“Hidden, so she didn’t see him.”
“He always was a sneaky bastard,” Caleb commented.
“He should be. He was taught by the best,” Wolfe replied.
“You need to stop being so modest, man,” Aleki drawled.
“I’m never modest.”
“We know,” Caleb said dryly, watching her as she sat on the swing.
“Don’t understand the point of being modest. Seems like a lie to me. If you’re good at something, you should just embrace it. You shouldn’t hide it.”
“We need to get her back to the suite. She’s got to be exhausted,” Aleki said. “And I hate to think what she’s done to her ankle walking here on it.”
“She didn’t get far.” Wolfe looked back at the exhausted girl sitting on the swing. Her shoulders were slumped, her eyes down. She had no idea that any of them were standing there.
Anger filled him at the thought of how vulnerable she was. If Micah wasn’t here, if they weren’t tracking her, who knows what could have happened to her.
Anything.
Someone should be watching this girl. Someone should be taking care of her. Someone should ensure she was never alone. Particularly since it was obvious that she had zero instincts when it came to searching out danger.
Or she would have sensed him.
But Wolfe wasn’t a danger to her. He’d tried to become indifferent to her over time. Turns out, he’d just pushed everything deep. Now that numbness was fading.
Turns out that she hadn’t been happy and carefree all these years. She’d been miserable. He understood that feeling.
She held the stuffed pig in one hand. Her good arm was wrapped around the chain on the swing and she had her thumb in her mouth, sucking it.
She looked the picture of innocence. Sweetness.
What the fuck did he know about sweetness? Nothing. That’s why he had Caleb and Aleki. To even out his hard edges. They knew how to look after someone emotionally as well as physically.
Fuck. Was he gonna have to learn how to hug? This shit was gonna be harder than he thought.
“I don’t cuddle.”
“What, man?” Aleki asked, looking at him weirdly. “Why are you wanting a cuddle?”
“I’m not. I’m saying I don’t cuddle.”
“Okay, that’s interesting,” Caleb said. “But maybe we can stay on topic. Let’s do this softly. She’s already had a hard time of it. No need to scare her or go all hard-ass on her.” He sent a look to Wolfe.
What?
Caleb just shook his head and took off towards the swings. Aleki followed him, while Wolfe kept watch over their back. Like always.
Vivi heard them approach. She guessed they weren’t trying to be quiet.
She didn’t glance up. To be honest, she just didn’t have the energy to fight them. She didn’t have the energy for anything.
A pair of clean, newly polished black shoes filled her vision. Caleb.
Aleki’s shoes were always scuffed. He wouldn’t be caught dead in anything that needed polishing. And Wolfe preferred shit-kicker boots. The same shit-kicker boots, he’d just buy a new pair when the old ones wore out.
“I’d offer to push you, but you don’t look like you have the strength to hold on,” Caleb said.
She gave a small snort of agreement. She braced herself, waiting for his anger.
“Come here,” he said in a gentle voice.
He drew her thumb from her mouth, and she let out a small moan of embarrassment. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been sucking on it.
“Ouch. What did your poor thumb ever do to you?” Caleb asked her.
She glanced down at her thumb, wincing as she saw the tooth marks on it. She seemed to have had a field day gnawing on it.
Caleb ran his thumb over hers. “Seems someone might need something else to suck on.”
She stared up at him with wide eyes. Did he mean . . .
Caleb grinned. “I didn’t mean that.” He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I like where your mind went though, dirty girl.” He pulled back and slipped her arm around the chain so both hands rested in her lap. Aleki sat on the swing next to them while Wolfe stood a few feet away, his gaze moving over their surroundings. Always on alert.
Always making her feel safe.
“How do you keep finding me?” she asked, not really expecting a reply since they hadn’t given her one any other time she’d asked.
“GPS tracker in your locket,” Wolfe replied. “I put it in years ago. Although I replaced that one with a newer one while you were asleep. Better technology now.”
Holy shit. That wasn’t what she expected. “Why?” She stared up at him.
He just shrugged. “You were important to Aleki.”
She winced. Was.
But then, didn’t he just say that he’d replaced it? Why would he do that?
“Here, Vivi.” She looked down to see Caleb offering her another pack of black jelly beans.
“I’m not supposed to take candy from strangers,” she said in a shy voice. Then she winced. What an idiotic thing to say.
“Damn right you shouldn’t,” Aleki agreed.
“Lucky we’re not strangers.” Caleb opened the pack and handed her one.
“She’ll rot her teeth eating those,” Wolfe complained.
“A little candy never hurt,” Caleb countered.
She took the jelly bean and slid it into her mouth. Yum.
Suddenly, she was in Caleb’s arms and he sat on the swing with her on his lap. She stiffened and looked up at the chains holding the swing to the pole in concern.
“Relax,” he told her. “If it can take Aleki’s weight, it can take ours.”
“I don’t weigh that much more than you, asshole,” Aleki said as he started to swing back and forth.
“You’d weigh less if you laid off the pizza,” Caleb told him.
From what she could see there wasn’t an inch of fat on Aleki. Sure, he was built thick. But it was all muscle.
“Hey, takes a lot to fuel this big, beautiful body. We’re not all skinny white dudes.”
Her gaze shot up to Caleb. The lights from the street meant she could kind of make out his expression. She wouldn’t exactly call Caleb skinny. He was slimmer than Aleki, but most people were. Aleki was actually the shortest of the three, but he was by far the most muscular.
She could feel how hard Caleb was underneath her. And she wasn’t talking about his cock.
Although . . .
She wiggled around slightly. “I wouldn’t be doing that, baby.” He grabbed her hips and she froze. “He likes having your ass resting against him just a bit too much.”
He? Meaning his cock?
“Yeah, we don’t want Caleb’s little white dude coming to the party early,” Aleki commented.
“Hey, he’s not little and he’s never early,” Caleb countered. “Asshole.”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“What have I told you about apologizing?” he countered. “I can see I’m going to have to watch you closely. Now hold on to me.”
Before she could ask why, he started to rock gently. She didn’t really have to hold on, he had his arm around her, keeping her secure. She sighed gently and closed her eyes.