The Long Way Home (Corps Security #6)(83)

I frown, looking at her and waiting for her to finish. I know very little about how she got the nasty scrape and bump on her head.

“You walked into a wall?”

“No,” she sings. She was about to say something else when the rest of the group with me must have been noticed. “Wow.”

I feel Zeke move to my side before he bends down. Riley moves to stand in front of him, her little arms coming up and her hands going to his hair. She gives his short locks a little ruffle before she frames his face with her tiny hands.

“You look different.”

“I do.”

“You sound the same.”

“I do.”

“Okay.”

And to Riley, that was that. She gives him a big hug. I’m guessing that’s when she gets a really good look at the rest of the men in the room. Her little eyes go huge, and she looks at me with a twinkle in her eye.

“You brought me more giants,” she whispers, looking over my head. Her little face lit up. “Who are you?”

I turn to see who she is looking at, not even a little surprised that it’s Zac.

“Whoa,” she exhales. “You look like my giant.”

“I do?”

She nods and looks at Zeke. “He looks like you.”

He bends down, and Riley follows his movement. “That’s because he’s my boy.”

She looks back at the boy in question, little brow furrowing. “He isn’t a boy. He’s big like you.”

“Get over here and give me a hug, kid,” he grunts a laugh out, clearly not going to entertain that conversation. She wraps her arms around him, and he moves to stand with her in his arms. She gives a squeal of happiness when he stands to his full height with her arms around his shoulder and bottom supported by his forearm.

“Well, you sure did bring home some extra baggage than what you left with.” I turn to see Ella standing with Evan’s arm around her shoulders. It looks more to help hold her up than anything else.

“Oh, El,” I cry, moving from our little huddle to my friend. When Evan doesn’t let go, I know he is without a doubt holding her up. “Are you okay?” I ask when I step in front of her, not sure if I should hug her or not.

“I’ll be fine. Just a little sore, that’s all.”

Evan snorts and rolls his eyes. “Understatement.”

She narrows her eyes at him. “When we don’t have little ears. We’ve been over this.”

I laugh lightly.

“Livi, I’m going to show my new giant where the toys are!” She rushes past me a second later with Zac’s hand in hers and his big frame walking behind her. He looks over his shoulder and gives me a wink, lifting his arm to give me a thumbs-up before they vanish around the corner, and I hear them move farther into the apartment.

“Now that the little ears are gone,” Ella starts, her body leaning heavier into Evan. “I’m so sorry, Liv.”

“Don’t,” Zeke says. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“It isn’t your fault. I swear, Ella. You saved her life. Don’t you apologize for someone else attacking y’all.”

“He almost had her. I had my hands full and turned to lock up. It happened so fast. You’ll see the bruise later, but all five of his asshole fingers were so tight on her little arm, it left the perfect impression of his hand. That’s how close he was. I thought Evan had forgotten about us, and I was too busy stewing in my snit. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“This is NOT your fault,” I reiterate. Wishing my friend wasn’t hurting.

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree, babe.”

“Thank you,” Zeke interrupts, moving slightly so I have to step over a little. “Thank you for protecting our girl.”

Her eyes come to mine and I can see all the comments she’s not verbalizing. I also can see happiness, for me and for Riley.

“Seems like we have a lot to catch up on,” she says low toward me. She glances back at Zeke and gives him a weak smile. “I’d do it again and again if it meant she’s safe.” She opens her mouth, but closes it before speaking. I wait, knowing she isn’t done by the expression on her face. “Kill that son of a bitch.” The anger and vitriol in her tone are a stark comparison to the one only moments before.

Zeke nods and Ella looks relieved. I have a feeling she knows more about what these men do than I did before the past few days. She wasn’t saying that to be flip, she truly meant it. Evan’s arm moves and he guides her back tightly to his side. She leans in and settles.

Isn’t today full of surprises.





“Show Me What I’m Looking For” by Carolina Liar



“This is the place,” Saint speaks ahead of me, holding his phone up and checking the screen again. “Yeah, on the left.” He points at a building that looks like it saw its best days about a century ago. Abandoned and standing by the grace of God only.

“How the hell do you know this is the place? All these shit buildings look the same,” Beck questions.

“See this.” He turns his phone toward our small huddle and shows them his screen. “When Evan got close he planted a tracker on Ray. He’d never find it. Micro as hell and undetectable. All he had to do was get close enough to tag a part of his skin and boom—he’s ours until I stop transmitting.”