“Hey, are you coming back down to the event? There’s some hot guy from Virginia asking where you are. He’s interested in planning a sit down for a project he’s hoping to complete next year. He wants in on your schedule.”

  “Actually, I will be, but anyway can you do me a favor?”

  “What would that be?”

  “Get me a flight out of here for tomorrow morning. I don’t think I need to stay another day, and everyone can handle the rest of the event. Besides, most people are leaving in the morning.”

  “You miss your men, huh?”

  “That obvious?”

  “Yes, and I love this. You can surprise them, and show up a whole day earlier than expected. It will be awesome,” Meredith said.

  Melina laughed. “Great minds think alike. See what you can do. I’m going to throw my stuff together, so a morning flight is fine.”

  “Excellent. I’ll get on that.”

  She ended the call and Melina smiled. She would get to see her men by tomorrow afternoon. A whole day earlier than they expected. A nice surprise to make up for not telling them about Allen and Jovani and the contract. She exhaled. She had to deal with him for a little longer, but at least Allen went back home.

  She grabbed her purse, checked herself in the mirror, and then headed out of her hotel room.

  By the time she got to the ballroom where the event was taking place, she was right smack in the middle of networking and discussing her software and any future plans for other programs. She worked her magic and secured some more contracts in the near future, until Jovani and her boss approached.

  “What is this about you leaving early?” Her boss asked in front of Jovani, who squinted at him and then eyed her over in her purple business dress.

  “Oh, something came up, and since I’m not really needed for tomorrow, I figured I can head back and relax the next few days. In fact, I need to see if Meredith was able to get me an early flight. I’ll head up to pack shortly.”

  “Well, you deserve to take a few days off, Melina. You’ve been working nonstop and everything is coming together nicely. Have a safe flight, and we’ll talk when you get back to the office in a few days.”

  “Sounds good,” she said as he walked away, and she started to turn when she felt Jovani grab her wrist. He stepped closer to her and whispered down into her ear.

  “We should talk. Make plans to meet up and discuss the contract.”

  “No need to. That was why I didn’t meet up with you this past weekend. The attorneys took care of everything. Your client will be more than satisfied, and I will have my best staff working on it.”

  “With your guidance there as well, correct?”

  “Of course, but I don’t need to be there constantly. It isn’t necessary, but the contract does have me down for hours each day and confirmation of things going smoothly, which of course they will. My people are the best.”

  “I’m looking forward to seeing you in action. I will arrange dinner for us, and perhaps some excursions to view the prospects the resort has to offer.”

  “That won’t be necessary, and I’ll have company with me on the trip I’ll need to entertain.”

  “Company?”

  “Yes.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “The contract was specific about your work schedule and involvement.”

  “I read it.”

  “Security is important as well.”

  “Well my guests are pretty resourceful, and beyond any hotel type security, believe me. Anyway, it will work out. I need to mingle, there’s someone waving me over now. Enjoy.” She walked away with him fuming mad. So badly she wanted to tell him she was seeing four bad ass military men who could kick his ass with one fist, but she held her annoyance back. Her men were none of Jovani’s business. She was protective of them, and the thought had her smiling as she greeted the man from Virginia with the diamond cuff links and cowboy boots. He was a character in a half, and she spent the next hour talking to him and making plans for work. Then, as she mingled some more, Jovani came over to interrupt the conversation and engage her and the women she was speaking to. He, of course, snagged their attention with his bull shit charm games she knew so well, so when her cell phone rang, she excused herself to answer it.

  “Hey, beautiful. Good timing?” Blade asked.

  “Perfect timing. I miss you so much,” she said, and then turned to see the women smiling at her and Jovani looking pissed.

  She covered the phone. “Excuse me, ladies, have a good evening,” she said and walked away.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, and walked toward the hallway to talk to Blade.

  “You sound tired.”

  “I am, but I’m going to head up to the room shortly. What do you have going on tomorrow?” she asked, feeling giddy about surprising them. As he talked about friends stopping by for some beers and to sit by the pool and then nothing after that, she smiled to herself. Meredith had gotten her a ten a.m. flight, and she would be in her men’s arms by the afternoon.

  * * * *

  Allen waited not so patiently in the hallway leading up to the third floor. It was quiet and Melina had the corner suite. When she came into view, he quickly pulled the knitted mask over his head and slid into the corner. As she came by, he grabbed her and pulled her into the stairwell as she tried to fight him off. He hadn’t expected the elbow to his gut and the punch to his face. It pissed him off and he raged, swinging at her several times and ripping her dress, and then shoving her hard against the wall. He was frantic to taste her, to have her, as he gripped her hips, scratched her inner thighs and went to press fingers to her cunt. She screamed at him and slammed her forehead against his head then grabbed for something. The sound of an alarm, some kind of piercing sound echoed through the stairwell, and he knew he fucked up. She was prepared. Not like any other woman. He backhanded her across the mouth and she fell to the ground as he ran down the stairs to get the hell out of there. When he pushed through the doorway to the exit, he saw a few workers smoking as he pulled off the mask. They saw him. He fucked up again and roared. He felt the pain to his mouth and his nose. He tasted the blood. The bitch got him. He was fucked. He had to get the hell out of here and quickly back to South Carolina.

  * * * *

  Melina was still shaking as security arrived in the stairwell and law enforcement as well. It was a mess, but she wasn’t raped or killed. Her self-defense training and that little alarm device on her purse she always carried scared her attacker and sent him away running.

  “The ambulance is on the way.”

  She was hurting everywhere, and one of the men placed a jacket over the front of her. Her dress was ripped. The police got stuff to wipe the blood and help her. They asked her questions and she couldn’t even talk she was shaking so hard. It was all a blur, and then she heard them say some workers saw a man with a mask come running from the side exit. It was dark, but they gave a little bit of a description. “Allen Pinioli. Oh God, it was Allen who attacked me. Oh God,” she said, and started to cry.

  * * * *

  “We should be flying there and coming back with her. This is fucking bullshit!” Blade yelled. They sat in the airport, all of them, and their sister, her friends, and the other men. A whole group of them just waiting to see Melina and to hold her.

  “She didn’t want us, too. We wouldn’t have been able to get there in time and then switch over flights. Her boss and Meredith and staff are with her. She isn’t alone,” Trek said.

  The plane had landed and people were coming down the hallway. A large group and then smaller and smaller, and then they saw her. She was walking slowly, wearing sunglasses, but Blade could see the bruising on her neck, her face, and lips. They hurried to her. Her boss and staff looked angry and sad, and she cried out as Blade gently took her into his arms.

  “Jesus, baby. Oh God,” he whispered, and his brothers were right there with her, caressing her. When he eased back, she was crying.

  “Please take me home. I just want to go home,” she said, and Morris hugged her to him, then Trek and Vetter.

  Jo was crying, along with Amber, who Corona hugged from behind. Everyone was upset including her boss. “Morris,” he said to him, and Morris and Blade stepped aside with her boss.

  “Thank you for taking care of her.”

  “Of course. I’m so angry right now, but I wanted you to know that they’re on the hunt for Allen. The detectives in New York said Melina is going to be contacted by more detectives. I gave them your number, so you know. They didn’t explain anything, but I’m sure they’ll be calling soon.”

  “Thank you. We’ll handle it, and we have friends in the area who are investigators. They’re helping to locate Allen as well.”

  They shook his hand again and then they all headed out of the airport and back to their place. Everyone left them alone with Melina.

  “What can we get you?” Vetter asked.

  Blade was clenching his teeth. The bruises on her face pissed him off so much. He already made calls to help find Allen. If he got his chance, the fucker would disappear forever.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sat on the edge of the bed. She opened her arms. “Hold me,” she said to him.

  Vetter knelt on the rug between her legs and she hugged him. She cried again. She had been trying to be so tough in front of everyone as they asked what happened and she explained in detail. She told them she didn’t want to keep repeating the story so she would tell it once and that was it. Melina wasn’t a person to ponder over things. Bad things anyway. She wanted past it and he understood that as well. With them, she let go. She cried and they would comfort her.

  She kissed Vetter’s neck and looked at Blade, Morris, and Trek, who stood there feeling helpless.

  “Make love to me. Hold me please,” she whispered, and Vetter pulled back. He caressed her thighs in the dress she wore.

  “Are you sure, baby? Maybe that isn’t such a good idea right now,” Vetter asked.

  Blade watched the tears roll down her cheeks.

  “You don’t want me anymore?”

  “What? No, no fucking way. That isn’t it at all,” Blade said, and fell to his knees by the bed. He cupped her cheek.

  She cupped his. “I need you. When the four of you are close, when you’re making love to me, it feels perfect and nothing can harm me. If that scares you, maybe you don’t have the same strong feelings I do.”

  “No. I love you, Melina. I should have told you sooner.”

  “We all should have,” Morris added.

  “You all love me?” she asked as more tears fell.

  “Yes,” Trek said.

  “Yes,” Vetter added.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered, and Vetter helped her stand up. He and Blade began to undress her.

  When Blade saw the finger marks, the scratches and bruising by her thighs and her mound, he exhaled and was breathing through his nostrils. She cupped his cheek. “Take his touch away, Blade. Help me,” she whispered, and then kissed his lips. He kissed her back as he undressed, and Vetter got undressed, too. Blade lowered her to the bed and him, Vetter, Morris, and Trek laid her out on the edge and began to kiss and suckle her skin.

  It was so fucking hard not to lose his mind as his eyes, and then his mouth came in contact with the remnants of her attack. It was bad enough to see her battered face, the swollen lip, her bruised cheekbone, and bruises on her neck. Then to see finger marks on her inner thighs right to her groin made him see red. He submerged the anger. He would deal with it, get it off his chest later and out of her sight so he wouldn’t upset her. He focused on loving her.

  “Make love to me, please,” she begged of them. Blade lifted her up into his arms as his brothers moved out of the way, ready to make love to her next.

  He rolled to his back and he cupped her head and good cheek as she maneuvered over his cock. She sunk down on him.

  “I missed you all so much. I was going to surprise you and get here early this morning,” she said, and a tear fell.

  Vetter moved in behind her. He kissed her neck. “We missed you, too. Just feel, Melina. We’re here for you. We’ll protect you always,” he whispered, and then she moaned, and rocked her hips then lowered.

  “That’s it, baby. Your ass is nice and wet. Ready for my cock.”

  “Yes, Vetter. Please. I need you, too,” she said, and his brother slid his cock into her ass, and then two of them made love to her together. She moaned and gripped onto his shoulders. Blade let go and just breathed through the fears the anger he had and just felt how perfect Melina was.

  “Tell me you love me. Please, tell me,” she said, eyes closed, head tilted back.

  “I love you, Melina,” Vetter whispered, and grabbed her hair and suckled against her neck.

  “I love you, Melina,” Blade said, and then cried out his release. They both couldn’t seem to hold back as they thrust into her over and over again then came.

  * * * *

  Trek pulled Melina into his arms as he scooted to the edge of the bed. She kissed his neck, his shoulders, and then his chest.

  “I love you, baby. So very much,” Trek told her, and she smiled and lifted up and sunk down on his cock. It was so hard to look at the bruises. To know some man, and ex attacked her, planned on raping her. Jesus, it was difficult to put out of his head.

  She cupped his cheeks. “Don’t. Don’t let him ruin this. Ruin what we have,” she told him, and he squinted at her, but then she closed her eyes and exhaled.

  “Never. He doesn’t exist here with us. You’re safe, and we love you,” Morris told her and she moaned. Vetter could feel her pussy tighten and he knew that Morris slid his cock into her ass from behind.

  “Move. I won’t last long. Just can’t with this sexy body, and how perfect my woman is,” Morris said to her, and rocked into her ass.

  She moaned and thrust back and forth, up and down, and they increased their thrusts. They needed to feel the depth of their connection as well, and to know Melina was safe in their arms. Trek held her gaze.

  “Eyes on me when you come. I love to see you orgasm. To know how good it feels to have our cocks deep in your body, claiming you, our woman.”

  “Oh, Trek.”

  “Don’t look away. Eyes on me. That’s an order.”

  “Oh God.” She moaned and her eyes fluttered as she came, but she didn’t look away. It drove him wild. To see her submissiveness and acceptance to his command.

  “I love you,” he said.

  “I’m there.” Morris grunted.

  They came together, then kissed her skin as they slid from her body. Blade was there to clean her up and then tuck her under the sheets next to Morris. She lay her head against his side. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Allen and Jovani sooner. Or about how they flirted, and I just didn’t think Allen could go so far. I mean, what happened to him?”

  “It doesn’t matter now. We know he’s a creep and he won’t hurt you again. We’ll make sure of it,” Morris told her.

  Trek caressed her hair from her cheek. “We got you, baby. Try to get some rest.”

  “It’s just so hard to think that a man like Allen, one who could get any woman he wanted, would go to such lengths to hurt me.”

  “He never got over you,” Trek said to her, and kissed her shoulder.

  “Was he ever abusive, Melina, or violent?” Blade asked.

  “No. Absolutely not. He was narcissistic, hung up on his image, and how people perceived him to be. I was a trophy girlfriend. Plus, he cheated on me, and God only knows how many times. That’s what I don’t understand. This doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “Maybe he had other reasons,” Vetter said.

  “He enjoyed certain things, one was making his father—” She covered her mouth and sat up. She looked at them.

  “What?” Morris asked.

  “I was going to say making his father jealous, angry, getting back at him was something he would do.”

  “You think he did this because of the contract your company made with the father?” Blade asked.

  “Definitely could have. I mean, we pulled out. Our lawyers, my boss immediately cancelled any and all dealings with Slader company and Jovani. That’s a multi-million dollar contract Jovani loses. Never mind the repercussions of this incident and the attempted rape and attack. They’ll go under,” she said, and then lay back down.

  “Jovani will be pissed, and he could come after you as well,” Vetter said.

  “We’ll take care of him,” Trek said.

  “No, we have our friends do it legally. Roman and them have connections in the state police. Caden is working with the detectives from New York, and will also be involved when these other detectives contact us,” Morris said.

  “What do they want? Where are they from?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but by tomorrow we will. Let’s get some rest, and embrace the fact that you’re safe and secure in our arms and in our bed where you belong, forever,” Morris said to her. She snuggled up close, and Trek looked at Blade. He and Vetter walked over to the recliners and got comfortable there. Melina was safe, but by morning he hoped they heard from their commander who would do what he could to find Allen for the detectives. He could be charged and put in jail. They weren’t going to let Melina out of their sights.

  Chapter 8

  “Are you serious?” Melina asked, as tears rolled down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away. Blade wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

  “I’m afraid so. It seems Allen has had these violent tendencies for quite some time. We were able to link certain aspects of Priscilla’s murder and the crime scene to two other homicides,” Detective Walker Patterson told her.

  “He would have raped me, killed me, and made it look like a drug overdose?” she asked as more tears fell, and she felt sick. Absolutely sick.