Shattered Dreams (Boys of Bellerose, #3)(10)

Vee flushed and offered me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I missed you.”

It was sweet but… weird. She was Angelo’s wife, and we hadn’t ever spent a whole lot of time together. But she had saved us. All of us. And nearly gotten killed in the process.

“It’s okay,” I replied with a reassuring smile. “I just need a coffee, I think.” I looked past Vee to Grayson with a hopeful look. He nodded back, his gaze soft and affectionate, and that fizzy warmth of happiness filled my chest once more.

We moved into Grayson’s living room, and I glanced around curiously. Christmas was tomorrow, but he didn’t have a single decoration up. No tree, no lights, not even a cute Santa stashed somewhere. It made me curious about Gray’s stance on Christmas, since it used to be one of my favorite holidays. Before my parents had died, anyway.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Vee, refocusing on the gorgeous redhead perched beside me on the leather couch. “You look… better.” Her face was also a rainbow of bruising, and there was a thick line of stitches cutting from her eyebrow up into her hair where part of her scalp was shaved. She wore a long sleeve top and sweatpants, but I’d bet the rest of her looked equally painful.

She grimaced. “I look awful, I know. But I feel better. They discharged me after only a day, but I can’t exactly go back to my family, so…”

I gave an understanding nod. “Gray brought you back here. Makes sense. I’m glad you’re safe, Vee. You risked so much for us.”

She gave an uncomfortable shrug. “You’d do the same, Billie. I know you would.”

A few months ago, I wouldn’t have been so sure that I would. It’d been me against the world, and I wouldn’t have put anyone else higher than my own survival. Now, though? Yeah, she was right. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for my found family. The boys of Bellerose.





five





GRAYSON


The sound of Billie crying woke me, and I leapt out of bed like my ass was on fire. Before I had even fully woken up, I was in her room—a guest room that Rhett and I agreed was the nicest for our girl—and sliding under her covers.

“Shhhh, Prickles,” I breathed, wrapping her trembling form in my arms and holding her close. “It’s just a dream, beautiful girl; you’re safe. I’m here. You’re safe.” I whispered the reassurances against her hair, relief washing through me as her sobbing eased.

It took a few minutes, but eventually her trembles subsided and her breathing calmed.

“Gray?” she mumbled in a voice husky with emotion and sleep. “What…?”

“You were having a bad dream,” I told her quietly, not releasing my hold on her tiny form. I wasn’t ready to let her go… and I never would be. Rhett could just suck it up and learn to share. So could Jace, for that matter.

Billie’s breathing hitched, but her arms looped around my body to hug me back. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Did I wake you up with my screaming?”

It tore me apart that she couldn’t even rest in her own head. “No, you were just crying. I’m a light sleeper and was listening for you anyway.”

“Where’s Rhett?” she asked, pulling back from my chest to blink around with confusion. She and Rhett were sharing a room because we didn’t want her to be alone—nor did she—and Rhett seemed to only sleep well when he was holding her. I got it, but I was jealous as fuck.

I listened to the sounds of the house for a moment, searching for an answer. Then I gave a small nod when I worked it out. “He couldn’t sleep, I think. It sounds like he’s downstairs talking to Vee. She’s also having a hard time with nightmares. We’re all a bit… tense.”

Billie’s laugh was bitter, but she relaxed back into my embrace. “Tense is one word for it. Does her family still want her dead?”

I sighed. “We think so. Angelo would be our best source for info, but seeing as he’s currently out of action, we are just playing it safe and keeping her hidden here.”

“Mm,” she murmured, her cheek against my chest. “Good idea.”

We lay there like that for a while, just… cuddling. I couldn’t remember ever cuddling with a woman before; it just wasn’t my style. I fucked around, sure. But I didn’t sleep over, and I sure as shit didn’t cuddle. Billie was different, though. Cuddling her was fast becoming one of my favorite things in the whole damn world—after the taste of her sweet cunt on my tongue, of course.

“Do you want to tell me about your nightmare?” I asked eventually, knowing she wasn’t asleep by the pace of her breathing.

Breathing that picked up slightly, as if she was already reliving it. “How much of my past do you know about?” she whispered, but it sounded louder in the still night air.

Surprisingly, not much. “Only the basics. Billie Bellerose, twenty-four years old and an only child who grew up in Siena. You lived next door to Jace. Your parents are deceased, and you also lost… a child, which I know from that argument you had with Jace. When he lost his shit. But I didn’t ask him for further information, so that’s it.”

She tilted her head back, and in the limited light, I could make out the widening of her eyes. “You never investigated more? You, with all your research equipment, never looked into the homeless chick that fell into your band?”