Page 99 of Gilded Locks
All three brothers converged on her instantly, their protective instincts overriding everything else. The security officer looked back at her, appearing torn between his post and her response, but her bothers had her covered.
“Breathe, little bird,” Stone murmured, his hands framing her face. “Look at me. Just at me.”
“You’re safe,” Ash added, moving to her other side. “He can’t hurt you. Won’t hurt you. We won’t let him.”
“I know.” But Katya’s voice was thready, distant. “I know that. But my body... it remembers.”
Hunter crouched in front of his sister, holding her trembling hands in his massive grip. “Do you want it to stop? We can handle this without you, in other ways.”
“Or send you somewhere safe until it’s over,” Ash said.
“No.” The word came out with reaffirmed strength. “No, I need to do this. I need to face him.”
“You don’t need to do anything,” Stone said fiercely. “You don’t owe him confrontation. You don’t owe anyone your pain.”
“I owe myself.” Katya’s chin lifted with stubborn courage. “I owe that scared girl who couldn’t fight back. She deserves to see him brought down.”
The love between the siblings was so intense it was almost hard to witness. These dangerous, ruthless men became something entirely different around their sister—gentle, protective, willing to move mountains to keep her safe.
Marigold envied their bond. Their loyalty for each other was the polar opposite of Jordan’s disdain for her.
“Fifteen minutes,” Cole reported. “If little bird wants to go back to her wing, I should take her now.”
“What do you want to do, Kat?” Ash asked, brow pinched with worry for his surrogate sister.
Katya looked at the monitors, expression unsure.
Hunter stood, his expression shifting back to predatory focus. “Final positions. Remember, he thinks he’s in control until he isn’t. Let him get comfortable before we remind him whose territory this is.”
“Before we show him what happens to unwelcomed trespassers,” Stone sneered.
The staff, except for the lead officer, Cole, dispersed with military efficiency, leaving the family alone in the security office. Katya had stopped shaking, but Marigold could see the effort it cost her.
“Where will we be?” Marigold asked.
“The two of you will stay here, with Cole,” Hunter said. “Then, when it’s time, one of us will come to collect you. Do not open the door for anyone but me, Stone, or Ash. Do not leave this room alone or with anyone but us. Understand?”
Marigold nodded.
“Good. Cole’s fully armed. He’ll protect you.”
Cole’s gun cocked as if to confirm Hunter’s statement. These men were not playing around. No flashlights and segways for them. They were fully armed with guns, silencers, Kevlar, and blades.
“Is that weapon even legal?” she asked, eyeing the massive bazooka-looking thing hanging inside the hidden closet built into the wall.
Stone slammed it shut and typed in a code. “Legal by our laws. That’s all that matters.”
It worried her that they were confronting Jordan in street clothes with only small pistols tucked under their suit jackets.
“What if I freeze?” Katya asked quietly. “What if, when I see him, I can’t speak?”
“Then one of us will speak for you,” Ash said simply.
“You still have the option of not seeing him at all,” Hunter reminded. “But if that’s your choice you should make it now.”
Katya glanced at the monitors tracking Jordan’s approach. She worried her lower lip, unsure what to do.
“It’s better if we stay together.” Cole pointed to the monitors. “I can keep a better eye on everything with the women here.”
