Never let her go

Chapter 38

Ezra POV

We watched Lucy, Noah, and Theo walk away.

My heart was tugging in my chest, and I couldn’t wait for my cousins to leave so I could go hug my sister. I could see that she was hurt, and the guilt I felt was eating my insides. I needed her to tell me she was not mad. I needed to see if she would let me hug her.

As soon as we heard her bedroom door close, the questions started.

“Where is he, Liam?” grandpa asked, clenching his fists angrily.

“What did you do with him?” Dylan asked, not giving Liam the chance to speak.

“Who…” uncle Dan started to ask, but Liam raised his hands, stopping him.

“I will tell you everything if you give me a chance to speak.” he said calmly, but I could hear irritation in his voice.

“Go on.” grandpa sighed.

“We reported them to the police.” Liam started to explain. “Lucy gave a statement. Nate gave them the report of the injuries she had when she came here and gave his own statement as the physician who examined her.”

My family’s eyes narrowed, and I could see each one of their jaws tick.

“Them?” Carter asked coldly.

“You said it was her stepfather.” uncle Dan added.

“It was.” Liam sighed and glanced at me.

I could see a plea for help in his eyes.

“Her stepfather had a friend who would sometimes hurt her too.” I added, moving my gaze from Liam to the rest of my family.

The temperature in the room dropped. I could feel the coldness of their gazes seeping into my bones.

To say they were shocked was an understatement. If I gave even the slightest fuck about what happens to Jack and Brian, I would be sorry for them. If anyone of them had their hands on Jack or Brian right now, they would be dead in seconds. But I didn’t give a fuck. I would gladly watch them die right now.

“What?” Dylan managed to ask after a few silent moments.

“You are telling me that my little girl was abused by two grown men?” grandpa gritted through his teeth.

Liam and I nodded, staying silent and letting them process.

Not that they could ever process something like that. I’ve known for weeks, and I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it. Every time I looked at that little girl upstairs, I wondered how someone could do anything that would hurt her. I wondered how the bastard managed to hit her. I wondered how he managed to see her cry, how he could listen to her begging him to stop.

I wanted to rip my soul apart every time I saw tears fall out of her eyes. I’ve made it my sole purpose on this Earth to protect her. Nothing would ever hurt her again.

“They didn’t…” Carter started speaking quietly, his voice breaking.

He closed his eyes and muttered a curse under his breath.

“Please tell me that they didn’t rape her.” he said quietly, keeping his eyes closed and his fists clenched.

Gasps filled the room and Liam looked at me. I shook my head. We can’t betray her like that.

“It’s her story to tell.” Liam said, trying to remain calm.

“Liam…” Dylan started to speak, but I interrupted him.

“No, Dylan.” I said sternly. “We won’t share anything with you. If she wants to tell you about her injuries, she will. Please don’t put us in the situation where she will be mad at us.”

“Ezra is right.” Liam nodded. “We already told you too much. We would never have done it if the situation was different.”

The room was silent for a few moments.

“Liam and Ezra are right.” grandpa said, breaking the silence. “We can’t put them on the spot like that. Lucy will tell us when she is ready.”

My uncle and cousins nodded reluctantly.

“Can you please tell us where they are?” Matt asked. “Are they in prison? When is the trial?”

Liam glanced at me, and I wished we were sitting closer so I could squeeze his hand. This was hard for him.

“When the police went to their house to arrest them, they were gone.” Liam said slowly.

“They escaped and we don’t know where they are.” I finished for him, which earned me a grateful look from Liam.

The rest of my family looked shocked. I thought their eyes were going to fall out of their sockets.

“You are fucking with us right now?” Carter spoke first.

“No.” Liam said, shaking his head. “They escaped in Brian’s car. The police weren’t able to find them yet.”

“We have our own men looking for them, but no luck so far.” I added.

“We are afraid that they will try to take her.” Liam continued. “Jack, her stepfather, told her not to get comfortable with us because he would be taking her back. That’s why we added more security around the place, and Lucy has her own bodyguard.”

Okay, now I'm sure their eyes are going to fall out. They looked kind of funny, to be honest. If it was any other situation, I would be laughing at their expressions right now.

I was glad Liam and I managed to finish the story without their interruptions right now. It was like ripping the bandage off.

They were staring at us, speechless. It was really weird, especially for Dylan. The man could talk your ear off at any time. It did wonders for him in the business world. I think people gave him what he wanted, just so he would stop talking.

But he was silent now. His eyes looked murderous. His jaw and fists were clenched tight.

“We are moving in.” grandpa said after a while.

“No.” Liam and I said at the same time.

Liam and I have talked about this. We knew that they would want that, but we didn’t want Lucy to be uncomfortable. Lucy deserved to have peace and comfort in her own home, and living with nine overprotective and overly possessive men would be the complete opposite of that.

They didn’t live that far, but we knew they wouldn’t want to leave her so soon. Grandpa lived in Davenport and my uncle and cousins lived in Grand Rapids. They wanted to be close to Chicago, but they didn’t like big cities.

We found them a house next door. We didn’t mind them moving close to us, but we decided not to let them move in with us.

Their anger turned toward us instantly.

“We found you a house next door.” Liam said before anyone of them could argue. “You can move in as soon as you want.”

“We want Lucy to be comfortable in her own home.” I continued. “And she wouldn’t be comfortable living with all of us. She is just getting used to the four of us.”

They weren’t happy, but they couldn’t say anything. This was our home, and our word was final.

“I will arrange for our stuff to be brought to us immediately.” uncle Dan said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

He stood up and walked out of the room. Grandpa followed him, typing something on his phone.

“Tell us everything you know about the fuckers.” Dylan said. “Show us their picture.”

“We are not giving them to the police.” Carter said. “We will take care of them ourselves.”