Page 128 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“Thank you,” I nod before stepping back from Travis and back into Ryan's arms.

“Go and rest with Ryan. We will be home before you know it.” Travis presses one last kiss to the top of my head and steps back, giving me a smile.

“Love you, Daddy,” I whisper as Ryan and I start to head towards the open front door.

“Love you too, Sweetheart,” he calls back. Ryan leads me to the car at the front of the house and helps me into the passenger seat. Once I’m inside, he places my bag in the back of the car, climbs behind the wheel, and drives away from the house.

I look back at it in the rearview mirror and know there is no way it will ever feel like home to me again. Turning to look out the windscreen, I take a deep breath and relax a little, knowing that we are finally on our way home, back to the place that’s now my sanctuary and where I will always be loved and safe.

Ryan held my hand the whole way home. He talked to me about anything and everything except the hell that’s happening where two of my guys are. I asked if he thought the others were safe, and he reassured me that they were.

“Nicholson has taken a liking to Travis and you, plus you have both just made him a very rich man. He has no need to hurt either of them. Even if Ethan says something he shouldn’t, which no doubt he will at some point. Travis is there to ensure he stays out of trouble and does as he’s told.”

I know he’s right. There is no reason for either of them to get hurt, but it doesn’t stop me from worrying about them.

We have been home for hours; the longer we go without the guys coming home, the more anxious I become.

“Little Kitten, you need to relax. I promise you they are fine.” Ryan wraps his arms around my waist from behind as I look out the window into the dark night. “When was the last time they messaged?” he asks.

“Two hours ago. Ethan said his phone was dying and that Daddy’s already had,” I answer chewing on my thumb nail. He also said that the house line and internet are down. Apparently, Nicholson admitted they did it when they kidnapped my father.

Ryan turns me in his arms and removes my thumb from my mouth.

“There you go then. Stop worrying. I’ve made you some dinner; you need to eat.”

“I’m not hungry,” I answer, going to turn in his arms to look back out of the window, but he stops me.

“I haven’t seen you eat since this morning. You need to eat something, even if just a few mouth fulls.” He looks me dead in the eye whilst giving me a firm look. “You are going to go in there and eat some of the food I prepared for you. It isn’t much, but you need to eat something.”

I want to argue with him, but the second he cocks his eyebrow, I know I will lose.

“Yes, Bear,” I sigh before walking towards the kitchen, where we sit to eat our meals. There on the table is a small plate of leftovers from yesterday. He hasn’t given me much as he said. But I don’t think I could eat any more than what’s in front of me.

“Thank you,” I whisper, looking up at him as he sits beside me with a larger plate of food for himself.

“You’re welcome, Little Kitten.” He reaches over and places his hand over mine on the table. “I know you are worried, and after finding out even more shit today, I’m not surprised. But I promise the guys will be home before you know it, and together, we can start processing everything you’ve had thrown at you.” Lifting my hand, he places a kiss on my knuckles. My heart swells as I look at this guy who’s showing me all the love and support I need right now.

“You know, you are a pretty great Daddy.”

Ryan's eyes shimmer a little as a smile slowly spreads across his face.

“I’m glad you think so.”

Letting go of his hand, I move my chair so I can sit directly next to him.

“I do,” I smile before picking up my knife and fork to eat some of the food he has warmed up for me.

66

Verity

Arms tighten around me from behind as I watch the minutes tick by on the bedside clock. It’s gone two in the morning and the guys still aren’t back.

Ryan tried everything to distract me from the fact we hadn’t heard from them, but nothing worked. I watched TV, listened to music. I even went for a light run with him to try and clear my head. That did not work, and I am not a runner. Nothing he did distracted me from the growing worry that something is wrong, and we shouldn’t have left them.

More than once he offered to drive us back so I could see that they are fine for myself. But I was scared we would cross paths on the way, and they would be home by the time we got there. So, we sat and waited, and waited, and waited some more.

I can’t do this. I can’t lie in bed waiting for them to come home. I’m not tired; I’m too stressed to sleep. Slowly I lift Ryans arm and slide out of the bed, being sure to grab my doll as I go.

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