Page 73 of Her Protector Daddies

Tyler, Bailey, and Jay spilled into my room in a clatter of stumbling steps, falling over one another to get inside.

“Selena!”

As soon as their voices reached my ears, far tears welled up in my eyes and a raw, broken sob tore from my chest. I couldn’t stop it. Emotion, hot and painful, flooded my chest. I was unable to keep my tears at bay. Pain, grief, and relief mingled together and my face was drenched in seconds.

“I’m sorry,” I gasped raggedly, with no idea what I was apologizing for.

They were by my bed within half a second. Bailey on the left, Jay on the right and Tyler seated halfway up in the bed with one hand over my legs.

“Hey,” Jay soothed softly, clutching at my hand. “Hey, it’s okay, we’re right here.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” said Tyler.

“You’re safe.” Bailey gently took hold of my other hand and the tears flowed faster and harder with everything they were saying. For some reason, the comfort made it all worse and I realized that in my last moments conscious in that alley, I had been certain I would never see them ever again.

“I-I’m sorry I couldn’t uhm…” The apology was useless, but I had a guttural determination to stay it. “I should have been more careful.”

“No,” Bailey said firmly. “Don’t even go there. You were amazing and we— we never should have placed you in that situation. We should have fought it harder. I’m sorry.”

“It’s true,” Jay murmured. “You did amazing and you— we’re sorry. So fucking sorry that this happened but you did amazing.”

“I thought I’d never see you again,” I whispered, glancing at all three of them, and then the tidal wave of waterworks burst forward. I couldn’t control my tears, couldn’t control the emotions flooding through me. Sob after sob tore from my chest and each desperate breath pulled painfully at my stitches, making me cry harder.

I sobbed because I was scared, because I was in pain and fearful I’d never make it. I wept because I’d nearly died, and then I cried because they were all here for me and somehow, that hurt.

Maybe because I wasn’t used to it.

Slowly, the guys tried to calm me with gentle words and touches; even a few kisses between the sobs and their gentleness only made me cry harder. I came so close to losing the best like I ever had, and I was never risking it ever again.

Eventually, my tears slowed and I cried myself to the point of further exhaustion but I fought that tiredness with all my strength. I wasn’t closing my eyes for a second while they were here with me.

“Here.”

Tyler passed me another handful of tissues and I accepted them gratefully, blowing my stuffy nose and drying my swollen eyes for the umpteenth time.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered weakly.

“You’ve been through so much,” Jay assured me. “You’re allowed to cry.”

“Trust me,” Bailey said, his usual brisk demeanor completely gone. “We already did the same.”

“Yeah, Bailey was sobbing his wee heart out,” Tyler chuckled, and his laugh was infectious.

“Damn right you cried over me,” I joked weakly, earning another ripple of soft laughter. “I’m… I’m so glad you’re here. All of you.” Emotion choked me up and another wave of tears threatened to spill over despite how cried out I was.

“Ditto,” Jay smiled.

“Did I miss much?” Glancing between the three of them, their eyes were heavy and tired and even their smiles didn’t quite carry the same sparkle as usual. My chest clenched, amplifying the raw sensation from all the crying.

What did I miss?

Together, they filled me in on the entire story. From Andrés capture on the night I was shot, to his resulting arrest and his fancy lawyer. Bailey revealed that he and Tyler had been charged with tracking down some of Andrés’ top-tier men while I was in surgery and had arrested one of the men who had attacked me in my home after he tried to flee the country. Apparently, Andrés’ arrest had shaken his loyalty and he’d tried to flee.

The one with the snake tattoo was still unaccounted for but Jay reasoned he likely tried to flee and succeeded where the other one failed. With my witness statement, all attempts to get Andrés out of jail had screeched to a halt and the DA was now processing him for my attempted murder. The kicker, though, was learning that the Chief of Police was facing corruption charges, and it was no longer speculation - once Andrés learned that the Chief didn’t have the power to save him from prison, he flipped on the Chief as revenge.

“Andrés has a good lawyer, but the case should be watertight,” Bailey said, slowly running his hand over my knuckles in a circle.”

“So… it’s over?” I was scared even to ask but with everything they had told me and Andrés behind bars, it had to be over. What more could go wrong?

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