Page 22 of Craving Vengeance

As much of a shit as Owen was, I had my niece to think about.

Destructive thoughts began to swirl through my head as I climbed into my bed, a warm presence slipping in after me. “Heard someone was in their head again.”

I sighed, dragging Gianni’s arms around me and shifting farther into the mattress. He seemed to understand that I didn’t want to talk, content to just hold me. I wondered if it was ever going to get any better if I was ever going to truly believe that I was good enough.

Gianni pressed his lips to the back of my neck. “You know it’s not your fault, right?” I didn’t answer. “That would have never worked. They could never have met. He was a violent bastard and that wouldn’t have changed for Tia.”

They were also listening, always watching over me. It was strange knowing that I had not just one but three men in my corner and yet my first reaction was to run and hide beneath the covers. How stupid was that? “How could you know that?”

“Because he also told you that he loved you.”

I cringed because that’s exactly what Owen had told me, on numerous occasions. That he loved me. That we would be together forever. That I was the one. And yet he treated me likeshit. I still felt like I had robbed Tia of the choice of getting to know her own family but it made sense now. Even if she met him, things wouldn’t have changed.

“Get some rest, Rhys. Block everything else out and just rest.”

“Ican’t.”

“You can. Let me protect you from your nightmares, sweetheart.”

So, I did. I let go, darkness wrapping around me like a little cocoon, promising me safety where the world couldn’t.

Chapter seventeen

VALENTYN

With the kids wholly consumed by some television show that Paval was thoroughly explaining to Tia, I could focus on the task at hand – sifting through Hawk International documents that I could barely make heads or tails of.

Dmitri looked down the hall from his perch on the couch, brows pulled together with worry. “He didn’t look good, Val.”

“You wouldn’t either if all this shit just blew up in your face.”

“I’mserious. I don’t think it’s going to work. I know he wants to be here. No, let me finish. I know he wants us. That won’t change but this world of ours? He doesn’t belong here. Hell, neither does Paval and I fear that the farther we drag him in, the harder it becomes for him to deal with everything else.”

I didn’t answer him. I had nothing to say. I could see how strong Rhys was, how much he loved us even though it was way too soon to say those words, and yet, there was also this fragile piece to him that I wasn’t sure we’d ever be able to strengthen.He’d grown up in an environment where everyone he knew existed to tear him down or refused to acknowledge him in a way that he needed.

It had been just under a month that we’d known Rhys and I already knew a few things about him that everyone else had neglected – his love for sweets, his love for math, and his undying need to be touched. When he wasn’t in his head, he was always touching one of us. He was near us and around us. He wanted our attention just as much as he wanted to give it. I could only imagine the strain of living with someone like Owen.

It was then that I realized that maybe what we wanted and what he needed weren’t the same things, a thought that I didn’t want to entertain.

“Hey, Val. We’ll figure it out. Right now, we need to figure out-”

I held up my hand as I snatched my phone off the table, eyes immediately falling on the kids to make sure they were safe. They were mere feet away and yet I couldn’t trust that. “Yes?”

“Where is Rhys?”

I pulled the phone away and looked at the caller ID, not recognizing it. The voice was several octaves deeper than it should be with an unnatural rasp, which meant that whoever was on the other side of that phone was using a voice changer. “Who’s asking?”

“Hawk International, HQ. We want to speak to the man we hired for the program. Why do you have his phone?”

Hackles raised, I sat forward on the couch. “Why do you have this number?”

There was an annoyed sigh on the other line and a few moments of silence before the man spoke again. “There’s been a few additional problems with the US plant and we need to bring Rhys in immediately.”

I still had no idea how they had gotten this number but I supposed that with all the intelligence and technology at Hawk International’s fingertips, it made sense. “You said a few days.”

“Tomorrow morning.”

I frowned. “We need a little more time than that.” I needed more time to scout the area, to prepare an escape route, to make sure that we were protected on all sides. Less than twenty-four hours didn’t provide the cushion I needed to ensure our safety.

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