Betrayal: Book 3 of the Guardians Saga

Ch. 12.3 Time for Rile's Plan

For the next week, Alex dozed off and on during the movies, but if Gabe turned off the TV and tried to shoo his brothers out before midnight, she woke up and objected.

This might not have bothered him so much if she had told him that she liked noise and company, that silence and solitude were the enemies.

But since Alex didn't tell Gabe what she thought, and he kept a tight lid on his emotions, neither understood the other.

All Alex knew was that Gabe was retreating behind his brick wall and it made her chest crush with fear. Gabe unhappy meant that something terrible would happen to her. She refused to touch what that might be, so she leaned against him and watched.

It was Cale's job to hustle Rile out of the bedroom once Alex was deeply asleep. Cale was always careful to time the movies so that the credits were rolling a little after midnight.

Gabe assumed that Rile was his usual brash, unobservant self that had to be hustled out until the following day.

***

The brothers were watching TV in the living room while Alex took a shower.

"Cale: twenty minutes." Rile didn't look away from the TV.

Obediently, Cale stood up and walked to the kitchen sink. He turned on the water, felt it, and announced, "Cold."

Rile flicked his gaze at his middle brother, who then walked into Alex's bedroom at the unspoken command. They could hear him knock on the bathroom door, but not what he said or what she answered.

"She said she'll be out in a minute," Cale told them and sat back on the couch.

Rile hauled himself to his feet, strode into Alex's bedroom, and banged on the bathroom door. "Hurry up, Alex! I'm starving!"

His shout rang through the carriage house but no one saw the relief on his face when the water stopped. Rile strode back to the couch and plopped down.

"What was that about?" Gabe asked, looking astonished by the whole scene.

"Do you think hot water is endless?" Rile bit off the 'idiot' at the end of the sentence.

"No, but—"

"Alex is a bit obsessive with her showers after Morgan," Cale Said. "We have to remind her to come out before she freezes."

***

Over the next few weeks, they all slept in during the mornings. Some afternoons were doctor appointments of different kinds. Dr. Dewey and sometimes Mary, depending on the appointment type, took her to the doctor's office.

The brothers wanted to come into the doctor's office, but they had to admit it was ill-advised. As a compromise, they patrolled the exterior of the medical buildings. No one was going anywhere with Alex without them knowing it.

They noticed that some doctor's visits Alex breezed out of, while others she came out pale and shaken.

Mary pursed her lips and shook her head when they asked about these visits, since she was the only one who attended those.

Cale understood, for he had apprenticed with the clan's healers before they were slaughtered, but he had no inclination to enlighten his brothers.

This particular appointment was an easy one and Alex could now walk without imparting pain to those who watched her.

Upon returning to the carriage house, she looked, really looked, at her living room. The brothers tensed at her sigh.

"This place looks like...looks like..." Alex's smile eased them all. "Like three bachelors have been living here."