Page 53 of Walking Red Flag

I thought about it for a long moment and then said, “Dima, I’d like to do this alone. I have to explain today.”

He was quiet for a long moment and then, “What if I drive you there, and you send me a text that you don’t need me, and I’ll leave?”

Used to making compromises for the protective men in my family, I agreed.

“But first I need to find out where his clubhouse is,” I said.

Dima laughed. “Leave that to me.”

I left it to him for half an hour while I showered again and got dressed.

I chose to wear leggings, an oversized long-sleeved t-shirt and tennis shoes—my go-to outfit when I wanted to feel comfy.

Today practically begged for comfortable, too.

After the day I’d had…

“You look like a drowned rat,” Dima said as he came into the bathroom and sat on the counter next to where I was drying my hair.

I gave him the hair dryer and my brush, then turned around.

Used to helping me, he took both and started to blow dry my hair.

One of the deals that we had when I wanted to cut my hair at seventeen was they’d—Shasha and Dima—help me blow dry it whenever I wanted. I don’t know why it was so important to keep the long hair, but I’d never cut it. Even though I’d wanted to.

Badly.

He was on minute twenty when the hulking form of my oldest brother filled the door of my bathroom.

I smiled at him hesitantly, and he took a long step forward and wrapped his arms around my body.

Dima shut the hair dryer off and I had no other recourse but to bury my face in Shasha’s chest.

“I’m sorry for not telling you, Mil,” he rumbled.

I nodded, not bothering to say a word.

I knew he felt bad, and there was no reason to make him feel worse when he’d only done it to save me the heartache of knowing that my rapist and abuser was in the same state as me, and two hours away at that.

“Let me finish this, bro,” Dima suggested a long while later. “My ass is getting numb from halfway sitting in the sink.”

Shasha let me go, but not before he gave me one last squeeze.

Dima finished my hair while Shasha leaned against the doorframe watching us.

His dark, all-knowing eyes stayed on me while I looked down at my toes.

I didn’t want him to see the fear in my eyes.

Today had been…bad.

That night, thirteen years ago, had been the worst night of my life.

I’d been home alone except for the guards. Daniil had been the newest guard added to my brother’s team, and he was currently suffering from a case of food poisoning. But he’d stayed doing his job until his replacement had shown.

He hadn’t wasted time when he saw the guard come in, darting out the door after a brief exchange.

I’d gone back to binge watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.

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