Page 134 of Finding Denver

Ranger smiles at me, tucking my hair behind my ear. “We’re a family.”

My heart plummets so suddenly that my knees almost dip. The words don’t comfort. Theyhorrifyme. Theo deserves so much more than the kind of father who would steal him.

I kiss Theo’s hair. “My baby. I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”

A gunshot tears through the quiet. Theo jerks in my arms and starts crying again. Someone shouts.

And I hearhim.

Calling my name.

Ranger’s gaze snaps to mine. Anger overtakes the sadness. Pain.

There’s only rage.

I cry out, “No, Ranger?—”

He picks up the matches.

A snatch against wood.

“No!” I scream as he throws the match, and the fire roars to life.

Chapter 37

Colt

Ipull the car over a street away from the address JJ sent to me. He texted Alistair too and said he’d have called sooner if he’d known what was happening, but even now, he isn’t privy to everything Ranger does.

JJ has been my man inside the Luxe household since last year. He’s the only reason Wilder managed to get out the night he ambushed Ranger at home. After the wedding, I told JJ he could come back, but he insisted on staying undercover. Now, I’m glad he did.

The snow continues falling as I open the trunk and find the tire iron. The metal bar is cold in my palm, weighty, too, and far quieter than the gun tucked into my coat. I need my approach to be as quiet as possible for as long as possible. I don’t have numbers on my side because I left before Alistair could send any men with me, but I have stealth.

I don’t bother closing the trunk before striding toward my destination.

To the home where Ranger Luxe grew up.

I spot the first of Ranger’s men standing watch on the street. His back is to me, and he looks like he’s blowing intohis hands, his breath fogging around him. The snow quietens my footsteps as I quickly close the space between us.

I swing the bar into his head, metal thudding into skull. He stumbles, and I stab the end into his throat. He hits the ground, clutching his neck, his windpipe likely crushed, and I bring the weapon down into his skull. Again. And again.

Thud.

Thud.

Crack.

Blood spills across fresh snow.

I wrench the bar free from his head and keep going.

A man rounds the corner, taking his last breath as he reaches for a weapon he’ll never touch again. I swing, and the curved end of the bar slams into his temple, blood spurting across him and me. He slumps to the ground.

A gun is fired, a bullet slamming into my shoulder, and my back meets the wall of the house behind me. Hot pain radiates through my shoulder and chest, blood soaks my shirt, and now Ranger knows I’m here.

I take out my gun, firing twice at the man advancing on me. The sound of him hitting the ground is drowned out by my voice.

“Denver!” I bellow, the shout echoing down the street. I straighten off the wall, ignore the pain, and move forward.