Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“Don’t power up the SUV until our team finishes a sweep,” I added.
“Understood.”
After hanging up, Raines and I returned to the secured room. Bex stood with her back pressed to the wall while she held her phone in one shaking hand. The blood had drained from her face, her eyes were wide with fear. I grabbed her hand and saw the open message on the screen. It showed a photograph taken outside her father’s house yesterday morning. Bex was walking toward her car with a travel mug in one hand, unaware that someone was watching her closely enough to capture the exact moment she looked down to adjust her bag.
The words beneath the image were short and all in caps for emphasis.
STOP INTERFERING WITH CALLS THAT DON’T CONCERN YOU. NEXT TIME, HELP WON’T ARRIVE FOR YOU EITHER.
“Give me the phone.”
Bex looked up, and some of the fear faded as her gaze met mine. Then she exhaled slowly and placed it in my palm.
I switched the device to Airplane Mode, disabled every wireless radio using the hardware controls, and sealed it in a shielded evidence pouch before the sender could wipe the message or activate another access point.
Then I sent Wrangler a text with a priority notification.
Me
Send a hardened emergency phone from sealed inventory with the driver.
Bex was trying to hold herself together straight through sheer will, her arms wrapped around her middle as though containing the fear might keep it from becoming visible. Clearly unaware that she wasn’t hiding a damn thing from her dad or me.
I put one hand around her nape and pulled her against my chest. She came without hesitation, both palms settling flat against my shirt while her forehead found the center of my sternum. The instant her body softened naturally into mine, possession struck hard. Rage at the bastard who had frightened her made my blood boil.
“Someone was outside my house,” she whispered. “Watching me.”
“I know, baby.” I stroked my thumb beneath her ear, feeling her pulse hammer before it gradually began slowing under my rhythmic touch. “They won’t get another chance.”
Bex lifted her face, and the vulnerability in her eyes mixed with enough confidence in me to make restraint feel increasingly pointless. I wanted to put her on the table behind us and kiss every trace of fear out of that full pink mouth. But our first kiss wasn’t gonna happen in a secured county interview room while her father stood three feet away.
Raines watched us with a look that said he’d noticed far more than I wanted to deal with tonight. But all he said was, “We need to get her home.”
I nodded. “Tonight. Tomorrow I’m moving her to my house.”
Bex’s breath caught against my chest, and Raines’s expression went from controlled anger to something much more personal. I didn’t see anything that indicated he was considering using his knowledge of criminals to end my life and make sure no one ever found my body, though. Not that he’d get the chance, but I was too tired to deal with bullshit tonight. And just fucking done fighting what was between Bex and me.
“Your house.” His voice was rough, like he had to force the two words out.
“It’s the safest place besides the Black Crowns compound or Black Castle Security buildings.” I kept my hand around Bex’s nape, not bothering to make the answer look less like a claim. “Independent power, redundant communications, hardened rooms, monitored land on every approach, and no public road close enough for someone to sit outside without the club seeing them.”
“I have no doubt you have the best security.” Raines’s gaze dropped to the way his daughter remained tucked against me before returning to my face. “I also remember what happened at Stryker’s wedding.”
“Then you know staying away didn’t make a damn bit of difference in how I feel about her.”
Bex made a startled sound and turned her face just enough to look up at me. Color moved into her cheeks despite everything else, and the sight nearly dragged my mouth down to hers before Raines’s stare reminded me that I was already testing the limits of a useful alliance.
The sheriff fisted his hands at his sides. “Exactly. You’re not neutral where she’s concerned.”
I scowled, and my arms tightened around my woman. “Neutral doesn’t keep her alive.”
“Not worried about you keeping her alive.”
“Dad,” Bex interrupted, finally stepping back far enough to face both of us while my hand slid from her nape to her waist. She didn’t create more distance, which was the only answer I needed from her tonight. “Cipher’s house makes sense, and you know it. Being mad because he glared at Paul during the wedding doesn’t make your house harder to reach.”
“I’m not mad because he glared at Paul.”
“Paul’s hand was too fucking low,” I groused, still annoyed with the little shit.