Dad checked on us, and when he was sure we were asleep, he closed the door and went downstairs.
"Well," Jordan asked.
"They're asleep. Let's go," Dad said, walking out the front door as Jordan followed.
Frazier looked at the others. "We'll be back. Do not say a word to RJ." They nodded, and he left, closing the door to the house. They went to where the brothers were.
They walked into a house towards a room. Dad opened the door and to find them all there, including Maggie and Leslie.
"You chained him up?" Frazier asked incredulously.
"What should we do? He would have woken up and did more damage," Xavier said.
"I don't think he would wake up after you whacked him with a metal pole. At least not for hours," Frazier said. "Although he will have one hell of a headache."
"Frazier?" Jordan said.
"Yeah?" Frazier asked.
"Shut up," Jordan said as he walked over to Frisco. He checked Frisco, then looked at the brothers. "Okay, what the hell did you guys do to him?"
"Well, we gave him a sedative as you instructed," Zane said.
"How much did you give him?" Jordan questioned.
"Um, well," Zane said, hesitating.
"How much?" Jordan demanded.
"A full syringe," Zane said.
"What?" Jordan exclaimed. He stood up and walked over to him. "I said to give one dosage. Not almost half the bottle!"
"We just wanted to make sure he wouldn't wake up before you arrived," Xavier said.
Jordan placed his head on his forehead and rubbed it. "Fuck, you guys are as big an idiot as Frazier is."
"Hey!" Frazier yelled. They all looked at Frazier. "Okay, that may be true, but I wouldn't have given him a half bottle of sedative."
Dad rolled his eyes at them. "Christ, this has become more laughable than anything."
"Well, it was that or RJ would have ripped his head off. I don't think his mom would appreciate that," Xavier said casually.
They all looked at him as Dad said, "Xavier, go stand by Frazier."
"Okay," Xavier said with a shrug.
"Sorry for my idiot brother," Angelo said.
"Don't worry about it. We're used to it with Frazier," Dad said.
"Hey!" Frazier and Xavier exclaimed.
"I hate to break this comedy routine up, but what are we going to do about Frisco?" Leo asked.
"We need to take him home so we can get him the proper help," Jordan said. "But we also need to do this without RJ knowing, which means after we leave tomorrow."
"So, you will not kill him?" Xavier asked.
"What? No! Who told you that?" Dad asked.
"I figure since you were friends with Ace Morgan and your family does business together, well, you know. It's what you do," Xavier said.
"Ah hell, you are an idiot," Frazier said, looking at him, and Xavier shrugged in confusion.
"No genius, we will not kill him. He needs help," Jordan said.
Dad looked at all of them. "Okay, yes, I am friends with Ace, and our family has done business together, but we're not into anything shady. Understand?"
They all nodded.
"Good. Unfortunately, because of the circumstances tonight, we're not allowing Frisco back at the house period," Dad said, looking at the brothers.
"We understand," Leo said, sighing.
"Good," dad replied.
"How is Emma?" Leslie asked them.
"She's shaken up, but she seems back to her old self once we got there," Frazier grinned.
Maggie and Leslie looked at each other, then at him as Maggie said, "Didn't I tell you you're way too old for her?"
"What? It's not like that. What is with you thinking that I'm a perve?" Frazier asked incredulously.
"Well, are you?" Maggie asked.
"She's got you there," Jordan said.
"Not helping there, buddy," Frazier said.
"Wasn't to help," Jordan shrugged.
Frazier shot him a glare, and he rolled his eyes as Frazier said, "Anyway, she's fine. Ryan told her when we first met her that she would be safe."
"Which reminds me, what exactly happened tonight?" Dad asked them.
"Didn't they tell you when you showed up at the house?" Zane asked him.
"No, JJ briefly told Jordan when Jordan called him. Other than that, we never got the full story," Dad said.
"Emma came up to Maggie and Leslie when they were with Xavier and Angelo at the party. She said Frisco wanted her to go outside, that Ryan had a surprise for her. We knew RJ was at the refreshment table, so Angelo hit the button with Dylan's name on it on his phone. All our phones went off as she left with Frisco. We went out another door and found Emma pushed up against a car with Frisco ready to assault her. So, I picked up a metal pipe and hit him over the head with it, knocking him out. RJ walked over, took care of her, pulled her skirt down, and made sure she was okay. Then he, Liam, and Mel took her back to the house while the others broke up the party. We brought Frisco here," Zane explained.
Dad ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he did so many times. "Great," Dad muttered.
"Ryan, he's our brother, but even we know what he did tonight was wrong. We also know he's sick and off his meds," Zane said.
"But why, Emma?" Maggie asked.
"We don't know. Frisco has never done this with anyone. Yeah, he's violent, but this is something new. He's almost killed someone before because he was off his meds but never assaulted a woman or even attempted to assault one," Leo said.
"How did you stop him?" Jordan asked.
"It's simple. Angie beat the shit out of him," Xavier said.
They looked at Angelo, who shrugged. "A person's got to do what a person's got to do. I couldn't let my big brother go to jail. He would never survive."
"Well, since he will be out a while, he'll be fine until we come for him tomorrow. Someone needs to stay and monitor things and call us if something happens," Jordan said.
"I'll stay," Zane said.
"Are you sure?" Leo asked.
"Positive. You guys need to get back. Once they take him tomorrow, I'll head back and get some sleep," Zane said.
"Call us if there is a problem," Dad said to him.
"I will," Zane said as they all left. He closed the door and latched it. Zane took a seat on the floor next to Frisco. He leaned against the wall next to the door. "Oh, little brother, why didn't you come to us? I wish you would have told us that you were hurting and needed help. Maybe now you can get the proper help." A tear fell down his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away.
Dad heard this and looked at Leo. "Zane is taking this hard, isn't he?"
"More than you know. We're all taking it hard, but Zane is the only one who has ever made sure Frisco was okay. He always took care of him," Leo said.
Dad put his hand on Leo's back and patted it. "Therefore, we will help him."
"Does Scarlett know?" Leo asked him.
"No because we didn't want to upset Scarlett, especially so close to her due date. After the baby comes, then you all can tell her," Dad said.
"Yeah, because she will want to know why he isn't there when the rest of us show up," Leo said. "How are both of them doing?"
"Oh, you know, hormonal," Dad said, making Leo chuckled.
They all came back to the house, and Nik was the only one up waiting for them. They all walked in, and he stood up. "Well," Nik asked.
Frazier walked over to him. "Leo needs you. They're all taking this pretty hard."
Nik walked over and wrapped his arms around Leo, who broke down crying as did Xavier and Angelo. He waved for them, and they wrapped their arms around Nik as he comforted them.
The girls went up to check on Emma while Dad, Jordan, and Frazier stood there watching them.
"They need Nik," Frazier said to them.
"Just like Nik needed them," Jordan said.
Nik looked at the three of them. "Hey, it will be okay. I promise."
They nodded as they wiped their faces with their hands. As Nik took care of the brothers with help from his dad and uncles, the girls opened the door and walked into the room, waking me.
"Maggie? Leslie?" I asked groggily.
"We came to check on Emma," Maggie said.
"Here," I said, getting up. "I don't think Emma would mind waking up next to her sisters."
"Thank you, RJ," they said.
"Sure," I said, giving them each a slight hug then leaving the room. Maggie and Leslie both climbed into the bed and cuddled up with Emma. I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. I found the brothers on the couch with Nik. I went into the kitchen, and dad handed me a cup of coffee.
"Here," he said.
"Thanks," I said, taking the coffee and getting some creamer.
Jordan and Frazier were sitting at the table, having a cup of coffee. I took a seat next to Jordan as dad sat down.
"How is she?" Dad asked.
"She's okay. Her sisters are sleeping with her right now. I figured she needed to wake up to them tomorrow," I said, drinking my coffee.
"You're a respectful guy, RJ," Jordan said.
"Thanks, I had amazing role models," I said to him.
"Aw, that's so sweet," Frazier said, batting his eyelashes.
"I meant my parents," I said.
Dad and Jordan chuckled as Frazier mumbled, "Yeah, whatever."
"Seriously, thank you guys for coming. Because of you, Emma feels a lot better," I mentioned.
"RJ, you have a brilliant girl there," dad said.
"I don't understand why she did it. I'm not mad, just confused," I said to them.
"Because she was trying to protect everyone," Jordan said.
"Protect us? She almost got raped because of it. How is that protecting us?" I asked him.
Jordan reached into a bag and pulled out a file. He tossed it onto the table.
"What's this?" I questioned. I picked it up, and it was a file labeled Frisco Monroe. "Why is there a file with Frisco's name?"
"You wanted to know why I couldn't get here any sooner. That was my reason. I had to gather Frisco's file and jump through a lot of hoops. Ryan and Frazier also talked to his dad about him. We needed to know how to deal with the situation," Jordan said.
I flipped through the file, and there was so much information, but something caught my attention. Angelo's high school girlfriend didn't die in a car accident. Frisco killed her. My stomach dropped, and I went pale.
"Emma told her sisters when they were with Xavier and Angelo that Ryan had a surprise for her," Frazier said.
"She was trying to protect you and the others," dad said.
Hearing that made me get up quickly and run out of the kitchen and upstairs, startling not just them but Nik and the brothers in the living room. I ran to my room and snapped open the door, waking the girls. I rushed over to Emma. "Why?" I yelled.
"Why what?" Emma yawned.
I grabbed Emma's arms. "Why would you do that? Why would you go with him to protect us?" I snapped.
Her eyes widened to see me in a panic state as she said calmly, "Because I knew you would be there to save me. You all would." She reached up and touched my cheek to feel the tears on my cheek. "RJ, you would die for me just like your dad and uncles would die for your mom and aunts. Just like your family would die for the ones they love. I would do the same. It was stupid, but I don't regret my decision. I couldn't bear to lose you. It would shatter me."
I reached over and grabbed her, pulling her tightly into my chest and sobbed as she comforted me.
"See, I told you that you love him," Frazier said emphatically.
We looked at him, and Jordan smacked him upside the head. "Stop ruining the moment, dumbass."
She moved my face, so I was facing her. "Ryan, somewhere along the way, you made me fall in love with you, and you were there to catch me. So, I wanted to catch you. I love you."
I reached up and gently touched her face. "I love you more than you know."
"I know," she smiled. I leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss.
We heard a collective, "Aw."
We both flipped them off.
"Like father, like son," Frazier grinned.
"Okay, let's leave them alone," Dad said, ushering everyone out and closing the door.
"Promise me, you never do that again," I said to her.
"I can't promise that, but what I can promise is to learn how to fight," she grinned.
"Oh, hell yeah. That we need to teach you," I said, giving Emma another kiss. With that, I crawled into bed, and she snuggled up to me. As I drifted off to sleep, I knew one day I would marry this girl. I couldn't imagine my life without her. She has loyalty like no other.