Sidney’s Triple Shot [Apache Crossing] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

“Thanks, Tyce, that would be great. I don’t need much, but I can’t survive with just one outfit, and I will have to get all new personal hygiene stuff, I guess. I really don’t have anything left now except my purse. Thank God I had that with me so I have some money. I don’t have any access to the bank accounts I had in South Carolina right now.” Sidney bit her lip while she was deep in thought, and Tyce’s hand moved on its own to run over her soft lips.

“Don’t worry, love. We’re going to make sure you have what you need, and Wicks won’t get close to you as long as you keep one of us with you.” He tried to sound reassuring, but the icy hint of anger was there. He couldn’t just forget that this man, Robert Wicks, had hurt her. Tyce wanted to break every bone in his body and then break them all again just to make him suffer.

“Thank you, Tyce. For everything,” she said with wide eyes. His eyes dropped to her lips, and he ran his thumb over her bottom lip again.

“God, you’re so damn sexy, Sidney. I know I promised to give you time, but you’re driving me crazy!” Groaning, he pulled his hands away from her like she was a rattlesnake set to bite him.

She jumped in surprise, and her mouth formed a small O shape. “I don’t mean to. I’m sorry, I’ll try to stop.” Her befuddled look made him even madder at Robert Wicks. Wicks had really done a number on this beautiful woman if she couldn’t even believe she was irresistible.

Refusing to think about the consequences, Tyce reached out and took her small hand, bringing it down to rest over the top of his thick erection under the denim of his blue jeans. “This is what you do to me, love. No one else has ever made me as hard as you, and just being near you makes it hard to breathe.”

Her face flushed, and she dipped her head, but her hand remained where he put it. Gently she squeezed and then shifted her palm until her fingers could wrap slightly around the shaft. Tyce couldn’t keep from groaning at the warmth of her hand, and she gasped, pulling away from him.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, and he laughed.

“Hell no! You are welcome to touch me! In fact, you are
encouraged
to touch me. I don’t think you could ever hurt me with your hand, but feel free to try. I will lie back and let you,” he said with a wink, and she laughed.

“Stop it. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were hitting on me,” she said, shaking her head.

“You would
think
? Damn. I’m going to have to try harder if you would only
think
I was hitting on you. Love, I’m most definitely hitting on you, and I hope you’re paying attention. I want you in my life, in my arms, and in my bed. There is no
think
about it.” Tyce said the words without hesitation. The tremor of shock that went through him had his hands trembling as he processed his own words. He meant it. Every last word. He wanted Sidney for keeps, and now that he realized that, he would have his work cut out for him in convincing her.

They stared at each other for several tense moments. Her eyes were wide and wary, searching his for answers. He tried hard to keep his expression a blank, steady mask so that she wouldn’t doubt the seriousness of his words. Finally she nodded slightly and dropped her eyes back to her hands.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Tyce, and with myself for that matter. I want you, too. I’m attracted to you and have been since I met you,” she said, and Tyce felt like the wall that separated them metaphorically was finally gone. A smile broke out over his face, and he reached out to take her hand. She stopped him and held her hand out to keep him back. “But…I’m also extremely attracted to Xavier and Noah. I can’t risk hurting two of you just to sleep with one of you. Robert Wicks is determined to find me and make me pay for wounding his pride by leaving him. He may even attempt to take me back to South Carolina. If he comes after me, I will deal with him. I don’t want one of you three to get hurt because of me.”

Tyce stared at her quietly, trying to decide how best to proceed. She had no comprehension that the three brothers honestly wanted a ménage relationship with her. On top of that she had volunteered a little bit more information about her ex. This was definitely progress. He wanted to push and try to extract every bit of information she would give him, but he knew that she would balk and freeze up. He finally sighed, and his smile softened.

“Love, we definitely need to talk more about your fears of the three of us and a relationship, but I want my brothers here for that conversation. For now, you just get dressed while I go make some calls and set up the meeting with the sheriff.” With that, he let himself steal a soft kiss from her lips, and then he forced himself to walk out of the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

* * * *

An hour later Sidney sat on the sofa with Tyce on one side of her, Noah on the other, and Xavier pacing nearby as the sheriff questioned her and took her statement. Sheriff Calvin Limpkin, or Lumpy as he was affectionately called, was an older man in his late fifties with graying hair and a large potbelly. It was hard to imagine him protecting anyone or chasing down bad guys. She trusted him instinctively, just like she did the Dawson brothers. Her three guard dogs surrounded her in a welcome blanket of security.

She listened with half of her hearing to Sheriff Lumpy, and his deputy Joey Ruiz as they talked with her men. They were discussing the accelerant used to start the fire, and whether or not there was damage done to the vehicle before the fire. She didn’t care anymore. All that was clear was that Robert Wicks had caught up to her, and they were at an impasse. He would either find a way to attack her or get the picture that she was securely under the protection of three very large men and leave her alone. She highly doubted the later scenario was even a relevant possibility, but she could hope.

Instead of being attentive to the surrounding conversation, she focused on Noah, who sat beside her with one hand resting on her upper thigh, wrapped in between both of her small hands. Occasionally she would squeeze his hands, and he reassured her each time by returning the gesture gently. He was a beautiful man with strong, masculine features and warm aqua-blue eyes. There was no hint of the ice chips that existed in Xavier’s eyes or the midnight blue that she could see in Tyce’s eyes. Instead they were a clear sea-breeze blue that registered his emotions openly and honestly. When he caught her staring at him, he turned his head and smiled. It was a genuine smile that encompassed his whole being.

She returned the smile as her body warmed from the inside out. Oh my God. I’m in love with the Dawson brothers, she thought, and just that quickly the smile vanished and panic returned. Noah sensed her shift in emotions, and a concerned wrinkle appeared between his eyes as he tugged her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles softly.

“You okay, honey?” Noah said quietly. Even though it was barely a whisper, it immediately drew both Xavier and Tyce’s attention. Feeling all of the eyes in the room on her, she blushed and stared at her lap.

“Sidney, I know that this is hard for you, but we really need to hear from you what happened with Mr. Wicks and why you are so scared of him,” Sheriff Lumpy said. His voice was low, and when she finally looked up at him, his face was full of concern and tender compassion. She swallowed hard, trying to get past the ball of nerves in her throat.

“It’s harder than you realize. I haven’t talked with
anyone
about any of this. He always told me that if I ran to the police he would turn it around on me, and I would be the one to go to jail,” she said in a small voice. She cleared her throat, trying to delay baring her soul to this room full of strangers. What would Noah, Tyce, and Xavier think of her after they heard it all? Her thoughts skittered and bounced with anxiety, and she struggled to keep breathing normally. She could feel the panic heavy in her chest, and her palms were ice cold and sweaty.

“Would it help if the Dawsons left the room?” Deputy Ruiz asked politely.

“
No
!” Her response was instant and sharp, startling both herself and the deputy. She glanced over at Xavier, who had a small smile on his face and his arms across his chest. He looked inordinately pleased at her strong aversion to them leaving her. “No, that’s not necessary. They have offered to let me stay here. The least I can do is share with them what they are facing.”

Taking one last deep breath, Sidney plunged into the story of her living nightmare.

“To start you need to know that I grew up in foster care. My dad didn’t stick around after my mom got pregnant, and my mom couldn’t stay off of drugs long enough to be a mom, so the state took me when I was about three years old and put me in foster care. I bounced around a lot, never really staying in one home for long. I wasn’t abused or neglected necessarily, but I didn’t receive any affection or encouragement either. When I turned eighteen the state cut me off, and I was kicked out of the foster home I was staying in. I worked part-time as a waitress at the Greenville Truck Stop and had nothing to my name. I spent several months sleeping on the couch of one of the other waitresses before I was able to get a studio apartment. I still walked to work every day for the next two years. That’s when the Truck Stop went bankrupt, and I went to work for a local bar as a bartender, and sometimes I sang for extra money. I paid my own way through an accounting program with the money I earned in singing competitions and at the bar, just so that I could get out of there. I figured accounting was a field that was always in demand and would give me steady income during the day so that I could sing on the weekends. I met Robert right before my twenty-fifth birthday, just over a year ago, when he became a client of the accounting firm where I worked as a personal accountant. Robert Wicks is a spoiled little boy who comes from money. His father was a senator for South Carolina and ran a local printing company. Robert had influence and money. He was charming, funny, and he paid attention to me. I had never had anyone really honestly pay attention to me, and I was swept off of my feet. He took me out to dinner and movies, and even took me dancing with his wealthy friends. It was amazing…a whirlwind romance that they would write about in dime-store novels.”

Sidney released a shaky breath and let her eyes roam the room. Xavier now stood behind her now with his large hand wrapped gently around the back of her neck, stroking her soothingly. Tyce still remained on her left side with his arm around her shoulders and his fingers lightly dancing over her shoulder. Noah held her hand tightly in his own large grip. He had turned to face her so that their joined hands rested on her thigh again. The sheriff and his deputy were both seated in chairs across from her, leaning forward to listen as she spoke. There was no judgment or censure in any of the faces around her, so she continued.

“Robert was a very controlling person. He didn’t like my singing, so I stopped doing it rather than fighting with him. He didn’t like the clothes I wore, so I let him purchase a whole new wardrobe for me, and I wore what he wanted. It didn’t become physical abuse until I moved in with him about three months after we started dating. The first time he hit me was because I got home from work late and didn’t have a chance to make dinner like he expected me to. It wasn’t horrible, it was a slap, and he apologized immediately, so I forgave him. He took me out to dinner and coddled me that night, so I really believed he regretted it. That slap turned into punching, kicking, tripping, throwing things at me, belittling me, humiliating me…” Sidney’s voice broke, and tears ran down her cheeks, but now that she had started she was compelled to finish. Like a dam opening for the flood waters, she had to let it out.

“I thought about leaving him. Especially when he would lock me in the garage naked as punishment for some imagined offense, or when he would tie me down and force me to have sex, just because I said I didn’t want to. I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help. He had enough power and money to make me come back if I tried to leave. And he kept telling me how much he needed me. No one ever needed me before. Anyways, seven weeks ago I found out I was pregnant. I was shocked and scared, but I knew I had to tell Robert. When he came home that night and I told him…he nearly killed me. He beat me over and over, kicking and punching…I was crying and screaming on the floor, but he wouldn’t stop…”

Sobs interrupted her words, and Tyce leaned over and scooped her trembling body up onto his lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, giving her the support she needed to keep talking. Xavier’s hand stroked her hair from behind them as Noah scooted closer until he could reach her, and he brushed tears from her face with his thumb before lacing his fingers through hers again.

“Then he just stopped, all of a sudden it was over. I remember him spitting on me before he walked out the door. He just left me there. There was so much blood. I don’t remember calling 911, but when I woke up in the hospital, the Doctor told me that it was a good thing I did. I could have bled to death on the floor.”

Her breath hitched again. She had never imagined that it would be this difficult to tell anyone about all of this. Her chest burned, and her head was pounding. She had to get this out so that she had some sort of relief. She had to empty all of the bad memories, and let someone help her face it.

“At the hospital, they told me that I lost the baby. They tried to convince me to go to a women’s shelter before they discharged me, but I went home to him like an idiot. I even went back to work the day after I was released from the hospital, but when I got home from work that night, it all went horribly wrong. I was supposed to have dinner ready when he got home, so I was nervous going in the door because I was running late. As I put my purse down, I heard them. He had another woman in our bed. They never even saw me standing there. They just kept fucking…I ran. I grabbed my purse and I ran. He kept calling my cell phone, threatening me, and I knew he was looking for me. Once I was pretty sure I had covered my tracks, I started looking for a way to make some money. I didn’t find real work until I came here, and Noah hired me. You already know I slept in my car, and I took my paycheck in cash so that there was no trail. I don’t understand how he found me. I was so careful.” Sobs wracked her body and she struggled to breath under the weight of the truth. Why had it taken her so long to see how abusive Robert was? Maybe if she had left earlier, she wouldn’t have lost her baby. The thought was more painful than anything Robert had ever done to her physically.