Fifteen minutes later, Laken was sitting on her couch, trying desperately to calm her heaving stomach.
Oh God, Oh God. Would this nightmare never end?
“You really think he knows where I am?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” Eli said, leaning forward with a sympathetic look on his face. “We think he’s been watching you all along.”
Oh God. Oh God.
She swallowed heavily as bile rose in her throat. This whole time she’d thought she had been free. Every day she had spent fighting the panic attacks, every night she had woken in sweat from her nightmares only to race to the bathroom and throw up, the only thing that had kept her sane was the thought that he wouldn’t be able to find her.
She had moved apartments, she had gotten an alarm, she had never gone back to another club in New York. She had done everything she could think of to keep herself safe. And he’d been there all along, watching her.
“I—I excuse me.” Standing, she raced into her small bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. She barely made it to the toilet before vomiting. Huge heaves shook her body as she sobbed.
“What the hell?” Duncan’s angry voice boomed through the small apartment. She took a deep breath then another. Just knowing he was there helped her claw back the fear. The bathroom door opened and then he was there, holding her close, one hand holding back her hair as he rubbed her back.
“It’s okay, baby. Calm down. You’re safe. I’m here. I’m here.”
Bit by bit she clawed back toward sanity, brought herself under control. When her stomach finally stopped heaving Duncan rose and grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste. He helped her stand, holding her close as she brushed her teeth.
Wetting a washcloth, he ran it over her face, soothing her hot cheeks and sore eyes. She turned into him, holding him close.
She clung to him until she could stand on her own without fear of collapsing. Then she pulled back slightly.
“When were you going to tell me?” she accused.
Duncan wouldn’t let her sit by herself. He drew her onto his lap, needing to hold her close as he glared at his brothers. Only Laken’s presence stopped him from smashing his fists against their loose mouths. Right now Laken needed him. She needed him calm.
But later, all bets were off.
Both of his brothers met his gaze and nodded, as though they could tell what he was thinking.
“What the hell were you doing, telling her without me?” he growled.
He nearly had a heart attack when he had come home to find his brothers pacing in front of the bathroom door while Laken threw up in the bathroom.
“We gave you plenty of time to tell her and you haven’t,” Kellan told him angrily, looking at Laken in concern. She was quiet, her face so pale.
Duncan kissed her forehead, rocking slightly.
“I can’t believe he’s been watching me. That he knows where I am.” She shuddered. “I’m never going to get rid of this nightmare, am I?” She looked up at Duncan, the fear in her gaze making him feel ill.
“Yes, you are. Because I have no intention of letting him get anywhere close to you.”
“How can you stop him? You can’t be with me all the time.” Realization filled her face. “That’s why you’ve been acting so funny, why you got so upset when I went to visit my dads without telling you. You thought he had taken me. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you make me think that everything was okay?”
r /> “Because he wanted to protect you,” Kellan interjected. Duncan glared him; the last thing he needed was his oldest brother’s help.
“They told me the other night, baby. They also told me their plan, which involves using you. I don’t want you doing this.”
Eli leaned forward, his face grim. “If you were mine, I would probably feel the same. But we need to catch this guy before he can hurt anyone else. He kidnapped, raped and tortured a friend of our boss’s. We will do whatever we need to in order to get this asshole. To do that, Laken, we need you. We need you to help us catch this bastard. Can you do that?”
Laken stared at Eli, his words echoing around her head. Could she help them?
“I thought you guys worked for a security firm?”
The two men looked at each other. “We do deal with security, but we also do investigative work, which is something we try to keep quiet. I guarantee this guy has no idea what we really do.”