“Look, we have more important things to talk about than pizza,” Caleb snapped.
Both of them looked at him.
“Has she told either of you what happened to her?” he asked.
They both shook their heads.
“She did tell me that she broke up with Aleki to protect him. To protect us,” Wolfe said.
“What the fuck?” Aleki snapped, sitting up straight. “From what?”
“She wouldn’t say,” Wolfe replied darkly.
Caleb didn’t like not knowing what was going on with her. “She’s still trying to protect us. That’s why she won’t tell us anything.”
Wolfe snorted. “Protect us? She can’t even swat a fly in the condition she’s in right now.”
“All of this has to be tied to her husband’s death, right? It can’t be a coincidence. What if he didn’t die of a heart attack?” Aleki asked.
That’s what the press was reporting as his cause of death.
“She told me that she wasn’t close to her husband, how can you not be close to the person you’re married to?” Caleb asked.
They were all quiet. When they had a woman, they’d know everything about her. Where she was, who she was with, what she was feeling. They risked smothering her, but it was the way it had to be for them to remain sane. They’d seen the worst life had to offer and they would ensure that their woman never had to endure pain or fear or suffering. Not while they were breathing, anyway.
“We can’t leave her while she’s in danger.” He couldn’t leave her again under any circumstances, but he didn’t tell them that. “I’ll stay with her.”
“What? Why you?” Aleki asked.
“Wolfe doesn’t care about her one way or the other and you don’t want to care. I’m the only one who isn’t conflicted over her.”
“I’m not conflicted,” Wolfe muttered. “I don’t feel anything towards her.”
“Right, that’s why you were about to pull the doctor’s arm off for touching her,” Caleb said sardonically.
Wolfe glared at him.
Caleb pointed at Aleki. “Aleki still has feelings for her but wishes he didn’t because she walked away and broke his heart. And it’s never healed.”
Aleki scoffed.
“You want to hate her, Wolfe. And sometimes you do. But the rest of the time, you want to protect her. You want to hurt her, but don’t want anyone else to hurt her.”
“Jesus, when did you turn into a relationship therapist?” Aleki muttered. “And a fucking crap one at that.”
Caleb ran his hand over his face. “All I’m saying is that she needs help and I’m not walking away from her.”
“We don’t split up,” Wolfe said with a frown. “That’s not the way we do things.”
“I know,” Caleb said. “But this is different. If it’s too hard for the two of you, then maybe it’s better you go. She’s fragile. We cannot add to her stress.”
“We get it. We’ll go easy on her, right Wolfe?”
Wolfe grunted.
“But we’re not leaving you here,” Aleki said. “I don’t think I can leave her, either. Not until I know she’s okay.”
Wolfe sighed. “You both have feelings for her, don’t you?”