My lips parted as I gaped at him.
There was that damn word again.
Out of the corner of my eye, Jake walked into the conference room, his laptop and a notebook tucked under his bicep. He didn’t see me—or he just didn’t want to, I couldn’t be too sure—but when his focus landed on Hayes, he stopped in tracks and his eyes nearly popped out of his head behind his glasses. His question was like a gunshot. “Motherfucker, are you chewing gum?”
I looked at Hayes, watching his jaw work for a moment before blowing a bubble. The sound of the pop echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls. Ash stiffened in his chair beside me and Dominic just looked to the floor, his mouth in a tight, grim line.
I cleared my throat. “What’s wrong with that?” I asked. “Hayes has been chewing gum all morning.”
Was Hayes not allowed to chew gum?
Was this some bad habit he was supposed to break?
Ash chuckled, the sound filled with a sickening darkness that had the hairs on my arms rising. “Oh, I bet he has, sweetheart.”
“What the fuck?”
My neck twisted and I leaned back into my chair. Jake was looking at me now, and I wished he hadn’t given me the time of day. His stuff was now discarded on the table, his hands plantedon top, and he was leaning forward, his huge body vibrating with fury. His upper lip curled, shifting his auburn facial hair.
“I’m going to kill the son of bitch who laid his fucking hands on you,” he growled, scanning my bruise.
I blinked, holding my breath. I’d known these guys for more than a year, and Jake had never looked the way he did now. He was the shy, quiet one. The kind one. Right now, Jake wasn’t in front of me. Instead, a stranger stood in his place, violence radiating from him.
“Get in line.”
This came from Dominic. A secondary chill swept down my spine.
“Steady,” Gray rumbled from his place. Out of the corner of my eye, Hayes moved away from Grayson’s chair, coming back to me. I felt his heat at my side as he pulled out his chair but he didn’t take a seat.
“Murphy, whatever you’re feeling, I need you to get a lock on it,” he said, his voice low. My eyes darted back and forth between the two men.
Jake ignored him, looking at me. His eyes were no longer brown. All I saw was red. “Who put their hands on you?” he asked, his chest heaving.
Oh, dear God.
“Jake,” I whispered. “I’m okay.”
“Steady,” Grayson ordered again, rising from his seat.
The air in the room became charged with something then. To my right, Ash was getting up, leaning over the table. “Murphy,” he called. “Lock it down.”
Jake’s now-red eyes never left mine as he rasped, “Someone hurt you. Fuck, Margo, someonehurtyou.”
I jerked, the weight of not his words but the pain behind them hitting me like a runaway train, leveling me completely. Hayes’ hand came to my shoulder, the tips of his fingers grazing theskin of my collarbone. “And we’re going to take care of them,” he promised. “But we can’t do that without you, Murphy. Lock it down and focus.”
“Please, Jake,” I begged, reaching across the table, putting my hand on top of his.
His hand flipped over, squeezing mine as he nodded.
Then I gave them the carefully crafted truth, keeping my walls intact. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but when I was done, Grayson only had one question. And it wasn’t for me.
“You said she’s under your protection, correct?”
I stiffened.
“Affirmative,” Hayes replied, his hand now at the back of my neck, his thumb drawing soothing circles at the base of it.
Jake looked at Ash and then twisted in his chair to look at Dominic, all three of them silently communicating something. “You marking her?” Ash asked, leaning back in his chair.