much they cared and hopefully she would begin to care for them, too.
When she’d finished crying she sat up straighter, wiped the moisture from her cheeks and eyes, and drew in a shuddering breath. Luther pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Tori, I don’t condone what your mother has done to you, but I think the death of your father hurt her badly and it looks to me like she’s never really recovered from her grief.” Luther cupped her cheek in his hand and stared into her red-rimmed eyes. Bryant was pleased to see that Tori didn’t try to pull away or break their visual connection. That had to be a good thing, didn’t it? “I think the only way for your mother to cope with the loss of the love of her life was to close herself off from everything and everyone.”
“That makes sense,” Jeremiah said. “Maybe Frank’s coldness was what she needed to continue on living. You were so young and from what I’ve gathered you mother didn’t have anyone to turn to.”
Tori frowned and then nodded her head. “Both my parents were only children. Dad’s parents were killed just after Mom and Dad got married, in some sort of accident. I never met my mother’s father. He died before I was even born and so did my mom’s mother. I remember snippets of conversations my parents had, but I was just a little kid and didn’t feel I could ask Mom anything after she closed herself off.”
I know it’s hard, darlin’,” Bryant said. “Especially after what you’ve been through, but you need to try and forgive your mom, even if you never see her again. Don’t hold a grudge against her. It will only tear you up inside.”
Tori nodded and then she surprised the hell out of him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled his chest with her cheek. “Thank you.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, sat up straight again, and then took one of Jeremiah’s and Luther’s hands into her own. “Thanks, all of you, for listening to me. I’m not normally so emotional.”
“Don’t apologize for feeling, baby. We’re just glad that you took the time to talk to us.” Luther leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her lips. Bryant had to hold in his excitement when he noticed her body’s response.
Tori’s pupils dilated and she began to lightly pant. When Luther moved back, Jeremiah slid from the table, sat on their other side of the bench, and lightly tugged on her ponytail. She turned toward him and held her breath when Jeremiah gave her a soft kiss on the lips, too. His brothers stood up and started back toward the truck, and Bryant stood up, taking her with him. He heard her exhale in a whoosh and then he, too, kissed her soft, delectable mouth.
What he really wanted to do was ravish her until she was whimpering with need, but Tori wasn’t ready for that just yet. If he had his way she would be very, very soon.
Chapter Five
Tori couldn’t believe how easy it had been to talk to Luther, Jeremiah, and Bryant. The only other person she had told her secrets to had been Felicity. But after the phone call from her mother a week ago and then hearing about the death of their parents, she’d fallen apart. She’d never done that before either.
What was it about the Katz brothers that got to her in so many ways? Besides the physical attraction, they now had her spilling her guts about her life story. Not that it really mattered one way or another. It wasn’t like she was giving away state or country secrets. But she’d never felt this way before. Now that she’d opened up with them, so to speak, she felt a whole lot better. The pain that had been festering inside her had gone and now she only felt pity for her mother. Maybe one day her mom would wake up and want a real mother-daughter relationship, but she wouldn’t hold her breath.
Tori was surrounded by their heat and she had been in a constant state of arousal from the first day she’d met the Katz brothers. It was really hard to keep her attraction at bay when what she really wanted to do was kiss and touch them all over.
A little piece of the ice that had encased her heart had melted as they’d listened to her talk, cursed when they got angry on her behalf, and soothed her when she cried. She was currently holding hands with Bryant and Jeremiah as they led her to a table in the Slick Rock Hotel, and she could feel the heat emanating from Luther as he walked close behind her.
Another shiver ran up and down her spine when he placed his hand on her shoulder, and she had the urge to look back at him over her shoulder but was worried if she did she would trip or something. Every time she looked at these three men her heart raced and her pussy got wet. She wasn’t sure how much more she could stand.
After Jeremiah and Bryant seated her and the three men sat down, too, the waitress handed out the menus and took their drink orders. Tori was ravenous after crying and felt so much lighter after sharing her problems, so instead of ordering her usual salad she ordered a steak, baked potato, and salad.
Luther and Bryant were sitting across the table from her and Jeremiah was right next to her. After their drinks were served Luther leaned forward and Tori did the same, curious about what he wanted to say.
“We want to have a relationship with you, Tori. We’re very attracted to you.”
“I’m not sure—”
Jeremiah placed his hand over the one she had resting on the table. “What are you afraid of, honey?”
Tori gulped and shook her head, not sure how to put what she was thinking into words.
“Talk to us, Tori,” Luther commanded with implacability and she found herself complying with his will.
“I’m not sure I can handle more than one man,” she said quietly, aware of the other diners around them and not wanting strangers to hear a private conversation.
Bryant must have seen her glancing around them and realized she was uncomfortable with the subject and setting. “We can talk about this later.” He stared at both his brothers and then smiled at her. “Tonight is for relaxing and having a good time.”
Tori nodded and sighed with relief. Bryant seemed to be very in tune with her and that just made her like him even more. For such a big, brawny man to know how she was feeling was nice and made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. He was taking care of her and they weren’t even going out.
They began asking her about her plans for her new business and they listened as she explained what she wanted and even gave her a few suggestions she took on board. Their dinner was served and she asked them whether they’d found a place they wanted to buy since they wanted their own ranch.
“We have a couple of prospects we plan to look at on Monday,” Luther said and then he and his brothers told her they wanted organic-fed beef and how they intended to grow their own pesticide-free crops. By the time they’d finished eating Tori felt really relaxed and comfortable with them.
She looked up when someone called her name.
“Hi, Tori, I thought that was you. How are you, p
artner?”
“Trick, hi. I’d like you to meet Luther, Jeremiah, and Bryant Katz.”
Trick shook hands with all three men and Tori had to bite her tongue when Jeremiah placed his arm over her shoulder in a show of possessiveness. The rat looked pleased when Trick followed the move and then looked at all three men and her with speculation in his eyes. She knew he was going to grill her when she met him at the shop on Monday morning.
“Are you here alone? Would you like to join us?” Tori turned to glare at Luther when she heard him make a growly noise before turning back to face Trick.
“No thanks, Tori. I’m with my brothers. Make sure you stopover before you leave so I can introduce you.” Trick smiled at her and then headed across the other side of the room. She followed him with her eyes to see his brothers sitting at a table eating their just-delivered meals.
“What the hell was that?” Tori asked as she stared at Luther.
He looked away while clearing his throat and then met her gaze again, looking a bit chagrined. “Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose. It just sort of happened. Kind of like animal instinct or something.”
Tori turned to Jeremiah and shrugged her shoulders to displace his arm. “And don’t think I don’t know what you were doing either. I’m not even going out with you and you’re both behaving like cavemen. If—and that’s a big if, because I haven’t made up my mind yet—if I do go out with you, all of that will stop. I won’t put up with you three trying to control me or get caught in the middle of a pissing contest. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry, honey.” Jeremiah leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“I’m sorry, too, baby.” Luther scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Apology accepted. Just don’t do it again.”