Dare to Forgive(9)

“Because I still love you, baby. I want to talk to you and make things up to you.”

“Bye.” She clicked the phone off and exhaled. The tears hit her eyes and she growled low.

That son of a bitch. Why can’t he just leave me alone? What does he want from me?

“Adel?” She felt the hand on her shoulder and instinctively, she abruptly turned around and was shocked to lock gazes with Will. He looked concerned and she closed her eyes and kept her hands at her side.

She felt his hands caress her arms and held her there. Her eyes popped open.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head.

“Do you need my help?”

“No, Will. I’m sorry. It’s personal. I’ll be fine. I can take care of it.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, reaching for her chin and tilting her face up toward him so she could lock gazes with him.

“Yes, Will, I have to be.”

She turned away from him and headed inside.



* * * *



Will watched Adel walk away and he was concerned to say the least. Whomever called her was obviously bothering her and not listening to her request to leave her alone. Was it an ex-boyfriend? Was the guy abusive? Maybe someone who drank a lot and hurt her? His mind was assuming so many things after their nice conversation during lunch and what she shared. Hell, if her ex—well, if there was an ex—who drank a lot and was abusive to her then he would give up drinking if it made her uncomfortable. He wanted to know who the guy was. He wanted to help her and to take the look of fear, of anger and sadness from her eyes. He had to talk to his brothers.

They had all witnessed her taking calls from her mom and how sad she got. They knew nothing about her family, her past, or even where she worked before. Their father Harold knew her and recommended giving her the job. They accepted their father’s good judgment and they hadn’t been disappointed since. In fact, they spent more time around her than they needed to. Having her help with this new business venture was a plus. He needed to talk to Leo. If some guy was harassing her, together they would take care of him and protect Adel. She was going to be theirs eventually. They just needed to gain her trust and prove to her that they weren’t going to hurt her.

He felt sick. What if Adel had been abused? What if the guy still wanted her? He had to find out. He exhaled and entered the building searching for Leo and Hank, but it was time to meet again in the meeting room and Adel was already there looking professional and ready. Her smile seemed sincere, but he knew she was hiding her emotions. Something was going on and he and his brothers would get to the bottom of it.





Chapter 2




Adel looked around Spencer’s as she sipped on a glass of white wine. She wasn’t in the mood for drinking, for socializing for that matter. Bentley called her again and it was making her crazy. Why did he want to know where she was working and if she was handling things okay? She just wanted to be left alone and to have the past behind her, but she was uptight, on edge, and it didn’t help that Steve was here and so were his brothers. All four of them were watching her, and then she saw Will and Leo. She swallowed hard. They stood out in a crowd with their designer dress pants and solid polo shirts. Add in their attitudes, the way they walked around like they owned the place, and oh yeah, they grabbed every woman’s attention in the place.

“Hey, beautiful, will your friends let you leave them long enough for me to buy you a drink?” Steve asked, interrupting her zoned out time. She felt embarrassed and hoped no one noticed her staring at two of her bosses.

Mercedes raised one of her eyebrows up at him. “Are you kidding me? And leave me to fend on my own with these lovebirds surrounding us?”

Adel laughed and so did Steve. He reached both hands out to the two of them.

“Come on both of you. We’ll buy you a drink.”

Mercedes took Steve’s hand and so did Adel and then they walked with them toward his brothers and some group of guys. Adel noticed Deputy Taylor Dawn, out of uniform of course, and two of his brothers, Kurt and Warner. Their eyes immediately roamed over Mercedes and she looked away from them.

Adel had the feeling that the Dawn brothers were interested in Mercedes. Warner and Kurt were pretty mysterious men who had military pasts. She could remember hearing some gossip about them being spies and very resourceful. Mercedes worked in the sheriff’s department so she probably heard things, too. Mercedes had a hard childhood and young adult life, so Adel could understand her fears. Hers were similar. If she couldn’t trust her own father and mother, how could she ever trust any man?

Adel felt the hand on her lower back and then Steve whisper next to her ear.