The ride back to Wren's, was long and quiet. We were both still trying to digest the information our father had fed us. The fact that she has been a target for a while now, has my blood boiling. I don't care what his reasoning is, my father should have told me. I don't think he would like it if someone kept this type of information away from him about my mother.

The worst part about all this is, Wren's children are in danger as well. I don't know what I would do if anything were to ever happen to any of them.

We've been sitting in Wren's living room for over an hour now, waiting for her to come home. I'm still debating on whether or not to tell her. I know if I was her I would want to know. After all, it is her life.

Draven has finally stopped pacing the floor and is now seated in the recliner, staring blankly at the wall. He has called Wren at least twenty times since we have been here, making sure she is okay. I had to threaten to take his phone in order for him to stop. Of course he didn't like that idea and threatened to cut my fingers off if I did.

"I'm in love with her!" Draven, breaks the silence. "I think I have been since, New York. Hell, maybe even before that. But...you already knew that."

I did already know. But I had no clue it went as far back as, New York or when he first met her. That would explain why he turned, Penelope down. I say nothing, and wait for him to continue.

"At first I was confused, but after today, I know for sure that I am." He keeps his eyes trained on the wall. "I'm just not ready to tell her."

I don't know why he's stressing about it. "Tell her when you're ready. There's no need to rush." He's got lots of time. She's not going anywhere and neither is he.

The fact that he is opening up to me is a bit shocking, yet refreshing at the same time. Draven has never been one to discuss his feelings, even as a child. He has always kept them bottled up. But I still blame Jen, for what he has become.

He rubs his face roughly and sighs. "What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if-." The grim look that took it's place on his face was heart-wrenching.

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen the way she looks at you?" She looks at him the same way he looks at her. I've never seen her so infatuated with someone before. "The same way you look at her, is the same look I see, when she looks at you. There is no doubt in my mind that she is in fact, in love with you!"

I'm starting to get the reason he is thinking this way. He thinks something is going to happen and he won't get the chance to tell her.

"Nothing is going to happen, Draven. I'll die, before I let anything happen to her or to her children."

Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but it's the truth. I would take a bullet for her in a minute if it came down to it. Being in this type of business, you never know the outcome. Draven and I are use to these types of threats. We get them all the time. But when our loved ones are threatened, we take them very seriously. Hence the reason my father has my mother heavily guarded.

"Me too," he whispers.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, I head into the kitchen for something to drink. I open the refrigerator and noticed that there are only four beers left and gab two of them. It isn't much, but it should take the edge off until Wren and the kids get home. Lord knows we need it.

I take a seat on the arm of the chair and hand him a beer. He pops it open and takes a swig and I do the same. For some reason it doesn't taste as good as it normally does.

My mind wanders back to the meeting. "Does Pablo Garcia, ring a bell?" I attempt to change the subject.

"Hmm?"

"Does the name, Pablo Garcia ring a bell?" I ask again.

"No, why?"

"That's who that man was at the meeting." I knew he wasn't paying attention.

"Okay? What about him?"

"Well, while you were in your head, I had a friend do some digging. Turns out he's a fighter out of Mexico."

"And?"

I roll my eyes, "And...that's all I know. I wanted to know if you have ever heard of him. That's all."

He sighs, " I'm sorry, Reese. I know what you're trying to do and I appreciate it, but I'm really not in the mood to discuss business right now. I just want them home."

"Home, huh?" It almost sounds like he's claiming this as his home too. He doesn't say anything else and takes another swing of his beer. I look at the time on my watch. It's going on six-thirty. "Well you might want to get comfortable. When she's with mom they take forever."

And that's no lie. The first time they went shopping together, I volunteered to watch the kids and it took them six hours to come back. That was the longest six hours of my life.

A few moments pass before Draven speaks. "For a while now, I've been wondering how you and Wren became best friends?"

When I think back to how Wren and I first met, I smile. I remember it like it was yesterday. "Well...her and Maxen were together at the time." He tenses at the mention of his name. He absolutely hates Maxen. Not just because of Wren, but for his own personal reasons.

Draven never liked Maxen from the start. When Maxen started fighting in the underground, he was arrogant and demanding. He wanted to fight the best and at the time, Draven was the best. After months of hearing Maxen whine about getting a shot, Draven accepted. He wanted to shut his mouth for good. That was the first time I have ever seen my brother bleed. Draven eventually knocked Maxen out in the seventh round, but not without working hard for it. And even though Draven knocked his ass out, Maxen earned the credit he needed to reach popularity in the underground.

"I know. I just can't get over the fact that he has touched her in such-." He can't say it.

"You don't have to say it. I know where you're coming from. It was a hard pill to swallow and still is. But that's a story for another time."

I only gave him a sample of what Maxen has done to her. He really has no idea what I had witnessed. The embarrassment he caused her. The things those kids had seen and heard and what it took to get her away from him.

"When you moved. Maxen rose in popularity. Especially, when the rules changed. He became merciless. He damn near beat his opponents into retirement. We tried to have the rules reinstated, but it turns out everyone likes watching men being beaten half to death. The more blood the better!"

It's true. When they lifted the rules that protected the fighters from serious injury, something in Maxen snapped. His fighting tactics became dangerous. His attitude was careless and his arrogance was overrated.

"After watching him parade around like he was the cock of the walk. I challenged him and he gladly accepted. Everyone thought I was crazy for stepping into the ring with a monster like Maxen, but it needed to be done. I trained for months for that fight."

I busted my ass, day in and day out to make sure I was one-hundred percent ready for that fight. I wanted to make sure he walked out of there dragging his pride behind him.

"He showed up with the most beautiful woman I had ever seen on his arm that night. She wore clothing that hugged every curve of her body perfectly. She had every man in that place drooling over her, myself included. I quickly learned why he never paid any mind to the woman that literally threw themselves in his lap every chance they got. It was because he had Wren waiting for him at home. She actually fueled my need to win. When I knocked Maxen out after six
grueling, five minute rounds, I made eye contact with her. It was almost like she was silently thanking me."

The look in those beautiful chocolate eyes told me something wasn't right. But I couldn't put my finger on it.

"After the fight, everyone headed back to the club. A few hours went by when I spotted her walking through the crowd. I watched as she walked up to one of the bouncers and requested to talk to me. After giving the okay, she approached me and introduced herself. There was definitely something different about her. She didn't look quite the same as she did before the fight. She had on makeup she didn't have on before and her eye was a little swollen."

My emotions begin to get the best of me. I take a breather to gather my self. 

"She initially came to thank me for knocking him on his ass. She said it was long overdue." I look up at Draven, who is already staring at me. He looks just as emotional as I feel. "Draven, he blamed her for him losing that fight that night. While I was celebrating my victory, she was getting her ass handed to her and yet she still thanked me."

No matter how many times Wren has tried to reassure me that it wasn't my fault, I still blame myself for what happened to her that night. We hear the sound of car doors shutting and I quickly blink black the tears that are threatening to spill and look at my watch. It's now a quarter to eight.

Draven rubs his eyes and stands, "We'll finish this conversation another time." His voice cracks a little. I didn't expect him to get as emotional as me.

We both walk to the door and he opens it. Oakley is the first one to walk in carrying several bags In her hands. She greets us and heads to her room. Wren is walking up the steps carrying a sleeping Grayson. Our mom beeps the horn and we wave her goodbye. Draven steps forward and takes Grayson from her arms and takes him to his room.

"Did you have fun?" I ask.

"Of course I had fun. Shopping with your mother is always fun. She just needs to learn when to stop." She chuckles.

This is true. My mother could shop until she dropped. Wren sits a bag on the floor and takes her shoes off.

She yawns, "I'm so tired."

Draven makes his way down the steps. He sweeps her off her feet and kisses her softly.

"What was that for?" She giggles.

"I missed you!" He tells her, causing her to smile. He then carries her to the couch and sits down with her on his lap.

"Sheesh, I thought Reese was bad when it came to me being gone all day, but you're worse."

Draven laughs, "He also doesn't love you the way I do."

Holy shit! He actually said it. I didn't think he had the balls, but he did it. There's no turning back now.

Wren's eyes look like they're about to pop out her head. I glance over at Draven. There is no sign of regret.

"What?"

Draven rubs his thumb over her cheek, "You heard me. I love you and I'm going to tell you everyday, all day, from here on out so you don't forget."

I can't help the excitement that is building up inside me. Wren smashes her lips into his and kisses him feverishly. She breaks the kiss and whispers, "I love you too," against his lips and rests her head on his.

"I know you're tired. Why don't you head up to bed and I'll be up in a few."

Wren kisses him again, before getting off his lap. She makes her way over to me and gives me hug. "I love you too, Reese and never forget it," she whispers and heads up to bed.

"Well that escalated quickly. What happened to not rushing it and telling her when you were ready?"

He shrugs, "I was ready!"

I wrap my arms around myself and begin making kissing noises, "Oh, Wren, I love you so much and I'm going to tell you everyday."

Draven laughs and throws a pillow at me, "Fuck off! I'm going to bed."

"Give Wren, my love...," I tease. He throws me the finger over his shoulder as he makes his way up the steps. He makes it too easy.

Hey all! I have tried to pick out my mistakes and hope I found them all.. If not, feel free to correct me. Anyway hope you enjoy this chapter! Please leave a vote if you liked it and comment what you think. Your feedback is important to me. And I'll see ya in the next chapter!