Page 145 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

Once we were alone, I’d asked my father if he was serious. He’d merely smiled, slung his arm around my shoulder, and said, “Welcome home, Beck.”

So Quinn, Brody and I had had to resort to sneaking around. I’d gone to their room well after midnight and while Brody had insisted we couldn’t make love in my fathers’ house, it hadn’t taken much to convince him that we most definitely could. Quinn and I had had a lot of fun making Brody see the error of his ways, but by the end just before Quinn had slid into him, he’d had to cover Brody’s mouth with his hand to keep him from announcing to the world just exactly what we were up to. We’d taken turns fucking Brody until he’d been an incoherent mess and by the time I’d come, I’d been buried deep inside his body and Quinn had been balls deep inside of me. We’d taken advantage of the huge shower in the guest bathroom before I’d reluctantly snuck back to my own room. I hadn’t mentioned to either man that I’d run into my father, Rafe, in the hallway on my way back to my room. Or that he’d merely wrapped his arms around me and wished me a goodnight before he’d returned to his and my father’s room.

We’d spent most of today packing up my things. Since I didn’t need the furniture from my room, there wasn’t a ton of stuff that we needed to get back to Dare. It would all fit in the back of Quinn’s truck with no problem.

It had been surreal to start the process of cleaning out my room. In many ways, it had felt like I was cleaning up the remnants of my past. It had been almost a month since my fathers had visited Dare and things had been moving quickly ever since. I’d been accepted into a vet tech course and was set to start in a little over a week. Quinn, Brody and I had found a decent-sized house halfway between Dare and Missoula and were planning to move in when we got back to Dare in a few days.

I’d been talking to my fathers via video chat several times a week, but my daily check-ins were a thing of the past. Now if I texted my fathers, it was because I wanted to, not because I had to. Dr. Emory had helped them find a therapist in Seattle and while they didn’t share the details of their visits with me, I’d seen improvement over the weeks as I talked to them. They didn’t look as tired and as pained as they had early on when we’d chatted. More importantly, they didn’t look at me anymore like they used to so often in the past…like they were wondering how Ireallywas when I said I was fine. For my part, I’d learned that I needed to be able to share everything with them. That meant, when I had a bad day, I told them so. It meant not hiding my feelings from Brody and Quinn, either. Fortunately, bad days were the exception these days.

“I wasn’t studying,” Brody said. “I was just refreshing my memory. We need to make a good impression.”

I laughed at that. “Just remember, if you need help with remembering who’s who, ask for Matty.”

Both men chuckled. I’d told them the night before about the little boy who was best friends with one of our family’s youngest members, Leo Devereaux. Matty was the resident expert on who was who in our family and had been tapped on more than one occasion to help newcomers navigate the muddy waters of our unique family tree.

“He’s the one who will be hanging out with the half-naked kid, right?” Quinn asked. “Leo.”

“Right,” I said.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who was doing a little refreshing last night. And here I thought you were in the bathroom last night for a half an hour for a whole other reason,” Brody said. The comment earned him a swipe from Quinn’s hand, which my man easily dodged.

A moment later, Brody’s cell phone rang and all three of us came to a jarring stop as he dug it out of his pocket. I held my breath as I waited for him to answer, but as soon as his face fell, I glanced at Quinn. It had been nearly two months since Brody’s brother had shown up in Dare with his cryptic warning that Brody might be in danger. Thankfully, no threat had ever materialized and all three of us were able to relax a bit more, but the fact that he hadn’t heard from Nathan was troubling Brody more than he wanted to admit. So much so, that he’d tracked down the number for his brother’s campaign headquarters and left a couple of messages asking Nathan to call him. When he hadn’t, Brody’s disappointment had been a living thing.

Every once in a while, we’d see a story on the news or on the internet about Nathan’s campaign and there would be pictures or footage of the man, but while that assured us he was alive, we could also see he wasn’t doing well, physically. Even reporters had commented on the candidate looking thinner and run down.

I’d actually talked to my father, Cade, the night before about the situation to get his opinion since it tore me up to know how much Brody was suffering. My father had expressed concern for Brody, Quinn and me, but I’d assured him that Jax was monitoring the situation and that Brody had promised he’d let Jax know if he saw, heard or even felt like something was off. That had appeased my father, but in terms of Nathan, he’d said if the man wasn’t willing to seek help either through the authorities or through private means, there wasn’t much that could be done.

But that didn’t stop Brody from racing to answer his phone every time it rang.

When Brody hung up the phone, he looked at us and just shook his head. He held out his hand to me and I automatically took it, squeezing his fingers. “He’s okay,” I murmured softly.

Brody nodded and then forced a smile to his lips. “Yeah, I know he is.” As we got moving again, Brody seemed to relax and I knew he’d managed to shake off his melancholy.

For now.

As we neared the large house, the familiar sight of the kids out front along with a passel of dogs and a sleek white cat made my heart clench. I hadn’t been to a lot of family dinners because I’d often been too down to make the long trip to the San Juan Islands, but I had fond memories of the ones I’d been able to attend. Even though I’d felt like an outsider, I’d still enjoyed watching the people I loved come together and share the goings on in their lives.

“You okay?” Quinn asked me as Brody’s fingers tightened on mine.

I nodded, not surprised that they’d both sensed the change in me. “I’m going to miss this,” I admitted.

Neither man tried to comfort me with words, but Quinn pulled me to him long enough that he could kiss my temple and Brody could brush his lips over my knuckles as he pulled our joined hands up to his mouth.

But even as I watched first the dogs race towards us, then the kids, I knew as long as I was exactly where I was in this moment, between my two men, I was home.

* * *

Cade

Warmth flooded my system as I watched one of my son’s men, Quinn, wrap his arm around Beck’s waist as soon as he reached him. Beck had been talking to his cousin Tristan, and one of Tristan’s boyfriends, Brennan, but he paused long enough to accept the soft kiss Quinn placed on his lips. Within minutes, all four were laughing about something and then Brody was joining them. Seeing my son surrounded by so much love…and seeing him return that love was a balm to my soul.

To say that Rafe and I had fallen apart after Beck had told us the truth about everything that had happened to him was an understatement like no other. We’d managed to keep it together for Beck’s sake, but as soon as we’d dropped him off at the ranch after the therapy session, we’d driven around just long enough to find a secluded spot and then we’d held each other as we’d cried.

And raged.

In that moment, I’d never wanted anything more than to hunt down every man who’d ever laid a finger on my son. To know he’d been repeatedly violated even after his father and I had given him what we’d thought would be a better life had ripped a hole in me so wide that I was certain it would never heal. The therapist Rafe and I had begun to see had had lots of suggestions about how to cope with the trauma as well as blanket statements about it not being our fault, but so far none of that had made me feel even remotely better.

Whathadmade me feel better was tracking down one of the men who’d used my son like he was nothing more than garbage.

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