Page 47 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

Wolfe stepped forward and cupped my cheek. “They’ll protect you with their lives, Bailey. And we’ll be back as soon as we can,” he said, his deep voice soothing the raw emotions firing around inside of me. “Let’s go,” he told the others.

“Can I stay?” Amy asked. For once her voice was small and she was asking permission instead of doing what she wanted.

“Not this time,” Wolfe told her. “We have a lot to hash through once we get back. Give us a few days and then we’ll come pick you up personally and let you stay as long as you both want.”

Amy nodded and gripped me in a hug. She was warm and felt safe. Panic gripped my throat while everyone I cared about and felt safe with walked out.

“I’ll stay out of the way, but I’m going,” I said, locking eyes with Wolfe.

His muscular jaw flexed in anger as I disobeyed him and started to tug Amy out the door.

“The fuck you are,” Jasper replied, pulling me away from my friend before Wolfe had a chance to. His grip was gentle even though his tone wasn’t. “You’re staying here where it’s safe. You’re going to learn quickly to listen and obey us,” he said, tone dark with promise. I shuddered and though I wanted to yell and rail at him, I remained silent. I’d already pushed them as far as I dared tonight. “We’ll be back soon. Brando. Watch her.”

Brando’s hand closed over my bicep and he ignored me as I shot him a glare over my shoulder when he easily held me in place. Jasper tapped a finger to my nose. “Behave.”

I scowled at him, but didn’t respond. It took everything inside of me to stay stoic and not cry out for them to come back. I wasn’t usually this co-dependent or attached, but my kidnapping kept flashing through my mind. I didn’t want to stay here without them. But I managed, Brando’s iron grip on my arm was a pretty big deterrent. I’d stay, like they'd demanded and wait for them to come back to me.

Jasper paused next to Suave and then hauled off and punched his friend—presumably his friend—in the crotch.

Amy and I both gasped as Suave let out a roar of pain. “What the fuck was that for?” he wheezed as he sank down to the floor cupping his family jewels.

“This way you won’t get any ideas,” Jasper said, his gaze flicking meaningfully in my direction.

Brando and Weaver chuckled from where they stood flanking me. “We’ll make sure nothing happens to her,” Weaver promised.

“Good,” Wolfe said. He gave me a nod. “We’ll be back soon. Don’t worry Little Bunny, we won’t kill anyone.”

Amy waved as they all walked out the door. I didn’t move an inch until it shut and then I jerked my arm away from Brando and went to sit on the couch. The living room was furnished nicely and I was curious about their home, but it didn’t feel right looking around without them here.

“Who are you guys?” I asked.

“Friends,” Brando told me with a charming smile.

Friends.Another non answer. These guys were all amazing in the way they could tell the truth without giving away any details at all.

I laid down on the couch, determined to wait here for my guys to do what they promised and come back to me. Everything was catching up with me, finding out Peter had been involved in my kidnapping, standing up to my dad, being here with my Marines. I just needed a few minutes of quiet to process everything.

CHAPTER21

Wolfe

Ifucking hated leaving her behind. The look in her eyes when she’d asked to come with us had nearly gutted me. It wasn’t where we were going that bothered her, it was just the fact that we were going without her. All three of us were well aware that she still wasn’t feeling safe after what had happened to her. Not that she’d complain. She just seemed to feel better with us around, and we did too.

When she’d told her father that we were her boyfriends, smug satisfaction had filled me near to bursting and I wanted to spend the night showing her why she’d made the right decision. Unfortunately, we still had a mess to sort out before we could do that.

Weaver had been right when he’d said it was a big deal we were leaving her with them. I trusted Brando and his team with my life, but it was harder to trust them with hers. I knew they’d take care of her, though, and we needed to squash Ted like the fucking cockroach he was. Letting things go for too long would ensure that he tried something again. Given that chance, he would surely escalate things to a level they didn’t need to get to. A swift retaliation was needed to convince him it was over.

I was still pissed that we hadn’t gotten to Coleman in time. Maybe setting Ted straight would help clear my head.

“Thanks,” Amy said, resting her arm on the window sill. We’d just dropped her off at her and Bailey’s place.

“Would you pack up some of Bailey’s stuff?” I asked. “We’ll swing back by and pick it up in an hour or so.”

“Sure.” Her grin was malicious. “Those guys have no idea what’s in store for them.” She shook her head and patted my shoulder. “I’d do the usual ‘if you hurt her’ spiel, but something tells me that’s the last thing you’d do and if anyone else tried you’d kill them.”

“Already done that,” Jas piped in from the passenger seat.

Amy’s eyes widened and she did a slow blink. “Seriously?”

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