Second Chances (34 page)

She’d never been more scared in her entire life than she’d been th
at day, except for now. She was leaving tomorrow. Going back to a house she knew was empty but still contained the ghosts of her past she’d yet to face. She’d sell everything, start completely over. After today she’d be well and truly alone, and she’d stay that way. She’d never love anyone else but these men, and she knew she would never have them. Facing a lifetime of loneliness was nothing. She was used to that life. Facing life without the three men she loved? Without the twin boy’s she’d almost gotten killed? Without the love their family had shown her was possible? That was the fate that would break her.

Against Daniel’s advice s
he’d ignored their calls and denied their requests to see her in the hospital. She couldn’t face them. Daniel had finally contacted them the night before and told them they were leaving. Against her protests, he’d asked them to come to say goodbye. After another fitful night’s sleep she’d decided she deserved to hear whatever they had to say to her, no matter how painful. They had every right to hate her. She’d lied to them. She hated herself for doing it, for letting herself get so close to them.

She noticed
Matt’s hand tremble as he reached up and ran his long fingers through his hair.
Don’t cry. I will not cry.
Their silence was deafening. She closed her eyes against it and sucked her bottom lip between her teeth to keep it from quivering.
Please, just yell at me, hit something. Anything!
She couldn’t stand the silent censure that rolled off them in waves.

A sharp yelp in the distance
caught her attention. Her lips parted with a gasp. Looking beyond Matt and Mason, her heart raced at the sight before her. The back door on Matt’s truck opened and Grey slowly slid out, bracing himself on the bed of the truck as he slammed the passenger door closed. The rain fell a little heavier as he turned and began a slow trek toward her, a heavy limp accenting his stride.

He looked well.
More than magnificent. He was perfect and she’d nearly lost him. He may hate her, but at least he was still alive and she knew she wouldn’t have to live in a world where he didn’t exist. Her heart ached as she took in the somber, resolved look in his striking green eyes. She followed the line of his strong jaw to his broad shoulders, memorizing every hard line and curve. A sob bubbled out of her aching chest when she reached his long, muscled arms and saw the wiggling black puppy with a big red bow tied around its neck. Her hand came up and clamped over her mouth as if she could somehow hold in all the pain and love and heartache that clawed its way up her throat.

Grey st
opped next to Mason and a sad smile touched his face as he looked up the stares at her. “Con wants you to have him, to keep you safe.”

Gabri
ella collapsed against the railing and slid to the wooden floor, sobs wracking her entire body. “Why?” She cried into the blanket clutched in her hands. “Why would he do that?”

“Awe, sweetheart
. Don’t cry.” Mason shot up the stairs and carefully pulled her into his arms then cradled her into his chest as he sunk down into one of the rockers.

“But, that’
s his favorite puppy.” She sobbed into Mason’s shirt. “I don’t deserve it. He can’t do that!”

“
Darlin’, why would you say that?” Matt stooped down and held his palm to her face, futilely wiping away the steady stream of tears from her eyes with his thumb.

She
turned her face away from his hand and buried it deeper into Mason’s shirt. “I lied to you,” she cried, her entire body shaking with her sobs. Mason pulled her closer and held her tight as she cried. After what felt like hours he loosened his hold on her and she felt a tug at her chin.

“Look at me, baby bird.” Grey gently directed her face toward him. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, tasting the salt in her tears. He licked the taste from his lips and repeated the action, taking only what she would give him. After a lingering pause
, he pulled back and looked into her puffy, warm, chocolate eyes. “You deserve to be happy. We understand why you had to lie. We also understand why you want to leave. After what happened, we can’t blame you for not wanting to be with us. No one deserves what Dawes did to you. Not everyone is homicidal over their beliefs, but there will be more people lined up behind him that won’t approve. We can’t ask you to go through that after what happened to you.”

Gabriella’s brow furrowed
and she pushed herself to a more upright position against Mason’s chest, cringing at the large, wet spot she’d left on his shirt. “I don’t understand.” She sniffled and tried to clear her throat. “You don’t want me to leave?”

Matt crouched next to Grey. He
took her cold, trembling hand in both of his and brought it to his beautiful lips. His eyes filled with tears as he kissed the palm of her hand and held it to his cheek as if he were savoring every last touch he could get from her. “We love you, Claira. We know it’s not what you want now, but if you ever…” Matt closed his eyes and she could see the tick in his jaw as he bit back his words. He lowered her hand to her lap and his eyes danced between Mason and Grey before he stood and paced to the railing.

“I can’t do this
.” Matt ran his fingers through his hair and paced back to stand in front of them. “I know we agreed that we should let her go, but I can’t. I can’t sit back and just watch her walk away without a fight.”

“Matt
, stop.”

“No, you stop, Mason
. All of you. This is crazy.” He slid down onto his knees in front of Gabriella and took her hands in his again. “Claira—Gabriella—I know…” He stopped and shook his head. “We understand that all this is new for you, and that….that you have been through hell. Not only in your own life, but also because of who we are and how we live our lives. Our souls know you are the one we belong with. Nothin’ in your past, or ours, changes that. The chances of some other crazy loon goin’ off the deep end like…like that bastard did, they’re not…” He let go of her hands and cupped her neck as he struggled for the words he needed to convince her. “We won’t let you go without a fight, Claira. You belong here, with us, with our boys and our crazy family. If you want to leave…”

“I don’t.” Gabriella’s chest expanded as the weight of her sins lifted from her shoulders.

“What?” Mason and Grey asked in unison.

“I don’t want to leave you.” Her shoulders tightened as another sob pushed its way through her.  “I belong to y
ou. All of you. I love each of you with all my heart, but, how can you ever forgive me for bringing this…this…violent nightmare into your family? For putting you at risk like that?”

“Forgive you?” Grey drew back as if he’d been slapped. “Baby, what are
you talking about?” He pushed to his feet and stood looming over her next to Matt. “We’re the ones asking for forgiveness, here. You were shot, for
christsake
! Dawes shot you, and tried to kill our son’s because of the way we live. We can’t ask you to forgive us for dragging you into that!” He washed his free hand over his face and shook his head. “God, not after everything you’ve been through.”

Gabriella shook her head. “Grey, you were shot, and almost died because of me!” She choked back a lingering sob but for the first time in nearly two weeks she felt a seed of hope begin to unfurl in her chest.
Forgive
them
? What did she have to forgive
them
for? She knew what she was getting involved in was unconventional. Most people didn’t always accept what they didn’t understand, but Dawes was crazy. Creepy crazy. Sure she might get a nasty look or hear a rumor or two in the future, but surely no one else in their right mind would try to kill her for it. Unless it was out of jealousy. She glanced quietly between Matt and Mason, and then raked her eyes over Grey’s strong torso. Yeah, she’d definitely have to watch out for the occasional jealousy induced, hormonal rampage from the locals.

Matt
chuckled when he saw the look in her eyes change from broken to breathtakingly hopeful. Going out on a limb he was sure wouldn’t hold his weight he shrugged. “So, you were shot, Grey was shot. Doesn’t that make us even then?”

Grunts and
giggles burst from all of them. Even Con’s black puppy squealed and wiggled in Grey’s arms. Claira sniffled and wiped at her tears then playfully slapped at Mason’s chest. “It’s not funny.”

“
Claira?” Sincerity returned to Grey’s expression. He held out his hand to her as the other cradled the puppy to his chest. “Come home? Please?”

She shook her head, more tears pooled in her eyes. “There’s more.” Matt began to protest but
she continued on before she lost her nerve. “You have to know that I…” God, could she really say it? She had to. They deserved to know. Stephen deserved her admission. “I killed my brother.”

“Claira, no.
You didn’t…”

“No, Mason.
I…I don’t remember anything other than having the gun in my hand. I had to protect him from Lucien but they arrested me for murdering him. I could have…”

“
Daniel told us what happened.” Grey said, shaking his head. “You don’t honestly believe you are capable of the cold blooded murder of your own brother, do you?” His tone held no doubt of her innocence. “Claira, baby, that’s ridiculous. You couldn’t hurt a fly if you tried.”

Mason
curled her farther into his arms as another lingering sob wracked her body. Matt cupped her cheek in his hand and wiped away the new tears. “Claira, there is no way we’ll ever believe it, even if you signed a full confession, darlin’. We love you. All of you.” He turned her face to look at him. “Come home with us, where you belong.”

Gabriella took Grey’s outstretched
hand but didn’t stand. She remained in Mason’s lap and cradled her face in Grey’s large, calloused palm. How had she gotten so blessed? How could she ever deny these men anything, much less her heart? She should have argued with them, tried to convince them they were making a mistake, but she didn’t want to. She wanted them to love her. She needed them. Unable to contain the happiness and hope that filled her to near bursting, a small hiccup of laughter bubble up and she blurted out the next thought that popped into her head. “Can you call me Gabby?” She said on a sob, happier tears clouding her eyes. “I miss my name.”

Matt
plunged in and claimed her mouth. His hot tongue skimmed her lips then wrapped around hers, sending a heated wave of love and lust rolling through her veins. When she tasted the salty tang of tears she immediately knew they were not only hers. Her heart sung with happiness and joy that these men loved her enough to overcome her demons and haunted past. She tasted true freedom and love for the first time in her life and she was never going to leave it behind. She tasted home.

Three Weeks Later

“Huh-
humm!” Nathan McLendon loudly cleared his throat as Hazel reached for salt shaker. She froze and scowled at her beloved Josiah as his hand shot out and seized it from her reach, passing it to Jake, who deposited it at the far end of the table in front of Grey.

Gabby frowned, her shoulders falling
in disappointment. “I’m sorry, Hazel. I followed your recipe exactly.” Her fork fell to her plate and she dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her napkin, her appetite dwindling as she tasted the blandness of the cornbread stuffing she’d thought she’d perfected. “At least, I thought I did. I must have missed something.”

“Nonsense, darlin’.”
Hazel narrowed her eyes at Nathan and reached for the pepper instead. “It’s perfect. My taste buds just haven’t been up to snuff since I got this darned summer cold. A little salt never hurt anything.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Joe barked as she reached
for the butter.

Grey, Mason and
Matt cracked up laughing as they watched their formidable mother being completely railroaded by her three loving and understandably overbearing husbands. All laughing ceased when their mother stood abruptly from her seat and pointed at her men, shaking her finger as she spoke. “How many times does Dr. Pendercast have to tell you? I did
not
have another episode. It was indigestion. Not a heart attack, for good lord’s sake.” She walked regally to the other end of the table then snatched up the salt shaker, ignoring the protesting grunts and waved off the hands that reached to take it away from her. “And I’ll do you one better.” She said as she gracefully took her seat and dashed a few light shakes over her potato. “This keeps up and I’m telling Dr. Sands about your increasing trips to the john every night,
Nathan
.” She wrinkled her nose and pointed her fork at Nate. “See how you feel after the examination he gives you for
that
!”

Mason choked on his gulp of tea and covered his mouth, nearly spewing it through his nose.

“You don’t play fair, ma.” Matt chuckled.

Hazel took a bite of her butter-less potato and scowled up at Joe as she slowly swallowed
the bland mouthful. Gabby couldn’t help but laugh as Joe quietly reached over and cut a small strip of butter from the stick and brought it to her plate. She smiled and patted his cheek, Jake grumbling beside him.