Sean, Hunter, and Damien had spent most of the rest of the flight on the phone coordinating with Jordan and Luke, with at least one of them sitting by my side the whole time. And it was a comfort, but it wasn’t everything. I still felt like something horrible was going to happen - something evenmorehorrible than what had already occurred.
A black, military grade SUV was waiting for us as we quickly left the plane. The three of them walked to the back of the SUV and popped the trunk, making my eyes go wide at what was inside.
Guns, mostly. Guns and an array of military looking tactical gear.
“Is…” I bit my lip. “Whoa.”
“Look, Arianna.” Hunter turned to me, his icy blue eyes flashing over me. “There are some things about our past you should—”
“I told her,” Damien said quietly. Hunter and Sean turned to him, but he held his stern look. “I told her about us, about before the company.”
The two other men stared at him, and for a moment, I could see emotions flare across all three of their faces. I understood then that Damien had acted alone in telling me about their military pasts, hinting at the horrors they’d seen and endured, and I was suddenly worried that having done so would drive a wedge between my three men.
“Good.”
Sean’s sudden and gruffly spoken word shattered that fear.
“Good, I’m glad you told her.” He turned and smiled at me, nodding.
“We, uh, we don’t talk about that much,” Hunter mumbled quietly, turning to me as well.
“I didn’t think you did,” I said quietly, putting both hands out and resting them on Sean and Hunter’s forearms. “I’m glad Damien told me, for what it’s worth. I think I just…” I trailed off, not sure how to put it into words.
“I likeknowingyou,” I finally said, looking at each of them in turn. “And you don’t have to worry, I’m not going to—”
“We know,” Sean said with uncharacteristic softness. “We trust you, more than, well, more than we tend to trust pretty much anyone.”
The sound of Damien chambering a round broke the silence.
“I’d hate to break the moment, but—”
“Right, we gotta roll,” Hunter said with a growl, whirling and grabbing a flak jacket from the trunk.
I started to move towards the trunk as well, but Damien stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“I think it’s best if you stay here, actually.”
“The hell I am,” I shot back, my blood pounding at the thought of my best friend being held captive by her psychopath ex.
A hint of a smile crossed Damien’s face. “Arianna—”
“I’m coming, and that’s final.”
The other two turned, crossing arms over broad chests, eyeing me.
Damien finally nodded. “Something told me you were going to insist.” He turned back to the trunk, grabbed a smaller armored jacket, and passed it to me.
“You’re stayingbehindus,” Sean muttered. “Thatpart is not up for discussion.”
“Here,” Hunter said darkly. I turned as he pressed the grip of a gun into my hands. I shivered at the feel of cold metal in my palm.
“I really think this is a terrible—”
“I’mcoming,” I said flashing a scowl at Sean before my look softened at what was clearly just huge concern on his face. I reached out and squeezed his hand. “I’ll stay behind you, I promise. But there’s no scenario where I don’t come with you.”
Hunter nodded at the gun in my hands. “That’s a forty-five millimeter. Ever used one of these?”
Right, like I’d held a gun before.