Page 20 of Fatal Vengeance

“You okay?” my girl whispers, just soft enough for me to hear. When I wrangle my brain back into some semblance of calm, I glance down at her, nearly breaking at the concerned look in her gorgeous hazel eyes.

How can she be so worried about me, today of all days? She’s the one who needs support.

I smile at her, though I know it doesn’t reach my eyes. “I will be, Ember. Just… a little uneasy. But I’ll be just fine as soon as I get you home and spread out on the bed, a sexy tool for my distraction,” I murmur back, and fuck me, the way her eyes shudder with heat helps divert me from my terror real fucking well.

Griffin snorts and shoots me a look that totally says behave, dick.

Oops, I guess I wasn’t as quiet as I should have been.

Asher slaps a hand on my shoulder, his own asshole way of reminding me not to embarrass Prudence around all these strangers. He not so subtly nudges Prudence and me apart, and then he takes her place with a hand on her back to lead her back to her mom’s old room.

He leans down and asks her something, but I can’t hear it properly. My eyes narrow at the way he’s carrying himself, tension radiating off of his stiff shoulders and every step like he’s walking closer to his doom. And then he looks down at Prudence, and there’s no masking the guilt in his expression.

I frown and look at Griffin as we walk behind them. He bites his lip and gives me an equally guilty look, and I make a note to ask what the fuck those two are hiding. I thought we were past this secret keeping shit.

“Don’t, Creed. Not right now,” Griffin rasps roughly, watching Prudence closely as she goes into the room her mom once lived in. Griff and I stop just outside the door, but Asher goes right inside with her, looking around at the sparely decorated, cold space. “Just let her have today. Let her have one fucking moment to process and mourn, and then… Tomorrow, we all need to talk.”

I keep my eyes on my girl as I hiss back, “Yeah, I’ll fucking say. I’ll gut the both of you if whatever this secret is puts her in more danger.”

Griffin just swallows and nods back, and then the two of us shut up and give Prudence as much time as she needs to sort through her mom’s few belongings and pack it all into a single box.

How fucking sad is that? Irene lived here for years, and yet everything she owned can fit into one box.

When Prudence picks up a framed photo from the nightstand, a smiling shot of mother and daughter, she finally breaks. The sob that rips out of her absolutely fucking guts me, and when she collapses to her knees and hugs the picture to her chest, I can’t get to her fast enough.

Asher, Griffin, and I all rush to her, the center of our fucked up little world. I damn near slam into her in my desperate need to hold her together. I wrap my arms around her as I lift her and shift us so she’s in my lap and I can rub her back while I tuck her face into my chest. Griffin and Asher sit on either side of me, so close they’re practically on my lap too. Griffin cups her face and turns her to look at him. He sweeps his thumbs over her cheeks as his eyes search hers like he’s helpless. And yeah, he is. We all fucking are. I’d slaughter the world and dance in the puddles of blood with a goddamn smile on my face if it meant protecting Prudence, but this is different. There’s no one for me to kill, no physical danger, and no way to piece her back together except to just… let her cry it out.

After a few minutes, and Griffin and Asher both looking into her eyes to silently check on her, Prudence shifts in my lap and rests her ear over my heart. Her fingers trace a little pattern over my chest, and I drop my cheek to the top of her head.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t expect for everything to hit me so hard,” she croaks, her voice raw and broken from her tears.

Asher sweeps her fiery hair away from her wet, red cheeks, tucking it behind her ear as he says, “Don’t ever apologize for feeling, Prudence. Not ever, do you hear me? If you need to cry, then do it. We’re right here with you.”

I can’t see her expression from the angle I’m holding her, but whatever it is has Asher giving her a soft smile back. He leans in and kisses her, just a quick peck before pulling back, but the way she sucks in a breath tells me she wasn’t expecting that from him. Honestly, me either. I don’t know what the fuck changed with my cousin, why he’s being so gentle, but I can’t say I hate it. When I saw them together in the hallway the other day, I kind of assumed it was more of a hate fuck about to start than anything else, but now? I’m not so sure.

My cousin has a very possessive glint in his eyes that I recognize well. It’s the way I look at Prudence every single day.

Griffin kisses her shoulder, drawing her attention to him. Prudence turns so her other cheek is on my chest, like she can’t bear to separate from me quite yet, and honestly, I’m fine with that. I’d hold her here all damn day if she wanted me to.

“Do you want me to pack the rest up?” Griffin asks gently, his face an open expression of sad adoration, as if it hurts him to see her like this. I’m sure it does. It fucking guts me.

Prudence thinks for a second, and then nestles impossibly closer to me as she nods to Griffin. “Thank you,” she whispers, and that’s all he and Asher need before they’re on their feet.

They move around us on the floor, being gentle and caring with each of Irene’s possessions. Prudence sniffles and shivers in my arms, so I hold her tighter, rocking her a little and just feeling so fucking complete with her in my lap. If I didn’t have to share with the other two dickheads, I don’t think I’d ever let her go. Literally, not ever.

It takes me a few moments to realize that with Prudence wrapped up in my arms, my own anxiety and old fears about being in a place like this have vanished. My palms have stopped sweating, my teeth aren't grinding, and my legs are itching to sprint as fast as they can.

She heals me, wholly and completely, and for that, I vow to do the same for her for the rest of my days.

15

Prudence

I’m basically a corpse as Griffin carries me into my sister’s cabin later in the day. Creed held me while the other two packed up my mom’s stuff and Asher took her ashes for me because I just couldn’t function at that group home anymore, and then I was bundled into the backseat between Griffin and Creed for the drive back.

I cling to my giant teddy bear of a man, wrapped around him like a monkey, and if my heart wasn’t cracked open and leaking, I might have laughed at the sight we make. But since I’m still fighting back tears after the fuck of a day I’ve had, I don’t make a sound while he holds me close. I simply absorb the comfort he’s offering and try not to feel so broken.

Genevieve makes some kind of shocked gasping sound when she sees me in Griffin’s arms, but he doesn’t slow down or so much as grunt back at her, just ignores her completely to walk me back to the guest bedroom. Asher and Creed are behind us, and I hear them speaking with her in soft, careful tones, but I don’t actually make out anything that’s said.

---