The owners of Club Sin had flagged a new member’s account after I talked to them, and they’d notified the cops of the situation. The possible link had been the connection the cops needed to figure out who was abusing the 911 system and harassing Tabby. They’d been following the guy and the attempted kidnapping secured his involvement.
The police took Matt into custody, and with his name, we expect they’ll be able to determine how he targeted her.
That’s a problem I’m certain will be solved because he’ll either be behind bars or my brothers and I will make sure he never scares a woman again.
The other problem is more of an unknown. Tabby was appropriately frightened by the attempted kidnapping and had agreed that we could take her home. With her permission, we’re making one stop on the way.
We make official introductions but she’s not in the mood for small talk. She lets Malachi wrap his arms around her like I’m doing, and we hold her in the middle row of seats while Bruce drives since her car is being towed for repairs.
Holding her, I’m not sure I can ever let go. What if she thinks we’re too obsessive? What if she can’t understand who she is to us? My mouth is dry as we pull up to the gated community.
She doesn’t look up to see why we’re stopping.
Bruce rolls his window down, enters the gate code, waves to the guard on duty, then proceeds forward.
Having Tabby pressed into my body, I’m a step closer to breathing again. It means volumes that she trusts us to hold her in her time of fear. And there’s a glimmer of hope that she trusts us enough to be the missing piece in our lives.
Malachi strokes the side of her face. The heaves of her chest as another sob breaks from her are becoming fewer and farther between.
I suspect her eyes are closed as her head leans into my chest.
When we pull up to the house I say, “We have a gift for you. The idea was to get it fully remodeled, but we can have furniture moved in right away if you want.”
Her head lifts slowly and her mouth drops open as she views the house.
“This is…” Her words trail off.
“The house you wanted.”
“How did you know?” She glances between the three of us.
“When I said we would take care of you in every way, I meant it. The house is yours if you’ll accept it.”
“I can’t let you buy me a house, plus Creeper won’t be bothering me anymore. Although a gated community is still a good idea.”
Malachi reveals the next step of our plan. “We have two gated community options for you. The first is that you can accept this house whether you want us in your life or not, although we hope you’ll accept us too.”
Bruce interjects, “I like the second option better. We bought another house tucked in the back of this community and it’s big enough for all of us.”
She lowers her gaze and my body tenses as her hands toy with the hem of her blouse.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you so nice to me?”
“We’ve been looking for our woman for a long time. Jeff knew you were the one the second he saw you.” Malachi opens his phone and scrolls through text messages. “Here’s what he sent the night he met you.”
He angles the phone toward her and I read my own text: I found our missing piece.
She leans her head to the side and kisses my fingers as I caress her shoulder.
“That’s how confident I was, and still am Tabby. After you did the scene with me and then another one with us at the club, it only solidified my certainty.”
The other two nod and voice their agreements.
“We’re all good at trusting our instinct. Each of us believes that you are our fourth. And we know that you feel it too.”
The car is silent as we let her process the situation. Seconds feel like hours and I stop myself from pressuring her.
“I don’t understand how this works. I can’t ask you to pay my mortgage.”
“There’s no mortgage. We bought it with cash and have a contract drawn up to transfer it into your name. No strings attached. Our priority is to know you’re safe.”
She nods. “But you said there’s another house? A bigger one?”
Bruce puts the vehicle in reverse. “Want to go see it?”
She raises her hands. “Not yet.”
“What is this thing you’re proposing between us?”
I want her to hear from my brothers so I glance at Bruce who offers, “If you accept us, we’ll take care of you in every way. Both houses will be yours so if you ever get tired of Jeff forgetting to put the toilet seat down or Malachi leaving dirty socks in the living room, you can kick us out or just escape while they pull their shit together.”
Shooting him an evil glare, I say, “We’re not perfect but we’re trainable. What do you say? Give us a chance?”
She laughs and the mood in the car lifts. “I admit it, when it was just Jeff and me, I felt safe and protected but when I was with all three of you…I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
“That’s what we’re talking about. It’s just right,” Malachi says.
“I don’t mean to be rude or doubt this could work, but I can’t maintain a household. I need a lot of downtime. It affects my housekeeping standards. And I eat a lot of TV dinners.”
“That’s why I’ll be your driver and cook,” Bruce says.
“I’ll keep up with day-to-day tidiness and I’m sort of the handyman but we’ll have a maid once a week and lawn service,” I say, my heart lightening that she could come around.
She looks toward Malachi and we all laugh.
“I grew up with three older sisters. You need a mani, pedi, hair or makeup done, or even clothes shopping…I’m the resident expert. Being the youngest meant I spent a lot of time with my sisters babysitting me.”
“Is there anything left for me to do?”
Another round of laughter fills the car. Bruce says, “Just lay back and let us do the work.”
She shakes her head. “I’ll pitch in when I can but if I overexert myself and have a flare-up, I can be laid up for days. Going to work takes everything out of me sometimes. I might not even have the energy to…you know…lay back.”
“Then that’s the incentive for us to do everything in our power to make sure you don’t overexert yourself,” Malachi reassures her.
Bruce jumps in, “You don’t need to lift a finger unless it’s to tickle my balls, Tabby.
Malachi shakes his head, “What he’s trying to say is that you don’t have to do anything. We have it covered. You don’t even have to work.”
“Wow. That’s a bit much. I’m going to keep working no matter what. I don’t want to lose my independence, it’s a matter of pride and common sense. Most couples don’t stay together. I don’t know what the stats are on foursomes.”
“We won’t take away your independence. You can make all the decisions you want. We just want you to save your energy for the important ones. And us taking care of you doesn’t make you dependent, it just lets us treat you like the pussy cat you are.”
“Pussy cat?”
“What do pussy cats do other than lay around and let people love on them all day? That’s what we want to do with you.”
“Of course, that’s how you meant pussy. I guess we better look at the other house.” She bites her lower lip as her mouth breaks into a smile.
My entire body feels lighter as she all but accepts our offer.
“I love you, Tabby,” I say, and Bruce and Malachi quickly jump on to my statement professing their love.
She looks into my eyes. “I love you too.”
My ego takes a giant pat on the back that she addresses me first.
Then she turns to Malachi. “I love you too but Valerie might be jealous if you take over all the girlfriend activities.”
“I’m sure we’ll work it out,” he says.
Then she turns to Bruce. He’s staring over his shoulder, practically pouting that she’s addressing him last. “And I love you too, big boy.” She chucks him under the chin and we bust out laughing.
She’s going to work out just fine.
