Dare to Trust (The Dare 1)

She looked at Mike and his brothers.

“The three of you need to get over this cockamamie belief that you failed her. You did no such thing. You saved her before that man could kill her and you killed him, ensuring she would be safe forever. Now, you are the three most stubborn, toughest men I know aside from your fathers. I don’t expect you to keep this nonsense up. Marlena loves you and you love her. She survived. She’s going to get through this and you have everyone’s support in it. I want you to get cleaned up, shave those whiskers so that when Marlena awakes, she’ll smile at seeing her handsome men.”

“Mom, she hasn’t awoken for days. It’s not that easy, anyway,” Danny told her.

“It’s our fault that she’s there. She was under our protection, in our house when he broke in and took her. We hadn’t a clue,” Jack said.

“And you two had a clue when Mickey Joe was stealing money from the register at Spencer’s for months? You had a clue when he was bringing in women and using your office as a private screw room while you two trusted him?” she said to them.

“Mom, that’s not the same thing.” Danny said.

“It’s not? You’re supposed to distrust every person and not leave them alone to take care of simple tasks and do their job without babysitting them? How have you succeeded in life?” she asked.

“We left her alone knowing he was in the vicinity,” Danny said.

“You left her upstairs, in your own house while she rested while you cooked her dinner. The sheriff said they all checked the house. He was that resourceful, that sneaky and conniving that he got to her. It wasn’t your fault. You were planning the next steps in trying to protect her. It was a window of opportunity to strike. You know this, too, Mike. You’re a deputy, you were a SEAL. Did every mission go as planned? Did the people you were sent in to take out, to rescue or to pull in for whatever reason, always where they were supposed to be or where you were told? Did you need to improvise and adapt? This situation was no different. That man got into your house long before any of you even arrived. He found a good hiding spot and he waited while you went about taking care of Marlena and ensuring she rested before dinner. It’s not your fault. The end result was that you saved her before she was killed, burned to death in some cabin by the man that tried taking everything away from all of you.

“She’s your woman. You love her and she loves you. When she comes out of this she is going to be a mess. She’s going to be scared, timid. She’ll probably have nightmares and fear being alone. You three will need to protect her, console her, be patient with her, and build up her confidence again so she can live a normal life. A happy life with the three of you. Don’t you love her and want her forever?” their mom asked.

“Of course we do,” Jack said.

“Then don’t waste any more time feeling guilty or thinking about the what-ifs. Concern yourselves with loving her. With being the men she more than deserves after the heartache, the pain, and fear she’s experienced in life thus far. Be the men that I and your fathers know you can be for her, and love her, with all your heart and soul. It will work out just fine. Believe me, she trusts you. She won’t blame you for anything. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she cooperated in order to save the three of you from harm. Snap out of it. Your fathers and I raised good, honest, compassionate, strong men. She’ll need you, and nothing else will matter.”

Epilogue

Marlena sat on Danny’s lap as they swung on the porch swing. It was a beautiful fall day and she finally felt stronger then she had in weeks.

Danny caressed her thigh and kissed her shoulder.

“I love it out here. You guys have a beautiful view,” she said.

“You say that every time we sit out here. I think you like this porch swing better than the big sofa in the living room,” he teased and she turned to look at him.

“I love being here with you, Mike, and Danny. You’ve helped me so much. I think I want to try to go back to the diner.”

He scrunched his eyebrows together.

“I don’t know, Marlena. You’re still working with the therapist and trying to deal with the nightmares.”

“I’m doing better. I’ve only had two episodes this week,” she said as she stood up and tuned to face him.

“It’s only Wednesday,” Jack said from the doorway.

She turned around, feeling frustrated. They were all so protective of her. She loved them for it. She needed to have them sleep with her and cuddle with her. She hadn’t gone anywhere, not even to town, without one of them with her. But she knew she needed to get control of her life again. She needed to fight for her independence and not fear Peter, who was dead and could never hurt her again. It wasn’t easy though.

She heard the door open and she knew it was probably Mike. She inhaled as the soft breeze caressed against her hair. She smelled his cologne and knew it was Mike. It was strange, but she could sense when they were near, she could pick out their colognes, their scents from everyone else’s. God, she sounded obsessed with them.

She felt the arm go around her waist and Mike’s lips kissed her neck.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

She turned in his arms and hugged him. He caressed his palm along her ass, squeezing her tighter to him. She smiled.

“I missed you.”

He chuckled low, his warm breath colliding against her neck.

“I missed you more,” he said. It was a regular routine. Something they all shared with one another.