ra men. He was pissed that this had happened on his watch and had come himself to oversee the extra security. The two men standing by the door stepped back and Nik pulled me on to the bus with Drake, Shane, and Jesse right behind me.
Luca, Lyric and Neveah were playing in the middle of the living room floor. Harper, Lana, and Layla were seated on the couch and were watching over the toddlers lovingly. Jagger must have been taking a nap because he wasn’t in the room. My gaze went straight to Felicity who was in the recliner on the other side of the room. In her arms was my baby girl and she was crying softly as her nanny soothingly stroked her fingers through Mia’s long auburn hair.
I didn’t waste another second as I crossed the small distance and softly touched Mia’s back. She lifted her head where it had been tucked into Felicity’s neck. Her tear-streaked face brightened ever so slightly when she realized it was me. “Momma,” she sobbed in a voice hoarse from tears. “Momma, I’m sorry.”
My chin started to tremble but I clenched it before it could. Mia didn’t need to see my tears. They would only make her feel worse. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Mia. All that matters right now is that you’re okay. You’re safe, baby. No one will ever try to hurt you again. I swear.”
Relief washed over her face and I tried to smile for her. Mia had always trusted me wholeheartedly. If I told her the sky was green and the grass was blue, she would accept that as truth. My reassuring her that she was safe was what my scared little girl needed more than anything. I lifted her into my arms. “Let’s go lie down, baby. Momma wants to hold you.”
I didn’t look at anyone else in the room as I went down the narrow hall to the bedroom at the rear of the bus. I sat Mia down on the edge of the bed and she scooted over to the middle so I could climb in with her. I toed off my shoes and pulled the covers back before lying down with her. Tucking the covers up around us, I wrapped Mia in my arms.
Her auburn head rested on my chest instead of the pillows and I breathed in her clean little girl scent as I let the peace of holding her safe in my arms relax me enough that my eyes began to drift closed.
Chapter Three
Felicity
The bus was finally quiet. Everyone had returned to their own buses hours ago and Nik had gone to bed not long after. Emmie and Mia were still sound asleep, having already slept nine hours, but I knew they needed the rest. After giving Jagger his usual nighttime bottle, I laid him down for the night and closed the door to the sleep area, or as Emmie called it, the roosts.
I was exhausted but didn’t think I could sleep. Sighing, I dropped down onto the couch in the living room before pulling the cheap little cellphone out of my pocket. I traced my fingers over the numbers I knew by heart without punching them in. The need to call home and just hear Raven’s voice was overwhelming. I hadn’t talked to my best friend in over a year, but right then I needed her more than I’d ever needed her.
Shaking my head, I tossed the burner phone to the opposite end of the couch and sat back, frowning at the television hanging from the wall without seeing it. Nik had been the last one to watch it, switching back between the local and national news before settling on a baseball game on ESPN. The game was off now, but the highlights of the game were being replayed. I wasn’t much for baseball, but I didn’t care what was on. It wasn’t like I was actually watching it.
Cursing under my breath, I reached for the stupid phone again and actually had the numbers punched in before I deleted them all again. Tears burned my throat and blinded my eyes for a few minutes before I could get hold of myself. I wondered how Raven was doing. Was she back with Bash? Had she settled into being a mom for his little girl? Did she miss me as much as I missed her?
Was Jet home?
That last question whispered through the back of my head and I flinched at the thought of the man who still held on to my heart so tightly. I didn’t let myself think about him often—or so I kept lying to myself. I thought of him a hundred different times a day, I just pretended I didn’t.
The guilt of what I’d asked of him still churned in my stomach. I had known exactly what asking that favor could do—that if he didn’t do it right he’d be stuck in prison for the rest of his life. I’d worried about him getting hurt while he did it, of him hating me for asking it of him, and of how much it would cost him to have to stay inside for the rest of his life.
What it would cost Raven and her family.
Even with the guilt eating at me I still hadn’t dared call Hawk back to see if it had been done. I’d been too much of a coward to call again. Just hearing my friend’s voice that one time I’d called had caused an ache inside my chest that still hadn’t completely gone away.
The only reason I did know that Jet had done what I’d asked of him, and succeeded without getting caught, was through Emmie’s security guy, Seller. He’d been keeping an eye on things for my boss. He was the one who had called Emmie and told her that Vince Grady had been killed in a fight in prison. That he’d attacked some guy and been killed in self-defense. Emmie had been so stunned that I’d found myself confessing to her about what I’d done.
“I called in a favor,” I’d told her as I’d sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. She used her guesthouse as her office so she didn’t have to bring clients into the house around the kids. Mia was at school and Jagger was taking his afternoon nap, but I’d brought the baby monitor with me just in case he woke up early.
Emmie had frowned up at me. “A favor?”
I’d nodded, meeting her green gaze. “I couldn’t stand the way you and Lucy were so scared all the time, Emmie. I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped, but I’ve come to think of you and your family as my own. There was something I could do to help you and so I did it. I put a hit on Grady.”
My boss had just blinked at me for a full minute before tears had filled her eyes. “Felicity—”
“Please don’t think less of me for doing this,” I’d quickly begged. “Or tell anyone that I did it. I’m not worried about what would happen to me, but the guy who did it is…special to me. I don’t want it to blow back on him.”
“Felicity, I would never have asked this of you, but… thank you,” she’d whispered. “Thank you.”
I’d just given her a small, grim smile. “Maybe you can sleep a little easier at night now.”
“Maybe.” She’d glanced out the window of the office but I doubted she actually saw any of the beautiful scenery.
Tears had stung my eyes as I’d gotten to my feet. All too quickly I’d let her and her strange little family into my heart.
The next time I’d seen Seller I’d asked him about Jet. He must have known about the guy who had been in the fight with Grady. He would be able to tell me if Jet had gotten into trouble for killing the vile man.
“As far as I know it was ruled self-defense, Miss Bolton. I believe Mr. Hannigan will be released on time in a few weeks.”