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I watched him die in front of me. I watched his chest rise and fall, only to not rise again as his final breath left him.

“He should have suffered more but unfortunately; we don’t have time.” The stranger released his mouth and nose, leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I’ll see you in hell.” He rose back to his full height and came up to me. “Take a walk with me.” He left the room before I could wrap my head around what the hell just happened.

Following him out into the hall, we made it to the other end before nurses started rushing past us.

“You know there are cameras that will have us on tape that we went into that room,” I pointed out.

“They’re already taken care of,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and lifting it to his ear. “It’s done,” was all he said as he shoved it away. “It seems you and I have a mutual friend.”

“Rowan.” I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but the name just slipped out, so there was no point in correcting myself.

He stopped when we hit the beginning of the hallway that led to where Ainsley stayed.

“Maybe him. Maybe someone else.” His words were cryptic. I found that even though I had questions, I didn’t know where to begin.

Sammy, Cheesy, and Locke stood by Ainsley’s door. They looked my way, probably wondering who I was with.

“He won’t hurt anyone again.” The man pulled a pack of smokes out of his pocket and placed a cigarette behind his ear.

I met the stranger’s dark eyes. “I never asked you to do that, and I also could have taken care of it myself.”

“I know.” He paused. “I’ve seen you in action.”

I frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He chuckled. “I’ve seen you at The Ring besides the other places you mentioned. You’re quite the fighter. But that doesn’t matter. I’ve been watching you and Ainsley.”

“Who the fuck are you?” I demanded a little too loudly when several staff stopped to glare our way.

“Iwasat the deli when Ainsley came running in. I was at The Ring during all of your fights. I was at the library when you brought her there on your date. I was at the deli again when you brought her there, for strawberry milkshakes and pie. Am I right?”

My stomach clenched. “You stalking me now? Or her?” I took a step toward him. “You after my girl?”

He scoffed. “Trust me, I don’t want your girl.”

“Then why the hell have you...I’m so fucking confused right now, and I don’t like it.”

“The less you know, the safer it is for her. The safer it is for all of you.” He looked over his shoulder. “But I know you won’t let me leave without some answers.” He met my gaze. “Someone you know paid for me and my team to look out for you. I was impressed that he actually found us.”

I thought back to the conversation I had with Jaron so many weeks ago about how he paid a few guys to watch over us. Never thought I would see one of them in the flesh.

“Jaron wouldn’t pay you to look out for his family if it wasn’t serious,” was all I said because I didn’t know what else to say.

“Truth.” The guy leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his thick chest. “I was there during the raid. I helped Ainsley escape. We don’t usually save adults but one of the girls was related to someone close to me. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it. So we did what we could to save the others. Ainsley wouldn’t remember me, which is probably for the best. Her mind needs to do what it can to protect her. But I’ve kept tabs on her and a few of the other survivors, because I wanted to make sure that they were safe and were able to move on as best they could from that hell.” A dark shadow passed over his face. “It doesn’t matter. Bottom line is, Ainsley is safe and no one else will come after her.”

“How do I know that? She said that several people escaped. She doesn’t know how many of those were the victims or their captors.”

“That’s true.” He clapped my shoulder. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

“How the hell can I do that?” I shoved him off of me. “I don’t even know you. You show up here after she gets attacked and I find out that you’ve been stalking us this whole damn time? It doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t need to make sense. Maybe you should ask Jaron a little more about this...situation.”

“You come here acting like I should just bend over and let you do whatever the fuck you want. Well it doesn’t work that way with me.”

The stranger grinned. “I know some people who would have fun playing with you.”

I rolled my eyes, stepping away from him. “Tell me one thing. Was he really your cousin?”