As he held out his hand to her, she was helpless but to go to him.
Automatically, Thane swept her into his lap and cuddled her close. It was so amazing to be back in his arms, to feel his warmth sink into her bones, to feel safe again. It was something that only the guys could give her, and these months had been so difficult without it.
“So, we will talk about the baby stuff later. Yes, we believe you. But it wouldn’t matter. For now, we need to chat about other stuff.” Adrian said, coming closer and handing her the tablet that she had recently bought. There was a program on it for mute people which spoke out what she typed.
It was a little difficult to use the tablet when Thanatos was holding her so tightly, but she opened the program and looked at Sin, wondering what he would say. He looked wound up, pacing her floor as if something was eating him up inside. She wanted to tell him to sit down, but she knew that he wouldn’t.
“I’m sorry to tell you, hot-stuff, but someone broke into your house.” Sin’s words were hard, fast, and at first Sophie thought that she was talking about them, but Sin looked too keyed up to be joking.
“What? How do you know?” She typed in her text-to-voice program. As the feminine computerized voice spoke, she tried to stand up, tried to look around. She needed to see what happened, but Thane held her securely in his arms.
“We noticed the back door open. It was how we got in, but the lock is broken. There is a mess everywhere, including your bedroom. There is also a painted message for you.” His words hit her in the stomach.
Someone broke into her home? Someone ruined her things? Someone wrote something? It was almost unbelievable. Why would someone do that?
It was so personal, so threatening. Now she understood just how upsetting the attack against Mel, Cay, and Seth had been. How violated they must have felt.
“What was the message?” She typed, needing to know. Was it a threat?
It sounded just like the message that Melody, Caleb, and Seth found last year.
But Tim had died. It couldn’t be him!
Sin sighed and turned to face her, his expression holding both anger and concern. “It says ‘You’re not wanted here.’.”
What the heck? It felt like a stab, like a knife twisting in her heart.
She always tried to help people around the community. She was always nice to everyone. Sophie couldn’t imagine why someone would want her to leave so badly that they would vandalize her house, or her car. How could someone do that?
And what was she going to do about it?
“Sorry.” Thane’s deep voice was a balm to her soul, but she still ached.
Sitting on his lap felt more like home than this house, but she knew that it might be temporary. They hadn’t decided anything yet. They hadn’t talked about their problems.
“Phie, maybe you should come with us. We can leave tonight. I don’t like you here, when you’re being threatened.” He sounded so concerned, and she wanted to just believe it, but how could she? After the argument that they had before she left Hell, it was difficult to trust.
“I don’t know.” She typed, too much hope and worry to say no right away.
“Look, I know that you want to stay with your sister, Annie, but we can take her too. Heck, if she’s as sassy as you we’d gladly bring her along.” His words tore at her once more. Not just a reminder of all that she had lost, but it also told Sophie that maybe they weren’t happy with just her.
“She didn’t make it. She died before I came back.” She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to cry again so soon.
Sin looked struck. But he couldn’t have been half as shocked as she felt when heard the news.
Thane learned forward, nuzzling her head. “Sorry.” He whispered, his voice sounding thick with emotion.
Their show of emotion on her behalf was staggering. It was humbling. It made her wonder if maybe she had misunderstood them.
Maybe they did care about her for more than her body. Maybe they had wanted to be with her.
Sophie knew that she could have stepped back, could have talked to them about everything, but it was too much, too overwhelming at the time. They hadn’t known each other long. They didn’t know much about each other. All she knew were the words that Sin harshly spat out, and Thane’s silence.
But maybe it was better to talk about them, rather than this disastrous day.
“Why are you here?” She asked them, holding her breath.
This was important. More important than she had thought possible. If only they cared about her. If only they wanted her. Then maybe she could ignore all the hate, all the loss. If only she had this one thing.
Sophie knew that she was putting a lot of pressure on them, whether they knew it or not. It wasn’t fair. They were only people, and could not be held responsible for her happiness, but she just needed one win.
“You,” Thane’s growly voice soaked into her, like his heat, warming something cold in her chest.
Sin stopped pacing, and looked at Sophie with confusion. “Why else?”
Sophie shrugged. She wanted to take it at that, but she needed more. She wouldn’t settle for less than she deserved. Not this time.
“But why?” The voice wasn’t hers. It would never be, but she was glad that it didn’t break with emotion, it didn’t come out as a sob. It was electronic, foreign, and for once she was glad for it.
“Because you’re ours! You
