Davis, Keyonna - Nowhere to Hide [Pine Valley] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (5 page)

Realizing that her mouth was hanging open, Cane quickly closed it and turned to look at the two men at the table. It seemed that she wasn’t the only one shocked about what just happened. Both men were watching Ali with the same opened-mouth expression on their faces.

“What just happened? That is the most I have heard your sister speak since the accident,” Logan said.

Duncan just said, “It’s Cane.”

“What? Me? What did I do?” Cane asked, scared that she did something wrong.

Duncan smiled, “There is something about you that has made her come out of this depression that she has been in since our parents died. Since meeting you last night, she has talked more and smiled more in the one day than she has this whole past year.”

Not knowing what to say, Cane just smiled. What was it about these people that made her feel safe? For the first time in her life she felt like she had been accepted with no strings attached. She felt safe and realized that after only one day this place felt more like a home than any place she had ever been. When she was only six days old, she
had been
abandoned at a local hospital and grew up in foster care and group homes. It seemed that no one wanted the “weird” girl with the strange eyes and hair. Determined to go to college and knowing the only way was to get a scholarship, Cane studied her ass off in high school and was valedictorian. It wasn’t hard because she never had any friends or went to parties like the rest of the kids. When she got to college she finally felt like she belonged
.
E
veryone
was so different and unique that it wasn’t hard to “blend” in. Having never had anything of her own, she decided to major in business hoping one day she would own something that was all hers. That’s how she met Sam. He was a teacher’s assistant for her accounting professor and asked her to stay after class one day. Thinking that she did something wrong, Cane was shocked when he asked her out on a date instead. Never receiving attention from a boy, she quickly agreed, and the rest
was
history.

“We saw the money in your bag,” Logan said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“You went through my things?” was all she could think to say.

“We had no choice. We didn’t know what was wrong with you when you passed out, so we had to look to make sure you weren’t on any medications or having an allergic reaction or something like that,” Duncan said quickly trying to calm her. Cane noticed that he was the “good, passive cop” and Logan was the “aggressive, bad cop” in their partnership. She wondered if they were like this outside of work as well, maybe in the bedroom. What the hell? Where did that come from? No way should she be thinking like this
.
I
t was bad enough being attracted to the both of them, but they were cops. She swore that she would never date another cop after Sam. Looking at the two of them, she saw nothing that told her she couldn’t trust them. In fact her instincts were screaming for her to tell them what was going on so they could help her.
It would be nice to have the police on my side for a change and to have someone else looking over my shoulder for once
.

Sighing, she said, “I will tell you everything, but not here and not till I get something to eat.” Both men quickly agreed and they waved Ali back over to take their order. Cane immediately regretted speaking, but she gave her word, so she would go through with this.

* * * *

Duncan couldn’t take his eyes off of Cane. She was so beautiful. After he got home last night, he immediately called Logan to tell him about her. “I think she is the One,” he had said.

 
Duncan thought
Logan had hung up from the silence on the other end,
but then his friend
said, “How can you be sure? You only spoke to her for about five minutes.”

“I just know I have never felt this way about a girl before. You will see when you meet her tomorrow.” After hanging up with Logan, Duncan lay in bed picturing Ali in his mind. To him, she was perfect, and he hoped Logan would feel that same way. He and Logan were best friends and had been since kindergarten. They were inseparable from day one. When Logan’s mother died when he was eleven, his father couldn’t take it and began to drink a lot. On the nights that he got a little too drunk, he liked to smack Logan around, so he would sneak out and come to Duncan’s. Eventually his father got worse and Duncan’s parents moved Logan in permanently. From that point on they shared everything, so when they got to college, it was only logical to share women. He really hoped that Cane could accept them both because he wanted her so badly it scared him. He was already possessive of her. When he got the call from Logan this morning saying she passed out at the diner and they were headed to Dr. Barnes’s office, Duncan couldn’t seem to make his legs move fast enough. The whole way there he prayed that she wasn’t truly sick. When he got there and saw her lying on the couch with her face so pale it was almost gray, he had to stop himself from rushing over to hold her. He noticed that Logan had the same look on his face. He could tell by looking at Logan that he felt the same way about her. Now sitting here across the table from her watching her eat, he couldn’t believe how lucky he and Logan were. She was their woman
.
S
he just didn’t know it yet. That thought made him smile. Looking over, he caught Logan’s eye and knew that he was thinking the same thing.

* * * *

It was the longest and most uncomfortable lunch she had ever had.
S
he fe
lt
the eyes of the two men watching her the whole time
.
E
ven
worse, it seemed that word had made it around about the strange new woman in town. It seemed the whole town had come to the diner to get a good look at her. Cane kept her head down and ate as quickly as she could. When she finished, she excused herself to the restroom. She walked over to the sink and splashed cold water on her face. Taking a deep breath, she looked in the mirror. Her reflection didn’t make her feel any better. She looked tired and worn
-
down and felt like she could sleep for days. Hearing the door open, she turned to see Ali come in.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, just tired and a little stressed.”

“Well, don’t let my brother or Logan try to intimidate you. They can both be a little overwhelming until you get to know them.” Smiling
,
she continued, “They really like you. I have never seen them look at another woman the way they do you. Just be opened-minded and give them a chance please.”

“What do you mean give them a chance?” Cane asked, frowning. She didn’t understand what Ali was telling her.

Ali sighed and sat on the bench that lined the wall. “You are going to hear about this eventually since this is a small town and people like to talk
.
Duncan and Logan share everything including women.”

Swallowing and not believing what she was hearing, Cane asked, “You mean share as in at the same time?”

“Yes. They don’t know that I know, so please don’t tell them I told you, but I hear the rumors just like everybody else. Anyway, it doesn’t bother me as long as they are happy.” Smiling, she said, “I like you, Cane. I don’t know what it is about you, but I feel like we could be sisters. I think you would be great for the both of them.” With that she turned and left.

Great for the both of them? Could she ever see herself with two guys, at the same time? She was definitely attracted to the both of them, but sharing? How could she even think of handling two guys when she made such a mess of her relationship with only one? Dazed by what Ali had just shared with her, Cane left the bathroom and walked over to the table. Duncan and Logan both stood and Logan held out her bag. Damn, how could she have forgotten to take that with her? She was slipping
.
T
hese
people were causing her to let her guard down and that wasn’t good. She knew that Sam wouldn’t give up this soon. Maybe she needed to try and get out of town sooner than Thursday. She had six more days, and at the rate she was going, she would never leave if she stayed that long. Maybe one of the guys could give her a ride to the nearest town. Why did the thought of leaving cause her chest to hurt?

Following the guys out of the diner, they turned toward the sheriff’s station down the block. Logan held the door open for her and she entered. The station was one big room. Looking around, she saw two desks, a counter with a coffeepot and Styrofoam cups on it, and a cell in the far corner with a small cot in it. Duncan pulled out a chair that sat in front of his desk and motioned for her to sit. He went around to the other side and sat
.
Logan sat on the corner of the desk with his arms crossed over his chest. “Okay
,
we are listening,” was all he said.

Taking a deep breath, and meeting both their gazes, she began, “Well, the short version is that I have been in an abusive relationship for the past eight years and after the last ‘incident’ six months ago left me in the hospital for eleven days, I finally decided that enough was enough. While I laid in the hospital bed I planned my escape. The money you saw in my bag is all that I have in the world. It took me six months just to stash that. I had to take a little at a time so he wouldn’t notice it missing and become suspicious. Four days ago, he asked me about the money. I denied that I knew anything about it, but I could tell he didn’t believe me. I left that night and basically hopped from bus to bus for three days with no specific destination, and this is where I ended up.” Taking a deep breath, she sat back and waited for their reactions, which didn’t take long to come.

“Shit!” Logan yelled and leaped up from the desk, causing Cane to flinch and throw her hands up to guard her face. It was an involuntary reaction that she couldn’t help. “Oh
,
God, I’m sorry
.
I didn’t mean to scare you, but you must know that I…we would never lay a hand on you. You are safe with us.” Logan reached over and gently placed his hand on her arm lowered it away from her face. “You can trust us.” Cane looked up at him and then over at Duncan, he was sitting back in the chair not saying a word, but the look on his face spoke volumes. He looked angry like he was ready to kill someone. Cane noticed her hands were trembling, so she clasped them tightly in her lap. She hated to show any sign of weakness.

She couldn’t help but to ask, “Are you guys angry with me?” Immediately Duncan’s face softened, and he came around to her side of the desk. Both guys leaned against the desk in front of her.

“Why would we be mad at you? Like Logan said, we would never hurt you and you can trust us. We will help you.”

“Yes, but Sam is a detective. You can’t help me. Doesn’t that go against your police code? You look out for each other, right? That’s why I never told anyone what he was doing to me. He said no one would believe me because he was on the force and you guys always stuck together.” Cane didn’t even realize that she was crying until she felt the tears streaming down her cheek. Both men reached for her at the same and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened until she realized that they weren’t trying to cause her any harm and slowly began to relax. It felt good to just be held. She felt completely safe in both of their arms, like nothing could touch her. She felt one hand rubbing her back and one on her hair
.
I
t was calming and soothing. She felt like she could stay like this forever.

Logan was to first to speak
.
“Is that why you passed out this morning when you saw me in uniform?” Cane just nodded. “Whoever this Sam is, he is a real bastard. We don’t take up for people like that. He could be the president and we would never condone what he did.”
After suffering years of abuse from Sam, Cane was an expert at reading people. She learned what mood Sam was in based on the look in his eyes. The sincerity that she saw in Logan and Duncan’s eyes told Cane that they were telling the truth. They were nothing like Sam. These two men would never turn her over to him. She could trust them to protect her and keep her safe.
Feeling like a ten-ton weight had been lifted from her shoulders, Cane couldn’t help but to cry. She sobbed for what seemed like hours, and the whole time they both never let her go. She knew then that she had made the right decision in telling them the truth even if she didn’t tell them the whole story. The stress finally caught up with Cane, and she slowly drifted off to sleep in their arms.