Page 53 of Tabitha

They’re more than capable of taking care of themselves.

Yet I still worried.

It makes absolutely no fucking sense, but I find myself hurrying out of the bunker. I rush down the stairs to the kitchen to see why they were late. I stumble to halt at the bottom of the stairs when I catch sight of them. I cross my arms and tap my foot, trying not to pout. “You got into a fight without me!”

All the guys come to a stop like guilty children, straightening under my attention as much as their injuries allow.

“Sorry,” Pierce immediately answers, giving me a kiss on my cheek before he heads toward the freezer and grabs a bag of vegetables.

River flashes me a smile, following right behind Pierce. “Sorry that we had fun without you. But in all honesty, you’re the one who left the party early.”

Without giving me a chance to rebuke him, he brushes his lips over mine and heads toward the sink to wash blood from his knuckles.

“Are you pouting?” Gage scoffs, then clutches his ribs, unable to stifle a groan.

My fingers itch to go to him, and I turn to Bast to resist the impulse. He only flashes me a smile, like he enjoyed a calm afternoon outing. “I made sure to bring them all back to you alive.”

I purse my lips before I relent and nod. “Thank you.”

He follows the others into the kitchen, joining Pierce, who is rummaging through the box of medical supplies we brought with us. Gage trails after the others, shuffling his feet, unable to mask his grimace of pain.

As I study them, I frown.

Things just don’t add up.

“What the hell happened after I left?” I refuse to feel guilty that I stranded the men with a flat tire, leaving them vulnerable for attack.

Pierce’s head jerks up at my question, instantly understanding my concern. “Banks decided that we’re no longer welcome in town. It has nothing to do with you.”

“He’s right,” River chimes in. “If anything, your presence actually softened the warning. Without you, I suspect we would never be leaving these mountains. To spare your delicate sensibilities, he ordered us beaten instead of killed.”

I glance at the others in confusion when they only seemed to stare at me. “Oh…umm…that’s nice of him?”

“He only left our faces unmarked so you wouldn’t notice that he had us beaten.” Gage speaks like he thinks I’m an imbecile. “Banks obviously doesn’t expect us to tell you what happened. He doesn’t want to ruin the image you have of him.”

I roll my eyes, not surprised that men can be such idiots. “You’re the one who’s being ridiculous. I would have to be blind to miss the way you guys all came limping home.”

“I agree with Gage.” Bast doesn’t look up as he pours peroxide over his knuckles, not even flinching at the sting. “Banks doesn’t know you the way we do. He doesn’t want you to know that he ordered his men to beat us.”

“Wait!” I hold up my hand to stop him. “Are you saying he didn’t even join the fight?”

The guys pause in their tasks, shaking their heads as they look up at me.

“I didn’t take him for a coward.” My estimation of him drops drastically, but I can’t get over the niggling feeling that I’m missing something important. “Something just doesn’t add up. Banks isn’t an idiot. He’s planning something.”

The men glance at each other, doing that silent communication thing common in soldiers, and Bast grimaces. “She’s right.”

“What if he wants us to let down our guard?” I look at each of the men, noticing their relatively minor injuries. I gnaw on my bottom lip, then heave a sigh. “He’s planning to finish his attack later tonight, pull something off as an accident to throw suspicion off of him.”

“I hate to say it, but that actually makes sense.” Gage looks like he’d rather chew glass than agree with me, the prickly asshole.

As much as I find the men annoying, my stomach lurches at the thought of anything happening to them. “For some reason, Banks actually cares about my opinion. If that’s true, then there is only one way to keep you guys safe—you’ll have to move into the house with us.”

“Yes! Dibs on the room across from yours!” River doesn’t even wait for anyone else to respond, already jogging around the counter to give me a quick kiss on my cheek before he heads toward the backdoor. “I’ll go collect our stuff now.”

Flabbergasted at his reaction, I do nothing as he disappears out the backdoor. I’m both charmed and a little unnerved at his enthusiasm. I shoot a cautious glance at Bast, bracing myself for his disapproval. “My arrival seems to have put you and your men in even more danger. I don’t think any of you should do anything alone.”

Bast doesn’t even wait for me to finish speaking before he drops the ice pack he’s holding to his knuckles and follows River toward the backdoor. “I agree. I’ll go corral River and keep him out of trouble.”

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