“Yes.”
“That’s amazing. How far off the grid were you?”
“We had electricity sometimes and running water, but very little contact with the outside world. My father usually left our cabin to trade with people. He’d be gone a few days and return with supplies. On a rare occasion, someone came to the cabin. Only people my parents trusted with their lives.”
“What happened two weeks ago?”
“Militants found us. Or whoever they were. Ariel and I were out gathering herbs at the time. We heard a gunshot, snuck up as close to the cabin as we could, and watched our lives fall apart.” She drew in a breath and continued, needing to tell someone what happened. “The first shot had been to my father’s chest,” she whispered. “He was already dead.”
“I’m so sorry.” Jay leaned forward, planting his feet on the porch. He reached out and took Layla’s hand in his, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb.
She swiped at a tear that escaped and stared at their connected hands against her thigh. His hand was large enough to completely encompass hers. His dark skin was in stark contrast to hers too. She was the tanner of the sisters with dark hair and eyes, but she looked pale in comparison to him. Ariel, on the other hand, was blond with far paler skin and blue eyes.
“What happened next?” he encouraged.
“They tied my mother to a chair on the porch and started interrogating her.”
“About what?”
“Ariel and me. Said they’d heard about two women being sequestered in the woods. Said we were breaking the law by hiding from the government.”
Jay frowned. “I doubt they were with the government, but these days you never know. I don’t trust any entity—government included.”
“Yeah, we don’t think they were legit either, but like you said, the government itself is marginally trustworthy.”
“So you ran? The two of you?”
Layla shook her head. “Not yet. We wouldn’t leave our mom like that. We split up and circled around to get as close as we could and then took those two men out. Simultaneously.”
Layla shuddered at the memory. She and Ariel had been as prepared as anyone their age and size could be. Their parents hadn’t wanted them to be helpless. They had guns and knew how to use them. They were trained in self-defense.
“Took them out how?” Jay looked shocked as he gripped her hand.
“Single gunshot to the head. We were so seamless that the two shots at the same time could have been mistaken for one.” She swiped a hand over her face, wishing she could feel proud of herself, but all she felt was deep sorrow for the loss of her parents and having to take two lives to save their own.
Jay smiled slowly. “Well, aren’t you a badass.”
She tried to return the smile but didn’t quite manage.
“And your mom?”
Layla swallowed. “They had stabbed her multiple times in the belly. She was bleeding out by the time we got to her and untied her.”
“Jesus, Layla.”
“She squeezed my arm and gave us instructions we’d already memorized and then died in our arms.” Layla wiped another tear away, still gripping Jay’s hand as tightly as possible.
Jay sat up straighter and gave her hand a tug while he opened his arm so that she could lean into his chest.
She didn’t hesitate. She crawled closer, letting herself relax in his embrace. It felt good. No, it felt amazing. His huge arm encompassed her, his giant palm resting on her hip.
She set her cheek on his chest and reached around his abs. A long sigh escaped her. Maybe she should have been confused by her reaction to him. Sure, he was the first man besides her father that she’d ever touched, but why did it feel so good?
“I’m sorry about your parents,” he whispered after a while. “I assume you left your home after that?”
“Yes. We were prepared. We were always prepared. We had survival bags hidden in various places around the property. I didn’t want to risk someone coming to find those men, so Ariel and I grabbed our packs and took off.”
“How did you know where to go?”