Lost in Silence (The Lost Series Book 1)(27)

My face pales. How did she know? My eyes fly to Hudson, he’s staring at me with understanding and warmth. I can read his thoughts. He knows why I look down, he doesn’t like it anymore than Missy but he’s more afraid of frightening me, which is why he hasn’t said anything about it. He’s right but only because I’m more afraid of him than Missy.

“Missy,” a voice calls from inside the voice. A male voice, one I don’t know. I pull away from her instantly and step back. “Is it them?”

“Just a second,” Missy watches me nervously. “I invited a few friends. I hope that’s all right.”

“Missy,” Hudson’s voice is low. His face darkens, making Missy fidget.

“I invited them before I knew you were bringing Alice home,” she shrugs, trying to keep her face masked. I canread between the lines, she didn’t know about my aversion to people.

“You should’ve called and canceled,” he whispers harshly, trying to keep his voice down. I wonder if he told her about me when she dropped my new clothing off.

“Hudson, I already ordered the cake and the food,” she explains, watching me instead of her brother. “I’m sorry Alice. I didn’t think it through. If you guys want to leave I’ll understand.”

I shake my head. No, we will stay.

I don’t know where the courage comes from but I step towards her. Yes, I’m scared out of my mind and I’m not sure what I was exactly it is I’m agreeing to but I had to trust they wouldn’t put me in a bad spot. I need to learn to trust them, so I decided to push away any fear I felt and trudge on. Missy looks at her brother with an apologetic smile but he glares down at her. I cringe. I don’t want him to be mad at her. She did the right thing. I’m the one with the problem.

He steps toward me but I put a hand up stopping him. He clasps my hand loosely, his eyes searching mine. “You don’t have to do this. They’ll understand.”

His words were all I needed to hear to know I could get through this. I knew these men would be good to me and it helped knowing I would have Hudson’s unconditional support if I decide it’s too much and need to bail. But I need to do this. I need to overcome my fears.

Stepping past him, I move into the house.

*****

Hudson

Missy was only thinking with her heart and for that, I can’t stay angry at her. She invited my brothers to dinner, the men who know me best. The men who I know will take one look at the woman by my side and protect her until their last breath. Even Kingston, although I know I’ll hear shit about the situation because she’s a distraction, one I can’t afford this late in my assignment. He’ll ride my ass because he’s my boss but also because it’s what he does.

When we walk into the house I expect to be bombarded with greetings. Instead, my brothers are standing on the other side of the room, plenty of distance between us and them. Concern etched into their faces and knowledge in their eyes. My sister told them about Alice.

“Alice,” I grab her hand and pull her close. She’s tense. Her eyes are on the large men in the room. A flash of fear crosses her face but it disappears quickly. She recognizes some of their faces from the photo. “This is my team, well some of them.”

She looks at me gives me a small smile. No trace of fear or discomfort showing on her face. Curiosity and respect shines through her eyes. It was the same look she had on her face when she first saw the group photo on my mantle. Alice steps towards the guys, eagerly now. I follow behind and begin introductions. They meet us halfway, careful to maintain a respectable distance. Even though we are missing a few faces for various reasons, I’m grateful to have them here with us and strangely proud to have her meet them.

“This guy here is Damien Reynolds but we call him Dizzy,” I introduce the closest to us. He takes a step forward and Alice sticks her hand out. Missy gasps. I watch dumbfounded. This is unexpected.

“Very nice to meet you Alice,” Dizzy takes her hand carefully, his smile big. He lets Alice control the contact. It was brief but only because she is onto the next. Sidestepping Dizzy, she moves closer to the guys.

“This is Austin Miller, we call him Marley,” she takes his hand too, an even bigger smile on her face now. For a moment, my gut clenches, as jealousy consumes me. The smile she gives Marley makes me want to punch him square in the jaw. Alice drops his hand just as quickly as she did with Dizzy and moves on, even more eager. I push aside the green monster boiling inside of me to keep up with her.

“This is Jerrod Rios or as we like to call him, Zero,” I glare at him. Fuck, Zero was the pretty boy of the group. His nickname represents the number of women who turn him down. Zero meets my eyes, reading the warning and quickly looks away. She shakes his hand tightly and I swear she would have yanked his arm out of the socket if he hadn’t been a rock of a man.