He couldn’t lose her again.
Wolfe knew he had abandonment issues. As a child, he’d been sent to see a psychiatrist after he’d stopped talking for two weeks. Had that been when he’d lived with Aunt Clara or Uncle Harry? No. It was Clara. She’d actually cared enough to try to fix him. Harry wouldn’t have noticed if he’d stopped talking for a year. Not that he’d lasted that long living with him and his horrid children.
He didn’t give a shit what label they gave it. All he knew was that he wasn’t letting anything happen to the people he let close.
He was furious with himself for letting her leave them eight years ago. He should have done whatever was necessary to keep her with them. But he’d been angry that she could just walk away. He’d told himself she wasn’t worthy.
But she’d proved that she was.
She’d put them first. Their safety.
Time for her to learn that wasn’t going to fly anymore. She came first.
“I don’t like this,” he stated.
“I get it, Wolfe,” Caleb replied. “None of us like to see her sick or in pain.”
“I mean, I don’t like having a door between us.” He had trouble with closed doors. Thanks to Aunt Janice who used to lock him in a closet when he got too weird or annoying. Strangely, he’d lasted with her the longest. Three years. That was just after his stay with Clara.
“Wolfe, we’ve talked about this. People need privacy sometimes, remember?” Caleb said patiently. “Particularly in the bathroom.”
He frowned, pacing back and forth. “I don’t like her hiding things from us.”
“She’s not hiding anything. Would you want someone watching you right now?” Aleki asked.
Use your logic.
He was working on emotion. Not something he dealt with well.
It was difficult for him not to be around her. He’d had to work hard to let Aleki and Caleb be the ones to steal her earlier while he took care of everything else.
In fact, he had deliberately forced himself to walk away to give himself time to think. To clear his head.
“We can’t smother her, we talked about that too, remember?” Caleb said gently.
He nodded. He got it. He remembered their talk. They often had talks like this. About what Wolfe should and shouldn’t do.
No smothering your bunkmate for snoring.
No strangling your commanding officer for making a stupid call.
No shooting the guy at the corner dairy for short-changing you.
So. Many. Rules.
But he knew he worked best when he understood what he could and couldn’t do. Coming to Escana had been an adjustment. But he liked their culture and traditions.
“I just don’t like that she’s hurting and I can’t do anything.”
“None of us do, man,” Aleki said worriedly. “She never used to get sick. She was always so healthy. So strong. And now . . .”
“Her asshole father has a lot to answer for,” Caleb said grimly from where he sat on the edge of the bed. “I cannot believe he forced her to break up with you then married her off to that dick, Davidson. We need to make sure he doesn’t find out where she is.”
“The doctor said she can’t be stressed,” Aleki warned. “She’s exhausted, mentally, and physically. Her reserves are depleted.”
“And we’re probably pushing too hard too fast,” Caleb said. “Maybe we should ease back.”
Wolfe disagreed. He thought they should step things up. “No.”
“Wolfe—” Caleb started to say.
“We’ve been apart eight years.”
“Which is why we should take time to get to know each other.”
Wolfe shook his head. “No, we abandoned her once. We can’t do that again.”
“We didn’t abandon her then.” Caleb frowned at him.
“Didn’t we?” Wolfe mused. “We didn’t question her, didn’t try to change her mind. Not really.”
“Wolfe is right. I should have fought for her,” Aleki agreed. Wolfe noticed that he looked ill. “It’s my fault. I should have done more.”
“This is no one’s fault. We’re not abandoning her now, we’re just slowing down,” Caleb told them.
“She might not see it that way,” Wolfe pointed out. “She might believe we don’t want her.” He knew all about not being wanted.
“She did say she was tired of making decisions and wanted a break,” Aleki said.
Caleb frowned then nodded. “Okay, we keep moving forward. But let’s be careful. She’s fragile right now.”
Wolfe knew that she needed them now more than ever. He’d ensure that she continued to need them so much that she’d never want to leave. And he’d take care of the assholes who hurt her.
Nobody scared or threatened his girl. She was Wolfe’s now.
He wouldn’t let go of her again.
“I don’t know how she got ill.”
“She must have picked up something,” Caleb replied, but he looked worried too.
“Maybe it’s food poisoning,” Aleki offered.
Hmm. Wolfe thought that unlikely since he’d been preparing everything for her himself. Except for breakfast this morning.
That was suspicious.
“We probably shouldn’t all be here waiting when she gets out,” Caleb said.
“Why not?” Wolfe asked.
“Because she’ll be embarrassed,” Aleki told him.
“Why? Because she’s ill?” That made no sense.
“Just trust us,” Caleb said. “Aleki, you stay and wait. Get into bed with her.”
“Why Aleki?” Wolfe asked.
“Because she needs some coddling and he’s the best at that.”
Wolfe nodded. That was fair. He sensed movement by the bedroom door which was open just a crack. Before he could investigate, though, the door to the bathroom opened and Vivi appeared. She looked pale, her cheeks sunken, dark marks under her eyes.
Aleki leaped forward and picked her up before Wolfe could get there. Damn it.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “So gross.”
“You got nothing to be sorry for, Vivi.” He cradled her in his big arms. “Wolfe, get her some water from the bar fridge. She’ll be dehydrated.”
Wolfe quickly grabbed a bottle of water, pulling off the cap. He held it up to her lips and she took a few sips.
“Drink more, princess. That’s not enough,” he commanded.
She grumbled, her eyes half-closed. She said something but he couldn’t hear it. He leaned in.
“Bite me.”
“Oh, I’ll bite you. Once you’re feeling better.”
She opened one eye to glare at him. “That wasn’t an invitation.”
“Too late, princess. You can’t take it back.”
She groaned. “I don’t know how you can even think about sex with me. I’m disgusting. Definitely no princess.”
Oh, she was so wrong. She was his princess. There was only one woman for him. Her.
“Hush,” Wolfe said firmly. “How is your stomach?”
“It feels like someone scraped it raw with a spoon.”
Wolfe didn’t like how pale she was. Aleki sat on the bed with her cradled on his lap and Wolfe knelt in front of them. He held the bottle to her lips again.