"Breaks me?"
Lukus answered her. "He's a sadist. He gets off on dominating women. What makes him dangerous is that he especially likes breaking in women who resist him. It's all a big game to him."
Memories of how Jake had tied her down and hurt her before taking her forcibly while she begged him to stop had her shaking. These men had just described her nightmare visit to Jake Davenport’s house.
Dylan picked up on her thoughts. "Fuck, he's already hurt you, hasn't he?" She couldn't figure out why he looked so angry. "What did he do to you at his house?"
"That's none of your business." The words to confirm what Jake had done to her wouldn't come. A sense of shame she knew she didn't deserve washed over her as she remembered not only his actions, but how her body had betrayed her in the most confusing of ways. She looked away, desperate not to let these men see how vulnerable she felt in that moment.
Dylan reached out to gently stroke her arm. The action was such a stark contrast to her memories in Jake's horror house earlier that week. She couldn't stop trembling. When she looked up, the three men were watching her carefully.
"He's never going to leave me alone, is he?" she choked out.
Lukus answered, the pity in his voice clear. "I'm afraid not. That's why we need to put him behind bars."
She stepped away from the men, turning her back to them so they couldn't see the tears coming to her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging herself as she thought.
She had messed up so many times. She should have listened to her internal reservations and steered clear of Jake. She shouldn't have taken the journal. She should have gone to the police right after he'd raped her; while they could still collect evidence.
I should have packed the car and driven Connor and me away from this place yesterday morning.
Fear for Connor's safety warred with her own promise to herself to try and prevent any other women from suffering the way she had at the hands of Jake Davenport. Alone, she knew she had no clue how to battle the evil that was Jake. Could these three alpha men help her? Dare she trust them?
The quiet of the room was broken by the sound of the near-by connector door linking her apartment to Rosa's cracking open. In unison, the three men whipped out concealed handguns, pointing them at the unexpected movement as if Jake Davenport were about to stroll through the door.
Hannah turned on them, holding her arms out wide as if she could somehow stop their bullets with her petite body. "NO! Put your guns away! Right now!"
The men refused to lower their weapons until Connor's childish voice called for her. "Mommy!"
Hannah was watching Dylan and saw the surprise register in his grey eyes as Connor ran up from behind her to throw his three-year-old arms around her legs, clinging to her, afraid of the big bad men with guns pointed at his mommy. All three guns were lowered to the floor.
Hannah heard Mama Rosa's wheelchair approaching from behind. "I have my cell phone. I'm calling 9-1-1 in exactly thirty seconds if you aren't out of here." Her accent may have been thick, but the men understood.
With the emergency diffused, Hannah turned, pulling Connor up into her arms where he clung to her like a monkey. "It's okay, Rosa. These are actually the good guys. I've been having some trouble with a guy at work, and these men are trying to help me get him out of my life."
Rosa looked each of the men up and down suspiciously before visibly relaxing. She didn't let them off the hook, though. "Where I come from, the good guys come in through the front door and not the side window," she scolded.
Lukus answered sheepishly. "Yes, ma'am."
Hannah snuggled against Connor to hide her smile at the sight of the man who was obviously used to being in charge looking contrite. Her eyes met Dylan's as his own grin lit up his face. She felt the flush in her cheeks under his scrutiny, liking how he made her feel safe when he was around.
Too bad safety was an illusion.
Lukus took charge. "We didn't know you had a son. This complicates things."
Hannah couldn't stop her snarky reply. "You think? I can't let anything hurt Connor."
"Where's Connor's father?" It was Dylan probing this time.
A familiar panic rose in her at that question. "That's none of your damn business. He's not in our lives anymore." She hadn't meant to bite his head off. How could he know Connor's parentage was a very difficult topic?
"Whoa. Let's all stay calm." Ironically, it was Dylan's muscular brother who tried to defuse the situation. He leapt into motion, surprising everyone in the room when he moved forward slowly to reach his hands out to Connor. "Well hello there, young man. My name is Derek. How would you like to go with me next door to your neighbor's so your mommy can talk with my friends?"
Connor clung to her harder, afraid of the hulk of a man. He stood over a foot taller than her, and Hannah had to force herself to look up into Derek's eyes. She saw an odd gentleness there she hadn't expected from a man with visible tattoos and rippled muscles. It was strange, but in that moment she knew the safest place in the world for Connor was with this guy.
"It's okay, baby. These are mommy's friends. You don't need to be afraid of them," she whispered to her son.
When Connor refused to relinquish his hold on his mom, Derek spoke to him gently. "I bet you didn't know that my wife is pregnant and I'm about to be a dad for the first time. I'm
