Claimed by Three (26 page)

He paced slowly over to Berenger while he tried to find his voice. Kassius focused his mind on the details. The bandage probably covered a skin patch, which would take time to adhere and seal. The splint would hold the arm in place. Although the bone would have been reset and the bone-growth regenerator used to heal the break in his arm, Berenger would wear that splint for a while. The area where it had broken would require time before any strain could be put on it. Since the nurse had directed Kassius to a room, they intended to keep Berenger at least overnight.

“Damn, who did this, Berenger?” Kassius stopped beside the bed.

“Two men attacked me. You kept Sephanie away from here?” Berenger looked toward the door.

“Cam told me that’s what you asked him to tell me. That her brother would pick her up and take her somewhere.” Kassius frowned. “I didn’t understand why, especially if you think she might be in trouble.”

Berenger swallowed. “She needs to be far away from us and out of the city until this is over. The two men said they’ll be going after her. Well, actually, they said they should have gone after her first. They implied beating isn’t the only thing they’ll be doing to her.”

Kassius blindly reached for a nearby chair and collapsed into it. Sephanie said she loved them. She was close to moving in with them without the courtship she’d proposed. She wanted to be with them. If they sent her away, even for her safety, it could destroy that.

“Are you sure? Maybe they were taunting you?” Kassius hoped, but they couldn’t ignore the possibility someone might hurt her.

“No, Sephanie is a target. We have to make sure she’s safe.” Berenger groaned as he tried to sit up. “She’s stubborn, Kassius.”

“Use the bed controls before you cause more damage than is already done.” Kassius stood and strode over to the bed. Sephanie definitely could be obstinate, but the thought of risking their relationship created an ache in his stomach. “Does her brother know about the attack on you?”

“Yes, he and the officer who took my report and accessed the video from the security cameras agreed it would probably be better to get her away until whoever’s behind this is caught.” Berenger used the controls to raise the bed until he was almost sitting.

Teague strode into the room, but stopped and stared. “Oh fuck. What happened? Are you all right?”

“Two men attacked me. The doctors say I’ll be fine, but this hurts.” Berenger’s lips tightened.

Teague’s hands flexed. “If you were attacked, why did Sephanie’s brother come to take her to her mother’s for some kind of family meeting? Then while she’s out of the room, he tells me you’re hurt and I need to go to you. Why are you keeping this from Sephanie? It will hurt her.”

“I know her feelings will be hurt temporarily, but I’d rather have that than physically hurt. The men who attacked me said they were going after her. If you can think of a way to keep her close and guarantee she’s not beaten or worse, then speak up. Her brother and the police believe getting her out of the city is one of the only effective options.” Berenger scowled.

“I agree we should get her out of the city, but why wouldn’t you have us bring her here? We should tell her. She’s part of us. She’ll want to see you and know that you’ll be okay.” Teague paced across the room.

“You know she refused to leave her home after her brother was targeted. She’s stubborn and loyal. She’ll want to stay to see this through.” Berenger rubbed the back of his neck. “She didn’t believe she was in any danger then, and now the threat to her is very specific.”

“And what if they go after her while she’s out of the city? Who will be there to help her?” Teague straightened. “We don’t know who they’re after. She could be the target, and we could be in the way.”

“We’re the target. If they are after her, they’ll have to find her. Cooper won’t make that easy. Nothing happened to Sephanie until she began dating us.” Berenger’s hand smacked the bed beside him. “Don’t you think I want to keep her beside me as much as you do?”

“We weren’t…” Kassius’s voice trailed off when he remembered the small acts of vandalism and the damaged equipment at the orchard. “The vandalism.”

“From what we can work out, that was the start of it. This is about us.” Berenger grimaced. “We have to discover who and why. She will be angry with us, but, with time, we can soothe her anger. If those men do as they threatened, she’ll be traumatized physically and emotionally.”

“We moved her in with us to protect her. She won’t leave us because of the possible danger.” Kassius leaned against the wall near the bed. “Especially once she finds out you’re hurt. I’m fairly sure she will know within a day or two.”

“And I don’t want her staying because she thinks she needs to take care of me. She’s as protective of us as we are of her. It’s why I don’t want you to tell her about my injuries. Once the danger is resolved, we’ll make her understand.” Berenger ran his fingers through his hair, but Kassius could see the doubt in his eyes.

“You know she wondered early on if we were moving too fast. This will confirm those fears for her.” Teague ran his fingers through his hair, agitation obvious in the tension in his shoulders as well as the restless movements.

“Well, after the person behind this is caught and she’s safe, we always have the fallback plan of taking her and keeping her until she agrees.” Berenger shrugged. “Making others think we’ve lost interest in her is the only option that might stop the attackers from going after her.”

“She’ll be safe, but we’ll have to rebuild everything.” Teague exhaled and walked over to the end of the bed.

“Her brother and her family will be on our side. He’ll explain everything to them after he gets her to a safe place.” Berenger groaned when he leaned forward to get a drink.

“You, Cooper, and the police talked quite a bit.” Kassius felt a heavy knot forming in his stomach. He didn’t like leaving her well-being in some other person’s care.

“Cooper’s concerned about his sister’s safety. The police are worried. The attackers have moved to physical violence and threats of beatings and more to her. No one plans to take the risk they’ll carry it out.” Berenger clenched his fist. “I’d never forgive myself if they hurt her.”

Kassius understood Berenger’s fears. The risk of “worse” was the only reason he agreed to this. He’d blame himself if she was hurt that way. So they needed to break their relationship with her as painlessly and cleanly as possible. If they didn’t give her time or reason, Cooper could hustle her to safety before she discovered Berenger’s injuries or thought about why they’d want her away from them. Maybe it would also make earning her forgiveness easier.

“We’ll have to do this fast, then. News of the assault will spread.” Teague rolled his shoulders.

“We’ll go back to the house and get her things. If she comes by to get them, she might realize something’s wrong.” Kassius didn’t look forward to this. “We’ll be back after this is done.”

“These people better be caught fast. She might do something wild in reaction to us backing away from her.” Teague began walking toward the door.

Kassius couldn’t agree more with the hope they caught the person behind the attacks quickly. Not only because he longed for the chance to make this up to Sephanie, but because the danger to all of them would only increase.

They’d decided to send her away, and he already missed her. Sephanie belonged to them. Letting her go alone felt wrong, even if it was the right decision.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“He’s in the hospital, Seph,” Cathy said.

Sephanie looked blankly at the hologram image of her friend Cathy. Pounding echoed in her ears. She only vaguely recognized the fast thrum as her heartbeat. Someone had hurt Berenger, and no one had told her. Not her brother once he’d picked her up and definitely not Kassius and Teague. The betrayal sent pain slashing through her.

For a moment, she was glad she’d come to the office to take this call. She couldn’t hide her reaction from her brother. The small room offered her a place to think. It gave her privacy to hide her pain and time for her temper to cool, because she didn’t want to hit her brother.

Cooper had brought her over to the family home, supposedly to speak with their mother about some dinner she intended to have. The lie in that became clear quickly when Sephanie saw her mother’s expression. The pain and possibly some pity in her hazel eyes were clear. Her mother had played along and seemed to be planning a dinner, but the concern and sadness Sephanie saw on the faces of every person present hadn’t seemed right.

Sephanie began to understand their expressions. They’d known about Berenger’s injury and that more bad news would follow. Cooper wouldn’t have brought her here if Berenger, Teague, and Kassius planned for her to go back to their house. It might be a leap, but somehow, she knew it.

“How badly is he hurt?” Sephanie asked, and ran a hand through her hair. “Are they allowing him visitors? If I could see and hear him, I’d feel so much better.”

She’d taken the holo-call because she’d needed time to work out why everyone was acting so strangely. The first words out of Cathy’s mouth explained everything. Cathy had a brother in the Planetary Police, so it didn’t surprise Sephanie she knew the details.

“He was beaten badly. He has a broken arm, a few broken ribs, and a concussion. They’re keeping him at the hospital. Maybe only overnight, but Max didn’t know. He was posted outside, and that’s all he heard. Well, other than Cooper was taking you to your mom’s place.” Cathy shrugged. “Only family, medical professionals, and law enforcement can get in his room. Are you all right? Teague or your brother might be able to get you in. Are you going to see Berenger?”

“Do you know how severe the breaks are? Is his arm going to heal right?” Sephanie looked at her friend and hoped she had the answers. If Sephanie could, she’d love to go see Berenger.

“From what Max said, yes, he’ll be fine. No permanent damage. At least that’s good news. You never did say if you’re going to see him.”

Sephanie agreed that no permanent damage was great news. She licked her lips. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to. They’re planning something, and I don’t think it’s good.”

Sephanie’s mind turned over what she knew. She didn’t like the answers. They hadn’t told her Berenger was hurt. They’d sent her brother to come get her and take her away from their home on a false family errand. On top of that, her brother hadn’t said a word to her about Berenger’s injury or given her a hint about what they planned.

“What do you mean?” Cathy frowned and sat forward, bracing her arms on her desk.

“I think I’m about to be protected by the three men who supposedly mean to build a life with me. Apparently they don’t think I’m smart enough to see obvious danger.” Sephanie’s muscles tightened. She took in a few deep breaths to try to relax. She had to do that, or she’d give in to the urge to run through the house, find Cooper, and yell at him. The other three weren’t there, so her brother would pay for their sins if she lost control.

“Protected how? And I’m sure they know you’re smart, Seph. They’re probably worried out of their minds about how to keep everyone safe,” Cathy offered.

“That doesn’t make it right, and that’s only if they are doing this because worry and fear are driving them. Right now, I have no evidence of that.” Sephanie itched to pace, to move, and somehow burn away some of the unease building within her, but this holo-comm didn’t have a swiveling base. Because her parents only used it at the desk, their standard model didn’t have a track function.

“You’re getting furious, and you don’t know if what you fear is true. Calm down. You can’t think rationally while your emotions are running high.” Cathy leaned forward. Her calm voice turned soothing.

“The more I think about it, the more I’m certain of it. They’ll put distance between us, break things off because they think I’m in danger if I’m with them.” Sephanie could feel tears burning her eyes.
How will they do it?
She could only wait and see.

When she’d begun to suspect Lillie, she’d believed the attackers planned to get her away from Berenger, Kassius, and Teague. She didn’t know why it was so important to keep them apart. Everything directed toward her had started after she’d gone out with those three overprotective jerks. If they decided to take this step, something had convinced them she was in danger.

“I’m sure if they intend to do that, they mean only to keep you safe.” Cathy reached out as if to touch Sephanie.

“Keeping me safe is one thing, and I wouldn’t mind that. I wish someone would talk to me about what’s happening and what they plan.” Sephanie exhaled heavily and leaned back in the chair. Regardless of where they expected her to go, she wanted to see Berenger.

“You know they love you. I know everything has seemed to hit you at once, but take a few deep breaths. There’s no use letting your mind go to extremes until you know what’s happening.” Cathy shrugged.

“I know they love me. I feel as if everything’s gone out of control.” Sephanie clenched her hand on the arm of the chair.

“You’ll get through this. Calm down. Take it one thing at a time,” Cathy said.

Her emotions swung wildly, from relief that Berenger would be all right to dread over what would happen next. Sephanie knew she was getting upset before Kassius, Teague, and Berenger did anything to protect her. After the incident with her brother, she recognized the signs. The distancing and the secrets were red flags for her.

“Thank you for calling me.” Sephanie attempted a smile but could feel her lips twitch, the smile fading away.

“You’re welcome. Message me if you need to talk.” Cathy smiled at her.

“I will. Bye.” Sephanie heard her friend say good-bye and closed the hologram link.

She propped her elbows on the desk and put her head in her hands. Cathy had a point. She needed to calm down and not borrow trouble.

* * * *

Sephanie sat with her mother and sister, Natalie, at the table, going over possible food choices for the gathering her mother supposedly planned to organize, when she heard a familiar rumbling voice. She stood, a knot of uncertainty in her stomach, but also happiness beginning to build. She made it to the entry hallway in time to see Kassius thrust her bags into Cooper’s arms.