Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“Yes. Fine.”
The door opened as he was walking up the footpath and Ian stepped out.
Jameson heard his sharp intake of breath.
“Maggie? Fuck! Maggie! Jack!” he roared.
She let out another small cry, turning her head to bury her face in Jameson’s chest.
“Bloody hell, quiet, Ian. You’re upsetting her.” He kept his tone soft.
“I didn’t . . . I would never . . .” Ian stumbled over his words. He nearly stumbled over his feet as he moved toward them. He reached out and touched her head gently. “Little girl, is that really you?”
“I’m not sure,” she whispered in a husky voice. “I think I’m hallucinating. Jameson called me precious.”
“Did he?” Ian asked gently.
“And he talked like he thought . . . like he really thinks I am. But I know he doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m r-ruining everything.”
What the hell was she talking about?
“Sweetheart, why do you think that?” he asked.
“I heard you. You s-said you wanted to f-find someone more s-suitable, that I r-ruined things.”
Fuck. Fuck!
She must have overheard him talking about Elizabeth and thought he was talking about her.
“Precious girl, no. I was talking about my ex. Not you. I never said that about you. I never would”
“W-what?” she asked.
“You misheard me.”
“Oh. Oh no.” Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“Shh. Everything is all right. We can talk later.” He turned to Ian. “I found her like this down at the gate.”
“How did she get there?” Jack asked.
“Guardian angel rescued me, dropped me off there,” she said.
“Who?” Ian asked.
“A woman,” she said. “She had long dark hair. Pretty. Not that old. I can’t . . . I can’t tell you much else.”
“Fuck, give her to me,” Ian said.
He wanted to protest. To keep her for himself. But he squashed that urge.
Handing her over, he walked into the house behind them as Jack ran down the stairs. “What is . . . fuck! Baby girl! Fuck!”
Jack ran straight to them and Jameson tensed, thinking he was going to bang into the two of them. But he stopped at the last second. “Baby. Baby, look at me. That’s it. There you are.”
Jameson had never heard that tone from Jack before. He sounded tender. Almost sweet.
“Give her to me,” Jack demanded.
Ian let out a sound of dissent.
This sort of relationship only worked if they shared readily. If they communicated well. If they trusted in each other.
Jameson hadn’t done those things. But Jack and Ian were a unit.
Finally, Ian sighed and handed her to Jack.
“Just be careful,” Jameson warned. “She’s bruised and sore.”
“We need to take her upstairs,” Ian said. “Clean her and check her over.”
“We need the police,” Jameson reminded them.
“Fuck. Fuck,” Jack muttered. “Does she need to go to the hospital?”
“No hospital,” she said. “I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to stay here with you guys.”
“Then that’s what you’ll do,” Jack told her, walking up the stairs with her in his arms.
Ian glanced over at Jameson. “Does she need to go?”
“I’ll check her over,” he replied. “I warned her that if I thought she needed to go, she was going. But I can do most things here. I’d say she’s rather bruised and dehydrated. I might need to get an IV here. But the police might want a report. And evidence if . . .”
If she was assaulted sexually.
“We need to talk to her,” Ian said.
Jameson nodded, staying behind as he went up the stairs. He knew Ian meant him and Jack when he said ‘we.’
But Ian turned at the top. “Aren’t you coming?”
Right.
He bounded up the stairs after him, pausing at the doorway. It felt wrong to enter her bedroom without her permission, even if he’d already been in a few times before. He wanted things to be different between them now. He wanted more, and for that, he’d need to talk to her. That’s if she was interested.
And the timing wasn’t right.
Quiet sobs broke him out of his thoughts. If nothing else, he was her doctor. And he would look after her. Even if that was all she’d ever want from him.
He followed the noises into the bathroom. Jack was sitting on the closed toilet with Maggie on his lap, facing him. Her face was pressed into his chest and he was rubbing his hand up and down her back.
His face looked . . . tortured.
As though every sound she made was tearing him apart.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Ian asked. He crouched behind her, reaching out to touch her lightly.
“I wanted to get her into the shower, but she got agitated when I went to undress her.”
God. That made him feel ill. What had they done to her? He looked from Jack, who was busy murmuring something to her quietly, to Ian, who was staring at her in devastation.
Fuck. Were neither of them were going to talk to her about it?