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Her cry—and Lil’ Bit’s wails—fucking gutted me, made me feel completely useless as I did all I could—drove toward them.

It was the longest ten minutes of my entire goddamn life.

But then I saw her headlights—and the sparks of her rims on the road—and I knew the worst part was almost over. The part where I felt powerless, where my girls were on their own without me.

The next part?

Well, that was the fun shit.

My stomach was in knots seeing Zoe so shattered as I fished her phone out of the car, knowing the details for that last drop were on there. And that the men in that car wouldn’t live long enough to tell me where their boss was.

But I knew Sass was just behind us.

She and Lainey were going to be just fine.

And it was my job to make sure that continued to be the case, to end this shit once and for all.

Did ending it risk her leaving?

Sure.

But I didn’t want her just because she was afraid of not having me to protect her.

I wanted her to want me, case closed.

Was there still some part of me that believed she and Lil’ Bit deserved better? Hell yeah. But if I was what she wanted, I was going to take whatever she offered to me.

The fact that I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind since I met her was all the proof I needed that shit was different with her.

The way that I didn’t even entertain the idea of another woman, when I would normally have had half a dozen (or more) in the timespan I’d known Zoe, was also evidence that it wasn’t just about sex.

It was about her.

And Lainey.

And the little unit we made.

Even if that scared the shit out of me.

I heard thepop-pop-popas someone—likely Alaric—shot out the tires on the car that had been trailing Zoe, ramming her bumper, making both the girls cry.

Anger was gasoline in my veins.

Seeing the damage to their grill was the match strike.

Rage burned through me as I approached that car.

Then shot through the driver’s window.

Once.

Twice.

Ten times.

I wasn’t taking any chances.

“Let’s not alert the cops, man,” Huck said, landing a hand on my shoulder.