“I’m better,” I mumbled and looked at how dark his eyes were. “Areyouokay, Lincoln?”
He made a small noise in the back of his throat before he shrugged and leaned forward, pressing a soft, almost delicate kiss to my lips. I let out a soft hum, not feeling odd at all being between the two of them, pinned to the bed by one as the other kissed me. When he pulled back, I saw the darkness there, lingering.
Yeah, something was very much wrong here.
“We should go down to the office,” Sterling said, pulling back as Lincoln helped me up. “I know Yates and King want to talk. Are you okay to do that, sugar?”
“Yeah,” I whispered as Lincoln wrapped an arm around me, his energy almost clingy. I mean, I absolutely loved it, but I also worried about him. I had never seen him like this before. As we left the room, I wondered briefly if my parents had been informed yet, and I found myself hoping that wasn’t the case.
I wouldn’t know, because my phone was gone, and honestly, if I never got it back… I would be relieved. I was starting to truly hate technology.
Everything spun for a minute, my eyes watering as I tried to keep hold of my emotions. I could feel the anxiety right under the surface, and this small haze of numbness was my normal instinct to protect myself and make the boys feel better. I knew that. I also knew that tonight, sleeping, I would feel much more alone.
Unless I didn’t have to sleep alone.
“Where is Stratton?” I asked softly, my eyes moving towards his house as we made our way down the stairs.
“Outside,” Lincoln muttered, “on the porch. Do you want to go grab him?”
Nodding, I made my way down, hearing voices from the kitchen near my father’s office. Instead of following the twins that way, I pushed through the front door and instantly was surrounded by the scent of smoke. It wasn’t a bad smell, but I was unsurprised to find Stratton’s tense back facing me from where he was sitting on the stairs. I saw him freeze upon hearing me, flicking his cigarette towards the stone pathway before turning slowly to look up at me.
I swallowed at the shadows in his gaze, and instead of saying anything, I sat down next to him, burying my head against his shoulder. He let out a tight breath before he kissed my fingers, gripping my hand hard.
“Angel, I don’t know what to do to help fix this.”
His voice was raw and tired, and I moved onto his lap, his arms wrapping around me fully. “A hug?” I suggested. “I could use one.”
It was honest and simple.
And he gave me one—in fact, his grip was almost suffocating as I felt him squeeze me. I knew he was upset. I also knew he probably wanted to be a broody asshole about this, but tonight he was just Stratton Lee. Giving me a hug. An amazing hug. I tried to not let the guilt hit me for being the reason they felt this way.
“We should go inside.” He finally stood, keeping me in my arms. “I want you to eat something.”
“Okay,” I whispered, not arguing with him. I knew we needed to talk about all of that… but not right now. For now, we would just deal with the biggest elephant in the room.
As we made our way through my dark house, I inhaled a delicious scent from the kitchen as Dermot offered me a small smile and nodded towards my father’s office. I knew King and Yates would be in there, and oddly, I found myself a bit nervous.
Stepping into the dark wood space, I instantly met Kingston’s gaze when he snapped around. He had been looking out the window, but in the blink of an eye, in a move that I swear was unnatural, he was across the room and pressing me back against the bookshelf on the wall near the door. I let out a soft worried sound as he seared our lips together, hard, not allowing me to speak or breathe.
When he pulled back, his eyes were dangerous and dark, his voice almost venomous. “Whoever fucking did this to you, Dahlia, is going to fucking die.”
Oh.
My breathing went a bit fast as I nodded, unable to deny him that, even in theory. Would he really kill someone for me? That was much too flattering. I cupped his jaw and leaned forward, kissing him once more as he let out a deep groan before turning away sharply and walking back towards the window.
My eyes flickered over to Yates, who was watching from where he stood near the desk.
Oh man, this was so not the Yates I was used to. First of all, the way he was watching me was… different than before. Way more different than usual. His eyes were a charcoal gray, and his face was expressionless as I swallowed, feeling a bit nervous. He motioned for me, with a curl of his finger, to come over to him, and I did so slowly.
Usually it felt like King was in charge, but right now he seemed completely in his own, violent world, and Yates was cool, calm, and almost clinical. It scared the hell out of me. I shook slightly as I reached him, his fingers curling around my waist while tugging me forward so I was standing between his legs.
“Yates,” I whispered softly.
His finger brushed my lips as he shook his head and spoke quietly. “I don’t care what it is, bunny. I don’t care how the hell it happened. You don’t keep shit from me. Do you understand? Never again. Promise me.”
“I promise,” I mumbled, my cheeks flushing.
He searched my expression before nodding and kissing my hand gently, causing me to shiver. “You are, singularly, the most important thing to me. Do you understand that? If anything ever happened to you, I would lose my mind, Dahlia,” he declared, his voice rough.