A woman can be strong and weak.

Beautiful and scarred.

Scared and brave.

Smart and sexy.

They teach me that, and I find myself standing taller with their support. I am who I am, I shouldn’t make excuses for it. Even at the bar, I felt the need to be ‘Roxy the Hitter,’ that dark, angry bartender. I was never allowed to be weak. Even when I needed to be. Here, I can be.

Fuck, it doesn’t mean I’ll stop giving them shit, fighting everything, punching people, or being a general bitch. But just maybe, maybe I can trust them with everything else the world doesn’t see.

When the door to the elevator opens, he manages to unlock the apartment door with one hand, and when we walk in, we freeze. They are all there, sitting on the sofa waiting. Kenzo runs his eyes across me, and when he sees me in one piece, he winks. Garrett snorts, but I see respect in his eyes before he looks away. Ryder nods, but his lips twitch slightly.

“I got some information,” Diesel starts, his tone serious before he grins. “Roxy is a screamer. I can inform her dad now.”

Ryder laughs, the sound carefree for once. “I could have told you that.”

Men.

“But I did get some from the assassin as well,” Diesel offers, and Ryder sobers.

“I’ll find out from Ryder, let me take care of Roxy while you share what you learned.” Kenzo smirks and sweeps down, grabbing me, and I yelp as he chuckles and ambles away. Peering down at me, he grins softly. “I can’t believe you survived him. You are bloody fierce, woman. You know what that means though, right?”

“What?” I ask, cuddling into his hold. I should demand to be put down so I can walk…but I seriously can’t be bothered.

“You have only challenged him to find new ways to make it hurt.” He laughs. “It’s a good job he likes you, there is a whole lot of pain in your future.”

I groan, “Fuck, he’s crazy,” but even as I say it, I smile.

“He’s not the only one.” Kenzo laughs, looking at me pointedly before kicking open his door and sweeping through the room. Holding me on his lap, he starts the bath and fills it with something to make it bubble before pulling me closer.

We sit in silence as the bath fills, and I relax into his arms. I should question why I don’t care about sharing my body with him and his brother, or why he doesn’t care…but honestly, I’ve done worse, and I refuse to be ashamed of that. For them, I think it’s because they went into this knowing they had to share ‘the debt.’

I’m so lost in my own thoughts, I don’t even realise the bath is full until Kenzo squeezes me. “In you go.”

He dunks me into the water, making me shout when I surface and glare at him.

“I love it when you scream my name.”

“I didn’t,” I sputter.

“No? Let me rectify that.” He winks, making me grin, what a cheesy bastard. He groans, his hand over his heart. “Fuck, you’re way too fucking cute. If you weren’t relaxing, I would give you an orgasm right now.”

I splash him and float in the huge tub, my whole body aching and my pussy and ass sore, but it was worth it. He steps back and pushes his hair away from his face before shedding his shirt and trousers. Naked, he lets me drink in his body, my tender pussy fluttering at the masterpiece that is Kenzo, but neither of us act on the attraction, even though his cock is hard.

He slips into the bath and pulls me into his arms, holding me from behind as I float with his knees on either side of me. He lathers up his hands and starts to wash me carefully. “Why are you so nice to me? When I first got here, the others hated me, even though they brought me here, but you were still nice.”

He hums. “I saw in your eyes, like I said, the same ghosts we carry. Honestly, we needed someone to come here and shake us up. We were just functioning, barely a family anymore. The business and money were taking its toll, and we were all becoming cold—Ryder too serious, Diesel too wild, Garrett too angry and withdrawn…”

“And you?” I prompt, as he cleans my pussy, making me gasp.

“Too wandering. I kept going further and further, but you bring me home, Roxy. You bring us all back and remind us why we started this. Love and family,” he whispers before kissing my shoulder. “Never stop being you, even when you’re angry. You push them to be more, you question things they had stopped questioning, yet you don’t blink at death. You can play with Diesel but talk shop with Ryder. You don’t understand how rare that is.”

I sigh. “I’m not rare, I’m just as messed up as you guys.”

“Exactly.” He laughs. “You meet our messed up with your own. You are this tiny little thing, yet you can take us down and give us shit. It’s fucking hot. Even when you tell us you hate us.”

“I do hate you,” I mutter.

“Sure.” He chuckles. “Just don’t make Diesel angry, okay?”

“Wait,” I sputter, yelping as I try to turn and almost drown, so I give up. “This hasn’t been Diesel angry?”

He laughs, pulling me closer and holding me up. “Nope. You don’t want to see it—it’s fucking terrifying, and I don’t think even you could bring him back.”

We just sit in the water, and I almost fall asleep, it’s so relaxing. He kisses me and drains the tub, helping me out.

I’m so drowsy and tired from the warm water, I don’t even protest when Kenzo dries me off, carries me into the other room, and sits me on the bed.

Kenzo slathers me in cream to help with the welts before kissing each one better, then he pulls me into his arms, bending his body around me until his knees are bent in with mine and we’re curled together. I fall asleep like that, but it must only be for a short time, because when I wake, I barely feel rested, but I can at least function now.

“I’ll let you get dressed. We have a surprise for you, come out when you’re ready,” he murmurs, kissing my cheek before slipping from bed. Flipping onto my back, I yawn and stretch, wincing at the soreness between my legs and on my back. Even after Kenzo looked after it, they still hurt, but oh well.

Surprise? I wonder what it is. It’s what gets me moving, and I pad over to my clothes, throwing on Kenzo’s discarded shirt and nothing else before heading to find out. It better be good. Like food or a gun.

I pretty much have to waddle to the living room, which is honestly not attractive, but whatever. When I get there, Kenzo looks really excited, and even Ryder isn’t on his phone. Garrett offers me a small smile, a truce, and Diesel is, well, Diesel is bouncing up and down on the sofa, waiting.

“I need coffee,” I grumble, and point at Diesel. “Coffee, now.”

All three jerk their heads to Diesel and jump forward like they expect him to explode or something, but he simply laughs and rolls over the back of the sofa. “Sure thing, Little Bird.”

I look at the others to see Ryder smirking. “I would say we need to do what you do to get him to behave, but…well, we all saw what he did to you, and I can’t say I’m too interested.”

Rolling my eyes, I throw myself down in his spot. “I bet I could make you,” I taunt, and he laughs.

“Probably, but still, wield your new power over him carefully,” he warns, and leans closer. “Don’t take advantage.” He’s teasing, but there is a hint of caution there.