Page 32 of Room Twenty: Owning Their Angel

My stomach clenches and my gut churns, but I don’t dare move. Not until I can’t see him anymore. Then I practically run to my car, my mind wandering while I’m driving back to the clubhouse to the point that I should be concerned about how I got home safely. I’m shutting down; I can feel it.

I don’t look at anyone who might be lingering in the common room of the clubhouse and head straight to Poe’s room because it’s the biggest and where we’ve been staying since we got back. I sleep the best with all my men surrounding me. I know they ordered a special sized bed when the house started to be built for this exact reason.

I curl up on the bed, my thoughts racing while I’m not able to latch onto anything. My first instinct is to run. But I promised I wouldn’t. Not again.

I also don’t really want to. I mean, I want to run from the threat of my stepfather being here, but I don’t want to run from my men. I love them and they will be amazing fathers to our child.

Tears are sliding down my face when the door opens, and loud footsteps fill the room. I know without looking over my shoulder that my men have stormed inside. I can feel worry, concern, and anger rolling off them.

Zach is the first one around the bed and he crouches down while pulling the sheet down from where it’s partially covering my face. His face is a mask of pure fucking fear, and it guts me.

“I’m okay. The baby is okay. We’re healthy,” my voice sounds like I’m a two pack a day smoker and my mouth feels like the Sahara. “Why are you here?”

Zach’s voice is concerned, “Lucifer saw you come into the clubhouse not long ago. He called us and told us you were crying and didn’t seem to hear him calling for you. He was worried because he knew you had an appointment today.”

“Nothing is wrong with the baby, I promise.”

Poe and Gray flank Zach, their faces filled with so much worry my heart starts to beat harder against the inside of my chest. How am I going to keep this from them? I’ve never told them about my past. They’ve all shared theirs, but I kept my lips zipped about my own.

How could they really love me if they don’t know?

More tears stream down my face and soak the pillow beneath me.

“Fuck this,” Gray grits out before he’s standing, kicking off his boots, scooping me up in his arms, and sitting back against the headboard.

I bury my face in his neck and my men surround us, their hands smooth over my body, touching me everywhere, but especially my baby bump. I sob, every touch making me feel loved, but also reminding me that I haven’t given them all of me or my trust. I didn’t give them my past.

“Please,” Poe’s voice is soft and afraid, “you’re killing us, Cherub. We need to know what’s going on.”

“This isn’t good for you or the baby,” Zach tries to reason with me.

I nod against Gray’s shirt and know it’s time. Even if it’s something I wish could stay locked in the past. I have to pull it into the light. I can’t hide from it anymore, no matter how much I wish I could.

We all have a past. I don’t want to be defined by mine. If I love these men, and I do, then I need to let them stand by my side and help me. Especially right now because I can’t help myself.

I start at the beginning, and I don’t think they breathe the entire time I’m talking. When I’m done, the silence is still around us.

Zach growls, “I’m going to kill him.”

“Don’t go to jail, we need you,” I murmur, exhaustion from crying and the emotions I just poured out of me too much to fight against.

I slip into sleep, knowing my men will stand in front of this demon and slay it. Because they love me and want to protect me.

I feel their kisses on my forehead and hairline before I’m tucked into bed, but I’m not afraid. Not anymore.

CHAPTER 15

GRAY

I feel like my road name right now—coiled and ready to strike. My anger and the way I can strike out quickly while being unassuming most of the time is why it was chosen for me. Bedlam got his name because of the confusion his affable personality can cause, but he’s not to be underestimated. Scope’s name is obvious once you’ve seen the man shoot.

We’re going to need all our skills right now while keeping each other in check. The rage inside of me started to build with every word Heather gave us about her past. I could be mad at her, but I understand why she didn’t want to bring her past into our future. We all have demons, and we might have shared with her about our families and how we grew up, mine being the most wholesome of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean she owed us a damn thing.

No one owes you their scars for you to love them.

Once Heather is settled in the middle of Poe’s bed, her arms wrapped around her belly and the tear tracks on her face drying, we take a moment and soak up the sight. Then we’re moving as one, a unit with clear and intense focus.

When we knock on Lucifer’s door and get the okay to come in, I’m relieved to find Prodigal, Scythe, and Hacker already waiting for us along with our Prez. I scrub a hand down my face and am more than willing to let Bedlam lay out what Heather just told us.

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