Emily's Protectors (The Protectors 2)

Working diligently through the afternoon, she was shocked when all four men came out looking very grim-faced and more than a little pissed off.

“All right ladies, time to call it a night, shall we. I believe Dane and Coop might have plans with Emily,” Nate told them, grabbing Keeley’s hand and waving good night.

Turning to look at her men— woo, her men? Where’d that come from? She looked at them expectantly. “Plans?”

Nodding their heads at her, Dane motioned her forward to follow Coop out the office’s front door while he locked it and set the alarms. She admired her view of Coop’s nice tight sculpted ass. Sighing at the sheer perfection of it. Round in the most delectable ways, his jeans did things to it that should not be legal. They molded and formed and showcased his ass in such a way that she wanted to nibble on it.

Jumping when Dane put his hand on her back, she ducked her head to hide her embarrassment and followed along as he guided her to their truck. “Ooohh!” She squealed slightly and laughed when Dane picked her up and deposited her in the front seat before pushing her over to the middle so she was sitting between him and Coop. When he buckled her in, her heart melted and might have cracked just a smidge at his thoughtfulness.

Sitting in the quiet truck for a few minutes before Coop started it up and they were on their way to wherever they had planned, Emily was rattled and confused. They’d never been so silent before. Whether they were mad, horny, or happy, they always had something to say. But the silence was killing her and also worrying her like crazy. She needed to know what was going on.

“Dane?” she whispered out in the quiet truck cab.

Putting his hand on her thigh and squeezing it tightly was all the answer she got.

Well shit, it must be bad, she thought, feeling upset that they weren’t confiding in her about what was going on when it most likely had something to do with her.

He was reeling, no doubt about that. The information they’d just gotten wasn’t what they wanted to hear. They had found something in Roswell alright; the body of Henry Stubbs, the man they originally thought might be her stalker. Having it confirmed that he wasn’t their man wasn’t exactly the best news because now they were back at square one. Coop had held out hope that it would prove he was the one stalking her; only because that meant she didn’t have a serial killer/rapist after her.

He was terrified; he couldn’t lose her. Not now that they’d found her. She was too important. She brought a lightness to their lives that was missing before. They were closer together than ever before. They needed her. He didn’t have to ask Dane how he felt; he only needed to look at him to know he was every bit enthralled with her as he was.

Just the thought of losing her left him breathless and had his chest tightening to the point he could barely breathe. They weren’t sure how to tell her what had happened. Not knowing how she would react was the hardest part.

She would ask questions, want to know how he died, and then she would blame herself. He knew that like he knew the sun would set every night. The torture he must have gone through, the pain and humiliation. Henry had been chopped up like a cow at slaughter. Body parts were all over an empty and abandoned warehouse. Blood sprayed across every surface. The worst part, though, was his dick and balls had been chopped off and shoved down his throat. The word MINE carved into his chest with a picture of Emily smiling and happy, literally nailed right underneath.

So they remained silent. Knowing full well it would raise flags but not knowing how to tell her that it had happened. And not knowing what it meant for her. If he was totally honest with himself, he didn’t want her shedding another tear over this asshole. It broke his heart that she thought any of this was her fault. Or that she would try to walk away was his biggest fear. Thinking she was endangering them was unrealistic in his mind.

Feeling her stare on him was mildly unnerving, and he could practically feel the questions rumbling through her mind in the rapid fire way he was sure she would throw them at them, too. He and Dane had decided that they would tell her once Linc and Creed got back to town the next day. That way they would have all the facts, and hopefully, more answers than they currently lacked at the moment. Plus, they knew how excited she was for her shopping trip with Kenny the next day, and they wanted her to have that little bit of normalcy before her world went upside down again.

Clearing her throat, she tentatively asked, “Whe —- where are we going?”

“Shit,” he whispered realizing their mistake the same time Dane obviously did when he grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing each of her knuckles.

“We’re gonna grab the Chinese take-out we ordered and then head home for a quiet evening. Maybe help Coop unpack those boxes he had delivered today.”

“Boxes?” She questioned, looking between them.

“Uh, yeah. I had my stuff moved into Dane’s house today.” Coop answered sheepishly.

“Oh,” she whispered with a frown marring her beautiful brows. “Why don’t you live together? With everything Keeley has told me, you guys have wanted to share a woman like Nate and Ty do.”

“I don’t know that there’s an actual reason, really. We retired together but finding a place we could both fit,” he said as he laughed eyeing up Dane’s size, “was difficult when we first got out, so we had separate apartments. Then Dane found the house and bought it without telling me and here we are.” Coop explained, not ready divulge that he used to suffer from such severe nightmares that he was afraid he would hurt someone else if they tried waking him. He wasn’t lying, just omitting some of the truth in his answer.

“Huh,” she replied.

Catching Dane’s raised brow at his not so truthful answer, he shook his head slightly. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed or ashamed, it was more that he wor

ried that she might think of him as less of man. He suffered severe PTSD after leaving the Marines and it took him a few months before finally admitting it and getting the help he needed to cope day to day. He still had nightmares, just not as frequently or as bad as he used to.

If it hadn’t been for Nate and Ty admitting to him that they had suffered as well and explaining what they went through, he might have never conceded to it. Some days he felt like Dane suffered more than he did because he had to watch his best friend slowly die inside. For as long as Coop could remember, Dane had been his rock; the one person he could trust with anything. But the nightmares debilitated him, left him cold and lifeless. At the time, he’d been ashamed of his weakness. Now he felt like it made him a stronger man.

While he didn’t think Emily would judge him, he didn’t want her to have to worry about him either. They were so infrequent that he didn’t really think about them anymore.

Shaking off his slightly morbid and depressing thoughts, they pulled up to the take-out place. Putting the truck in park, he said to them, “I’ll run in and grab it.” Hopping out he ran inside, bumping into the one person he had hoped to avoid for well… ever.

“Cooper, baby.” She purred trying to grab his arm when he sidestepped her.

“Cherise.” He nodded in greeting. Not wanting to encourage her, he turned his back and stepped up to the counter. “For Cooper Sheppard,” he said to the hostess. After handing him his food and paying the bill, he turned back around to see Cherise still standing there.