He made sure he was behind the other four as they moved up the stairs. As they reached the landing, Alex wasn’t the least surprised when the door was jerked open and Janey stood there glaring at all five of them.
“Zeke has a big mouth,” she snapped before turning and stomping back into the apartment.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me, Janey?”
Janey heard the edge of hurt in her brother’s voice and turned to him, raking her fingers through her hair and glaring at him.
“Because of this.” She waved her hand at the Mackays and Alex. Shooting Alex a look of retribution, she sneered. “Let me guess, you were the little messenger boy?”
“First a lapdog, now a messenger boy.” His smile was tight. “I’m going to start showing y’all just how well I make decisions on my own.”
“We’d have to give you a decision to make first,” Janey snapped, crossing her arms over her br**sts and staring back at the men.
Damn. She had cute cousins, but they didn’t look cute this morning as they frowned at her. And Uncle Ray didn’t look happy at all.
“You could have told us about the letters, little girl,” Ray berated her gently. “You think we’re going to stand by and let someone hurt you?”
“Evidently she does.” Natches’s voice was quiet, but rough with anger. “Is this what you think of me, Janey?”
She shook her head slowly. “No, I never thought that, Natches. I thought exactly what I see. The four of you coming down on me like a ton of bricks just before you demand I come back to the boat and live with you.”
His eyes narrowed. “It’s the only way to protect you properly.”
It was the sure way to drive her slowly insane. There was no way she was living with Natches and Chaya again.
She glanced at Alex. He should be fixing this, not leaning against her damned wall like an amused mannequin.
His brow arched, the condescension in his expression causing her to grind her teeth.
“I’m not leaving.” She made the statement firm, flat.
She cleared her face, pushed back the fear and the pain, especially the fear that she would disappoint or hurt the family she’d never had a chance to love except from afar.
“You can move in with me and Maria,” Ray offered. “That would be a good alternative.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” It would steal the independence she had fought so hard for. “I’m not moving in with
anyone, Uncle Ray.”
She forced herself not to show any nervousness. She clasped her hands in front of her and faced five of the strongest, most determined men she had ever known or heard of in her life.
“This is not acceptable, Janey.” Natches’s voice rose. He didn’t yell or scream, but the anger in his face caused her to flinch.
“Enough, Natches.” Alex shifted from the wall. “Contain that temper of yours or get the hell away from her.”
Janey threw him a surprised look before she jumped in front of Natches, her hands on his chest as he moved for Alex.
“Are you going to hit him?” she asked quietly.
“Right in the face,” Natches snarled.
“Would you really do that to me, Natches?” she asked. “Would you hit a friend, a man who saved my life six months ago, just because you were out of line?”
His expression twisted. Fury, concern, and love—he stared at her with all those emotions, and it made her feel like slime. Like the lousiest sister in the world.
“Janey.” His hands clasped her shoulders. “I read those letters, honey. Whoever wrote them is dangerous.”
“Whoever wrote them is a coward,” she told him, moving away from him, rubbing her arms as she forced back a shiver of dread at the thought of those letters. “Let it go. I’m handling it.”
“Let it go?” Dawg beat Natches to the exclamation. “On what planet were you raised, Janey, that you think we’re going to let this go? You’re family. Do you think we’re going to let someone hurt you?
Terrorize you? Again?”
“I think you can’t really stop it.” She shrugged, hiding the shame, the bitterness at the thought of those letters. “None of us can. They’ll get bored and stop.”
“And then what?” Natches demanded. “Let me tell you, Janey. Then they get dangerous. Then they start taking shots at you.”
She curled her lips bitterly. “And you want me to let you stand in front of me. Again? I’m not eight anymore, Natches. And Dayle is dead. Even then, I learned how to fight my own battles. I’ll fight this one, too.”
“Son of a bitch, Janey!” He reached for her again, and the swift strike of fear that filled her must have shown on her face, because he stopped. His brows lowered in agony, his lips tightened. “Did you think I’d hit you, Janey?”
“No, dammit, I don’t think you’ll hit me.” She was so tense now she felt as though the slightest touch would shatter her. “You moved too fast, Natches. It freaked me out. Okay?”
The quick, predatory action of her brother’s body often had her forcing herself to contain her reactions to it. Dayle had always been quick, quick to hit, to push, to backhand her if he thought she were in the least resistant to what he wanted.
Learning to control her reactions around men, any man, had been her hardest battle in the past months.
“Janey, we’re family,” Rowdy said then. “If you won’t come to the boats where we can watch you, or to Dad’s, then we’ll have to take turns staying here with you. It would be easier if you’d stay with one of us.”
She lifted her gaze beseechingly to Rowdy. He was usually the sane one. The one the others listened to.
“Rowdy, I’ll be okay. I can’t just leave.”
“And, Janey, we haven’t had you back with us long enough to take that risk,” he told her gently. “Hell, if we had raised you ourselves, we couldn’t take that risk, sweetheart. You’re family.”
And she felt that; she did. It made her chest tighten with emotion, made her want to run to Natches and have him hug her, hold her, just ’cause he made her feel this way. That he cared that she was safe. That their cousins cared that she was safe. She wanted to hug all of them. But hugs had never been a part of Janey’s life, and taking one for herself now wasn’t that easy.