Lyndee's Saviors [Men of Montana] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (31 page)

John raised a hand as if trying to defend himself from Austin’s anger. “I understand you’re upset Austin. You have no idea how angry I was when we found out that Philip had made bail. I immediately went over to Lyndee’s to take her home with me, but by the time I arrived, he had already been there. When I found the blood on the couch and the floor I thought the worse. God, I wish I could have been the one to have killed him!”

Lyndee’s other hand covered John’s soothingly. “It wasn’t your fault. I never dreamed he would have gotten out either. Plus I didn’t even know he had my address. I should have been more prepared for it and I hate that I wasn’t.”

“The way I see it,” Wolf started, “is that Philip would have found a way to hurt you no matter if you had been prepared or not. His life was at stake. Sometimes when that happens people seem to have extra strength, mentally and physically, to do things we don’t expect. Everything happens for a reason. We know the reason for what happened to you. Blaming each other or yourself for what happened is wasted time. Grab the moment, learn from it, and go on.”

Austin, Lyndee, and John looked at each other before nodding. Austin extended his hand to John. “I’m sorry. After having Lyndee in our lives even so briefly, I don’t know what I would do if we lost her.”

John took Austin’s hand graciously. “I’m sorry too.”

Lyndee smiled at Wolf, who sheepishly smiled back. Austin gave the recovering man a smirk. “What are they giving you in those pills? I’ve never heard you speak so much in one day and now you’re talking like a shrink.”

Shrugging, Wolf smiled, opening the menu with his one hand. “Someone has taught me how to live recently and I am going to do just that. Now what’s good here?”

John and Lyndee looked at each other for a moment before laughing. In unison they both said, “The drinks!”

The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the company of Lyndee’s fellow officers of the law. Austin eased up a bit and actually began to relax, enjoying himself by the end of the evening. At Lyndee’s insistence, he even joined a few women on the dance floor, noticing his woman wasn’t jealous of them at all.

Wolf had a steady flow of women flaunting themselves at him, fawning over his injury, offering any assistance he needed. One woman, an agent with the DEA, dressed in a woolen pencil skirt along with a blazer over her white blouse, offered to help him with showering or dressing if he needed it. Lyndee had to contain the laughter that wanted to bubble up from within her as Wolf explained that he was perfectly able to tend to his bathing needs. He raised his eyebrows to Lyndee for help when he saw the tears in her eyes along with the laughter. Finally, Lyndee touched the woman on her hand. “Jenny, Wolf will be staying with me so he won’t need any personal assistance. But we appreciate the offer.”

Flabbergasted, the woman looked at Lyndee, back at Wolf, and then glanced at Austin before returning her gaze to the petite blonde across from her. “Both of them? Damn, you are one lucky lady!”

Standing on shaky legs, Jenny turned away and walked with a stagger to the bar. “Have another one, Jenny,” Lyndee had to say under her breath as she began to laugh. Looking over she saw that Wolf was trying not to laugh, but wasn’t succeeding. Soon they were doubled over and with a glance at Austin, Lyndee could see he was concerned, excusing himself from the fifty-something woman he was dancing with to a Kenny Chesney song.

“What the hell is wrong with both of you?” he demanded lowly, arriving at the table.

Lyndee had scooted over to the wall and sobered a bit. Wolf was still chuckling as Austin scooted in next to him, eyeing both of them. “Can someone please tell me what is going on?”

“Later, babe,” Lyndee said, catching Jenny trying to size up the two men. “I’ve really had enough socializing for one day. Can we go home? I’m tired.”

Standing, Austin stepped over to help Lyndee from the booth, and they both stood by to help Wolf to his feet if he needed them. Good-byes were said before they were able to escape the gathering and head out to the truck. A chill was in the air as they walked and Austin looked up. Lyndee knew the sky here was much different than back in Montana. He must be looking for the stars. Piling into the truck, they were off to what would be their home until the end of the trial.

Before they had left the restaurant, John had given Lyndee her purse along with her gun and shoulder holster. She was afraid she would never see either one of them again just a little over a week ago.

Once they parked in front of her apartment building Austin could see how someone could break in so easily. It was a U-shaped building with the parking in the middle. The doorways opened right to the parking lot, windows looking out onto the cars also. Lyndee’s apartment was at the end on the bottom floor. Austin was glad she was moving in with them.

After fishing the keys from her purse, she opened the door and took a moment to look around after switching on the lights. Lyndee was surprised to find her apartment immaculately clean and the door had been repaired. There was a new door along with new locks for her future safety. She knew John had been the one to have taken care of everything in her absence. She also saw she had a new sofa. It warmed her heart that he had done all this for her, though after looking around the place she had called home for the past five years, sadness consumed her that she would miss this place and her friends a bit. The moment wasn’t missed by the tall, muscular man behind her, though he would let it go for now.

Arms wrapped around her from behind, one around her waist and one around her shoulders, drawing her back to him. He knew the turmoil that circulated through her but he knew she would be happy with them. She already had a good start on making friends and she was loved by everyone she had already met. All three men loved her so much they knew they would work hard to make her content for the rest of their lives.

A groan behind them made them remember they weren’t alone. Stepping inside, Austin placed his suitcase and Lyndee’s on the couch. “Where’s Wolf’s room?” he asked, taking the man’s suitcase from him. The evening had been too much for him and he was pale and in pain.

Lyndee escorted the two men to the small hallway and showed them which room was Wolf’s. Austin set the suitcase on the chair near the closet while the other man sat on the bed. Lyndee had left the room and quickly returned with a glass of water. “John said he stocked the fridge and put up other supplies so don’t hesitate to help yourself to anything you need. Your bathroom is just in there,” she said pointing to the door, “though you’ll have to use the shower in the bathroom in the hallway.”

Austin opened the orange prescription bottle for his friend and laid a pill in his hand. Wolf drank down the painkiller while Lyndee stepped out of the room to give them privacy while Austin helped him change into something more comfortable. Taking her suitcase into her bedroom she laid it on the bed and began to put her stuff away.

Stepping to the closet, she slid open one of the doors to grab some hangers when a large arm slid around her waist. It was the first time she had jumped since the incident with Philip and the motion wasn’t missed on Austin. Pulling her back to the bed, he sat on the edge of it. Using his large hands, he turned her to face him and saw the fear in her eyes.

“What’s the matter, little one?”

Shrugging, she tried to step away but he grabbed her hands in his and pulled her back. Opening his legs, he had her stand between them and he held her there. She knew he wouldn’t let her go without confessing her fears to him, but she really didn’t want to speak of them. They were in the past and she now had three wonderful men to love her.

“Lyndee!” he said sternly, causing her to jump slightly again.

Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at him and saw the tenderness in his eyes. She felt ashamed that she would be afraid of him. Trying to turn away from him, he held strong and had her rest her bottom on his knee.

“Trust and honesty,” he simply said as he cupped her chin and turned her to face him again. Even in this position, he still looked down at her, though it wasn’t more than his eyes at the top of her head instead of when they were standing.

A sniffle and then a wipe of the hand on her cheek before putting it back in her lap, she nibbled on her lower lip before beginning. “I was lost in my thoughts when you came in. I didn’t hear you. I flashed back to the night Philip broke in here. I’m so sorry.”

Seeing her burst into tears, Austin wrapped his arms around his woman, pulling her to his chest. Her head rested on his chest as his hands soothingly ran up and down her spine as he let her cry. Dropping kisses on the top of her head he rocked her back and forth.

He let her cry for he knew she needed it. They had come full circle of her abduction and she needed to face her fear of her home, or at least temporary one, so she could move on. Austin had discussed with his cousins before they left that perhaps they should put up in a hotel during the trial but they agreed she had to get past this. Also, Wolf needed a stable living arrangement without the expectation of having everything done for him such as housekeeping or room service. His rehabilitation was going to be right down to everyday chores.

Wolf appeared at the door as he had heard Austin’s commanding voice and the bosses’ lady crying. Seeing Austin’s nod that he had everything under control, the man turned to leave, closing the door behind him and giving the two the privacy they needed. Austin sighed as he held Lyndee, thankful that her tears were beginning to abate and her body began relaxing against him. Reaching around without letting go of Lyndee, he pulled the comforter back on the bed. Lifting his bundle in his arms, he scooted around and placed her on the bed, positioning her head on a pillow.

Hooded eyes looked up at him as she reached for him but he pulled away briefly. Moving the suitcase from the bed he turned off the light, leaving a soft glow behind the curtains at the window. Removing his boots and jeans on his way back to the bed, he laid down next to her. He undid her jeans and removed them for her along with her boots before removing her blouse. Turning her over, he spooned her from behind, her head resting on his bicep and his other hand resting around her waist.

She was asleep within a minute. He lay there in the dark, listening to her breathe and feeling the rhythm of it from her stomach and chest. With all the loss that he and the cousins had had over the years, he thanked the Lord above for the woman in his arms that she would bring a fresh ray of light into their lives and keep it there for the rest of his life.

* * * *

The next day Lyndee rose to shower first before making breakfast for the men. Needing to be at work by nine, she left by eight to fight the morning traffic, leaving the men to their own devices. Austin cleaned up the breakfast dishes and the two sat around watching TV or playing cards with a deck they had found in a kitchen drawer. Wolf wasn’t scheduled to see his new doctor until the next day so there wasn’t much for them to do.

While Wolf napped in the afternoon after taking a painkiller, Austin walked around the apartment complex, scanning the area for insecurities. When the manager found the intimidating man looking around he became suspicious and confronted him, though Austin could tell the short Hispanic man was quaking in his shoes. After obtaining a guarded explanation of the situation, the manager had to go call Lyndee to verify the validity of it. He had known about the break in and was concerned for her safety, but he wanted to make sure Austin was who he said he was. After verifying the information with his tenant, the manager returned to Austin.

“I’m glad she found a man to help her out. She lived here for five years and never went out on date. She works too hard,” the man said in broken English.

“I am here to do everything I can to protect her,” Austin said sternly to the man. “Our friend Wolf will be staying here with us while he recuperates from a gunshot wound, so you will see him around also. As soon as the trial is over, Lyndee will be moving up to Montana with me. I appreciate you keeping an eye out for her all these years.”

The man shifted from one foot to the other as he gazed up at the man who stood at least a foot taller than him, intimidated by his size. “Lyndee is like family, though she needs a man to love her.”

The two men shook hands before Austin returned to the quiet apartment. He felt as if the walls would close in on him so he took a kitchen chair out to the front of the apartment and sat in it next to the front door. Through his dark sunglasses, he watched kids playing soccer in the parking lot since school had let out for the day and he had to smile.

Things were so much different in the city. When he was a kid, they had chores that needed to be tended to before they even did their homework. There was little time for play after school let alone on the weekends, but they had a full childhood. Watching the kids he wondered if any of them would amount to much given the freedom they had from parents who worked full time or just didn’t care that their kids weren’t doing their homework.

The front door sat open in case Wolf needed him. Plus he had left the stereo on a country station to fill in some of the quiet in the house. A car was approaching the back alley that led to the parking lot, and he noticed a silver four-door sedan start to pull in. Four large men sat in the car. Dark suits and dark glasses were predominant through the tinted windows. Austin stood cautiously, making sure the men saw the gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans. Wolf at that moment chose to step out the door, his stature as dominating as his friend’s.