She shook her head when they would have refuted her statement.
“Not because of me. I know that I’m not responsible for Joel’s actions. But I could have prevented at least some of their deaths. Maybe I could have only prevented one. But how many more will die or be abused or degraded because I’m afraid? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hiding. I don’t want to forever be looking over my shoulder. I just want . . . peace.”
It was only at the end of her impassioned speech that she realized her voice had carried beyond the scope of the other women, and that everyone else had quieted to listen to what she was saying.
As she glanced up, every single one of the Colters—and Max—were staring at her with gentle understanding, worry, fear and . . . pride.
She swallowed, and then again as the knot swelled in her throat and tears burned her eyelids.
“I want to be somebody you can all be proud of,” she choked out. “And right now I’m not proud of myself, so how can I expect anyone else to be?”
“Oh honey,” Holly said, emotion clouding her voice.
She hugged Lauren to her and rocked back and forth, stroking her hair.
“Listen to me, baby. I want you to look at me.”
Lauren reluctantly lifted her gaze to the older woman and was taken aback at the pride and consternation in her eyes.
“We are proud of you. So very proud. Now it’s time to forgive yourself for the mistakes you’ve made. You can’t continue to beat yourself up over choices you’ve made. You have to be willing to let go and forgive yourself. No one else blames you. Only you. I look at you and see a beautiful, kind young lady with a heart as big as these mountains. I couldn’t be more proud of you even if I’d given birth to you. You’re one of mine. Never doubt that. And as anyone will tell you, what’s mine is mine, and I love what’s mine fiercely and without reserve or condition.”
Tears slid down Lauren’s cheeks and a sob hiccupped from her throat. “I love you too,” she whispered. “All of you.”
Holly hugged her again, squeezing her until she was breathless. After a moment, she gently separated herself from Lauren and stroked the hair from Lauren’s face. Then she turned to Noah and Liam, all business.
“What is your plan for this?” she demanded.
Chapter 23
IT was hard for Liam not to charge over and take Lauren in his arms. It damn near broke his heart to listen to her break down in front of the people she loved most. He wanted to shield her from any hurt or stress, but her decision meant that hurt—and stress—were inevitable.
When Holly Colter turned her determined stare on him and Noah, and demanded to know what the plan was, he glanced at Noah and then at Seth.
Seth spoke first.
“We don’t have one yet, Mom,” he said gently. “It’s why I called the family together, so we plot out the best course and make damn sure Lauren is protected.”
“She’s our first and only priority, ma’am,” Noah said in a serious tone.
“I still want to know what that means exactly,” Max growled. “I’m having serious issues with the fact that you took advantage of Lauren during a time she was emotionally and physically at a disadvantage.”
“It means that I love her and I’m not going to stand by while someone is a threat to her,” Liam all but roared. He was pissed and growing more pissed by the minute. Now wasn’t the time to bring this shit up. “Furthermore, you don’t call the shots. Noah and I don’t work for you. We haven’t accepted one goddamn cent from you and it’s going to stay that way. Lauren is ours and what that means is that we don’t take orders from anyone when it comes to her safety and well-being. Is that clear enough for you?”
Holly rounded on Max, her mouth tight and her eyes shooting holes through Lauren’s brother. “That’s enough out of you, young man. This isn’t the time or the place to bring up a personal matter that is none of your concern. What’s important here is what we do going forward to make sure Lauren is protected.”
Liam wanted to give Holly Colter a high five. She was a little scary when she got pissed off. She was like a mama lion protecting her cubs, and look out if anyone messed with them.
When Liam glanced back at Lauren, she was staring at him, her eyes filled with love and gratitude. Warmth traveled through his body as surely as if she were in his arms.
She sent the same expression of love in Noah’s direction, and Liam saw that his friend was just as affected as Liam had been.
“My wife has a very good point,” Ethan said, speaking up for the first time. “What’s important here is what we do to ensure Lauren’s safety. Seth? Do you have ideas, son?”
Dillon scowled. “Other than making a trip to New York City and ensuring the asshole takes a fall down a long flight of stairs. Twice?”
Michael smothered a smile. Liam had to cover his own smile when Holly Colter nodded her agreement vigorously.
“Our first step has to be to decide on a meeting place and conditions,” Noah said.
“I agree,” Seth said.
“We make contact, but we have to make it clear we call the shots,” Liam interjected. “That includes the meeting place but we also have to be prepared that the D.A. may not follow our set of rules, so we have to be in place well ahead of him, monitor his arrival and not put Lauren in front of him until we’ve determined it’s safe to do so.”
Adam nodded at that.
“And we need to decide who goes,” Seth said as he surveyed the room.
“I’m going,” Max said flatly.
“No, you aren’t,” Ryan Colter said just as flatly.
Everyone turned in surprise that the older man had shut him down so quickly.
“Why the hell not?” Max demanded. “Lauren is my sister. I’m not going to sit here while someone else is charged with protecting her.”
Liam remained quiet as he waited for Ryan to speak again. He’d been about to tell Max there was no way in hell he was going, when Ryan had beat him to it.
“You’re too much of a hothead and you’re too pissed off,” Ryan said. “That’s the very last thing we need in an already volatile situation.”
Seth nodded his agreement. “At the risk of pissing you off, man, I agree with Dad.”
Noah stepped in, his tone placating. “We don’t want any possible way to trace Lauren back here. You’re a visible guy, Mr. Wilder. The very last thing you want is to bring trouble back to where your family lives. If they can connect Lauren to you, they’ll find her through you.”
Max looked as though he’d been ready to argue, but he conceded to Noah’s logic.
“You’re right,” he said in a low voice. “The very last thing I want is to put her in further danger or for anything to threaten the rest of my family.”
“Dillon and I will go,” Seth said. “Michael stays here with Lily. At least one of the dads will need to stay as well. I don’t want any of the women to be alone.”
Liam and Noah both nodded at that.
“They’ll want to put her in protective custody,” Adam said in a grim voice.
Lauren looked up in alarm.
Adam cast an apologetic look in her direction. “I’m not trying to scare you, sweetheart. The fact of the matter is, you’re a key witness, and this case has far-reaching implications and involves some very high-profile people. They’re going to want to keep you close and put you in the witness protection program until you testify.”
“Noah? Liam?” Lauren asked in a shaky voice.
“We’ve considered that possibility,” Noah said soothingly. “We’re only going to allow you to do this if it’s on our terms. We want certain things in writing or the D.A. doesn’t get to talk to you. Period. It might get our asses thrown in jail, but you’ll be on your way back here with Seth and the others where you’ll be protected.”
Her face went white and her eyes widened in alarm.
“It won’t happen, baby,” Liam said calmly. “We’ll work it out. Trust us.”
She sucked in her breath and slowly relaxed.
“We’ll need use of your jet, Mr. Wilder,” Noah said. “We don’t want a paper trail, anything with Lauren’s name on it. We don’t want her showing ID, using a credit card. Nothing. We’re going to alter her appearance for her meeting with the D.A. so that if something does go wrong, they won’t have an accurate description of her.”
“We were unable to locate any photographs of Joel Knight and Lauren together,” Liam interjected. “Nor could we find any people who knew of Lauren. The only people who are likely to know what she looks like are Joel Knight and the people who worked closest with him. One of the women who worked for him ID’d Lauren, but she’s dead now.”
“He kept me isolated,” Lauren said in a low voice. “We didn’t make many public appearances together and it was always very low key. And I was expected to be the consummate companion. Well dressed, perfectly submissive. In other words a pretty ornament to compliment him. He tried to keep me separate from his ‘business’ and anyone associated with it. I was basically a plaything he pulled out when it was convenient.”
The bitterness and self-loathing in her voice ate at Liam. He wanted nothing more than for her to be able to forget the bastard ever existed. They were in for a rough road in the next months. Hell, this thing could stretch out for years.
“I brought up the witness protection issue because I wanted to advise you to keep her close,” Adam broke in. “Don’t let them separate you. Make sure that if that’s what has to happen, you’re able to stay with her.” He glanced at Holly as he spoke, pain darkening his eyes. “My wife was once in the same position, and she stayed away from me and my brothers to protect us. That separation was hell for us. If you love her, then make damn sure she stays with you.”
There was instant agreement from both Ethan and Ryan. Holly’s gaze softened as she stared at her husbands.
“We aren’t letting her go, sir,” Noah said, resolve hardening his voice.
“I don’t think so many of you should go,” Holly spoke up.
Seth’s eyebrow rose.
“Don’t give me that look, young man,” she said in exasperation. “Have you looked at the men in this room? There’s no way a whole horde of you are going to go unnoticed when you roll into town. I realize that more is good when it comes to protecting Lauren, but if you’re trying not to gain notice, you’re going to fail miserably if two of my husbands go and two of Lily’s.”
Michael’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “She’s got you there.”
“Not all of us will be visible,” Seth said patiently. “In fact, the whole point is to stay out of sight. We’ll fly in at night. Have one person check into a hotel. It means we’ll all have to stay in the same room, but I’d rather not broadcast how many are in our party and as Mom so eloquently put it, if we’re out in broad daylight, we’re not going to go unnoticed. One person goes to the meeting with the D.A., however, we place two of us in the same location in case the situation goes south or it’s a setup. The other three will remain with Lauren with strict instructions that if they aren’t contacted at a prearranged time, they’re to cut and run with Lauren and get the hell out.”
Lauren lowered her face to her hands and rubbed tiredly. “I can’t allow you all to risk this. It’s starting to scare the hell out of me. All the what-ifs and the possibilities are making me crazy.”
“You aren’t allowing us to do anything,” Dillon said mildly. “You’re a part of this family. That means we go with you. End of story.”
Holly nodded approvingly. “That’s my boy.”
Seth snorted. “Until the next time you disown him.”
Holly silenced him with a quick glare.
“Okay so we’re agreed on who goes and who stays,” Noah said, sharply bringing the subject back on target. “The next step is to make contact with the D.A. and see if he bites.”
Liam sought Lauren’s gaze, waiting until she felt his stare and looked back at him.
“You ready to do this?” he asked softly, giving her one last opportunity to back out.
She slowly lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. Callie tightened her grip on Lauren’s hand and Lily reached across Callie’s lap to add her own. Holly wrapped her arm around Lauren’s shoulders, lending her strength as the other women had done.
There in the tight hold of her family, Lauren nodded. Her voice was firm and full of resolve.
“Yes. I’m ready. Make the call.”
Chapter 24
SWEETIE, you’ve got to stop pacing,” Holly soothed from her perch at the bar. “You’re going to wear a hole in my floor.”