Free Escape to Heaven (Heaven on Earth Book 1) by Reana Malori

“Something serious like what, Adele?”
    Her head dropped and she sighed deeply, gathering her courage. She knew this was it. The moment of truth. She had never spoken to anyone about her experience with Joey, but those phone calls had freaked her out. Hiding was no longer an option, and while it still filled her with shame and embarrassment to admit what had happened to her, she was no longer afraid to say the words.
    She raised her eyes to the five wonderful men surrounding her and knew she had nothing to worry about. While she was strong enough to protect herself, she was damn happy she had these men on her side. No one would be stupid enough to fuck with them, and if they were…well, it was their funeral.
    She stood up and walked to the front of the room so she could look at each of them. In broken words with a bunch of stops and starts, Adele told them of her history with Joey and how she’d ended up in Virginia. During her story, there were a lot of whispered “motherfuckers” and “I’ll kill that son of a bitch” coming from the men in the room, but no one interrupted or asked her to stop. When she finished, Ethan got up from the couch, walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her so tightly, she almost lost her breath.
    “Never again, Adele. Do you hear me? Never again will a man put his hands on you. I’ll kill him. I swear it. I’ll fucking kill him.” The agony she heard in his voice was heartbreaking, and she knew Ethan had been impacted by her story in a way that none of the others had. She wondered if she would ever really know what life experiences had made him the man he was today.
    “I know, Ethan.” She knew she was surrounded by love and was secure and safe with these five men in her life. Closing her eyes for a minute, she sent a prayer up to God, thanking him for sending her such loyal protectors.
    Ethan broke away and walked into the kitchen without looking at anyone in the room. His body was tense and she knew he was extremely angry. She made to walk after him, but Tyler shook his head. Ethan had his own demons to work through, and he needed to be alone right now. She knew that and would respect his need for space until he was ready to share. If that ever happened.
    “Why didn’t you ever tell us, Adele?” This from Daniel, the one who always tried to play peacemaker.
    “I didn’t want to bother you guys. When I came here I needed to be on my own for a bit. I needed to be strong without a man helping me. Although you guys were always around, I had to do it on my own. I know you understand that. I’m stronger now and I can deal with almost anything.” She sat down heavily on the chair next to Tyler. “I’ll never let myself get into another situation like that. I only told you guys because I felt it was time you knew.”
    Noah heaved a sigh and stood up. “Tony, reach out to your friends at Quantico. See what we can find out about this guy Joey.” He turned to Adele. “Next time you get one of those calls, you call one of us immediately. No arguing. We’re going to do some digging around, including this guy Joey, and see what we can find out. I want to make sure that sorry son of a bitch isn’t the one doing this.” He ran his hand down his face, the stress and frustration evident in his features. “I know you can take care of yourself if he comes around, but let us do this for you. We still need to take care of some things, and this is one of them. Just give me a few days to check on some things.”
    Tyler broke in and addressed Adele, “Are you going to be around the house for the next few days?”
    Hesitating, she looked around the room. Feeling better about the situation now that she had shared her history, she wasn’t concerned—much—about the outburst that was sure to take place at her next words. “Yes, for the most part. I—I have a date with Stefano on Wednesday.” She knew the shit was about to hit the fan now.
    “Oh hell no you don’t!” Ethan