“What are you two talking about?” Ricky asked.
“What the hell is going on with you two?” Murphy asked.
Waylon passed over her cell phone and Amelia realized that they’d seen the message from Mano.
“This fucking guy texted her,” Brody stated.
She didn’t even hear their exchange of words between one another. All she could focus on was Waylon’s and Brody’s anger and the way Waylon looked as if he were going to strike her. Was he capable of that, or was she so scared because of her past, that she couldn’t give him, them, the chance.
“I’m not going down this road again. I won’t be a punching bag. Get out. I don’t want to ever see you again. Get out!”
“A punching bag? This guy struck you?” Waylon asked.
“Explain it to us, Amelia. Help us understand,” Murphy whispered as he knelt down on the rug.
She looked at him through blurry vision. She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Pain is all I’ll ever feel.”
Murphy reached for her and she felt so exhausted from crying, from the episode with Tucker, and now a confrontation with Waylon and Brody. She closed her eyes and he lifted her up and carried her to the bed.
Murphy caressed the tears from her eyes, and Ricky placed a blanket over her body. They more than likely didn’t want to see the torn skirt.
She shifted to her side and cringed.
“You’re hurt,” Ricky said then knelt on the bed and reached for her camisole. He raised it up and cursed at the sight.
“We need ice. Go get ice, Brody.”
She caught sight of Waylon standing behind Murphy. He looked irate.
“Look at me, Amelia,” Murphy whispered as he caressed her cheek. She wanted to be held by him, by them, so badly, she felt the tear roll down her cheek. But how could she? They obviously had anger issues, and Waylon and Brody looked capable of crossing the line. If one of them hit her, she wouldn’t be able to take it.
“We’re all upset about what happened tonight. Perhaps if you explain the texts, Brody and Waylon can understand.”
“They want to hit me, Murphy. If you and Ricky weren’t here, then Waylon and Brody would have hit me.”
“That’s not true. I would never hit you,” Waylon stated firmly. “Fuck, Amelia, I’m so pissed off right now. Tell me who the guy is. Tell us what the hell is going on.”
She stared at him. She wanted to believe that he would have never struck her, but she was having difficulty believing him. “I have the ice,” Brody said. As Ricky reached for the bag of ice, Brody shook his head. “Let me.”
Ricky moved from the bed and Brody leaned closer to her. She looked at him, and when he reached for her, her breath hitched.
He touched her cheek. He caressed it softly with his fingers.
“I swear, baby. I swear that my brothers and I would never hit you or hurt you in any way. We care about you so much, Amelia. The thought that some guy tried to take you and that he hit you and hurt you enraged us. We saw a text message from Regan asking why you said these things keep happening to you.”
“Then we read the one from the guy,” Waylon said next. “The one texting that he was giving you time and that things weren’t over between you two. We both lost it. We both feared that you were cheating on us. Please tell us what’s going on. We’ll work it out.”
This was a moment of great risk for Amelia. She stared at the four men she had grown to love in such a short period of time. Her past was ruining her future, and either these men were for real and honestly wouldn’t hurt her or she was destined for a future of pain and heartache. It seemed to her that the greatest fight she ever had was within herself. Could she believe them? Could she trust that what they were saying that they felt was true?
She shook with reservations and fear. She felt so hollow and lonely inside. She had been used to that sensation until these men came along. They filled that empty gap inside of her. They completed her. But she feared that could all be a lie.
This was the fine line between believing in these men and the gut instinct telling her that they were sincere, or letting her fear, her distrust, destroy a future with them.
“I need the ice on my back. I don’t want it to swell,” she whispered, Brody softly placed the bag of ice on her lower back where the bruise was.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes, they were all watching her.