Page 38 of Room Ten: Praise Times Three

“What are we going to do?” We can’t let her go, not when we are this close to making her ours.

“We’re going to finish the job and tell her exactly how we feel. Then we’re going to let her go.”

Closing my eyes, I lean against the hood of our Suburban. “Just like that?”

“We can’t keep her caged forever,” Reese says, and something about his tone makes me open my eyes. This hurts him as deeply as it cuts me. While not ideal, I’ve rather enjoyed playing house in the suburbs with our girl as she blossoms into the woman we want and the woman she should be comfortable being.

“Now that we’ve awoken something in her, she knows what she’s missing, but she has to be free to choose us.” He nods, more to himself as if he’s having an internal debate, than to me. “She’ll choose us, but we have to give her time.”

I sigh. “For obvious reasons, we’ve handled her with kid gloves since meeting her, but if we’re going to let our little bird go, then she has to understand what she’s getting if she comes back to us. No more hour-long make out sessions where we pass her around like a baby doll. Yes, we want to spoil her, but after this is over, it has to be on our terms. No more coddling. No more manipulating her into taking and giving a little more each time. If she comes to us, she has to know who we really are—all the time.”

“So, we invite her to the club, and let her see what being with the three of us is really all about.” Reese brings his dark eyes up to meet mine, the set line of his jaw telling me he understands and agrees with my point.

Nodding, I rub my hand over my face, inhaling her scent. “The club. That’s about as raw as we get.”

“Exactly.”

* * *

One hour later, I’m packing up my computer equipment after we received a SITREP from Lee and team about their takedown of a tan Chevy van and one Claudine Humphreys. Caiden is ecstatic because Case confirmed putting a bullet between Joe P. Dawson’s eyes. The douchebag pulled a weapon on one of the top marksmen in the world, and that didn’t work out too well for him.

“Why are you packing up your computers?” Leti walks up fresh from her shower and wraps her arms around me from behind. I stand up, sliding my hands over hers and interlacing our fingers. Closing my eyes, I bask in this moment, knowing it’s about to end.

A temporary end, hopefully, but a break in the cycle of touching and being touched that I will not enjoy.

Reese comes out of the bedroom. “Hey doll, come sit with us.”

I squeeze her hands and turn to face her, brushing my thumb over her cheekbone where the bruises have lightened considerably. They are still there, though, as are the minor cut on her lip and the yellowing bruise on her leg. She’s never complained once about any of it. Never once bemoaned her battered face or said kissing with a split lip hurt in any way.

And besides the very first night while napping on the couch, she’s given us no indication of bad dreams.

As I told her before, she is the strongest woman I’ve ever met.

I tilt my head to the sofa and give her a flirty wink, encouraging her to do as she’s told.

She smiles, raises up on her toes, and kisses me chastely before turning and skipping to Reese, plopping down on his lap. Caiden sits on the other end of the couch, and I take up residence between them on the coffee table.

“What’s going on?” She glances around at the three of us but settles her eyes on me.

“The other team has apprehended Claudine Humphreys and her accomplices.”

Her eyes grow wide. “Is Pip okay?”

“She’s fine. Everyone is fine.” Caiden reaches out and rubs her calf. “They’re dealing with the local law enforcement right now, and then they will pack up and head home… which is what we need to do.”

“Oh.” Leti lowers her head, as if she finally understands why the somber mood surrounding her. “What about her accomplices?”

What about Joe P. Dawson is what she really means.

“We have dealt with them. You won’t have to worry about them anymore,” Reese says as he slides his hand up and down her arm.

She smiles, but it’s not a friendly one. It’s one born of waning patience. “What does that mean?”

I shake my head at Caiden, knowing his delivery will be too upbeat for the story. Even though Joe brutalized her, nothing about what she’s said to-date says she has bloodlust. Will hearing about his death upset her? Maybe. There are people in the world that don’t believe in capital punishment, exacted vengeance, or eye-for-an-eye vigilante justice regardless of being victimized.

Obviously, she is surrounded by three men who not only believe in it, but profit from it.

“I assume you’re asking about the man who assaulted you? They killed him when he pulled a gun on Bravo team. You will never see him again.”

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