Page 108 of Ridin' True

“Alright. Be there as soon as I can.”

“Jed?” murmured Alexia as the two men disconnected. “Jed, is everything okay?”

“It will be,” he replied, headed for his dresser. Blindly, he reached for a tee-shirt and pulled it over his head. “That was Mustang. They’ve got Hoffman.”

“What? Where?” she asked, already more alert than she was the second before. She switched on the lamp nearest her side of the bed, illuminating the room in a warm, golden glow.

“Colorado. I’ve gotta ride, darlin’. You go back to sleep.”

“Go back to sleep? Papi, you have to know that’s not going to happen. Not now.”

He paused long enough to look back at her, and it was impossible to ignore the worry that tugged at her brow. In the short while he’d known her, he’d become as acquainted with her fear and anxiety as much as her amusement and happiness. It irked him how little he’d been able to do to put an end to it all—but now was his chance.

“We’re gonna get to the bottom of this. It’s almost over, Lex.”

“But what does that mean? What are you gonna do?”

“You trust me?”

“With my life,” she replied instantly.

“Good. Then go back to sleep,” he told her, headed to the closet for his boots. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She didn’t argue, but when he returned to the room, she was still sitting up in bed, bathed in lamp light.

“This is my first rodeo,” she murmured, sweeping her hair behind her ears. “I don’t know what you’re about to do—if it’s legal or if I’ll have to be your lawyer when it’s all said and done—but I do know that I love you, and I’m not the only one. You don't need me to remind you of the two children you’ve got who couldn’t live without you, but I kind of feel obligated to say it, and now I have so—just—be careful. Please?”

It was barely four in the morning, which was damn near the middle of the night. He wanted coffee and a shower, but he had time for neither. He needed to get on the road, and he had every intention of relying on his adrenaline and his impatience for justice to keep him alert as he went.

Now he had the memory of this moment to carry with him, too.

Damn, but she was cute.

More than that, she was his.

“Come ‘ere, gorgeous.”

She didn’t waste a moment but crawled across the bed and hurried toward him in an instant. She got close, resting her open palms against his middle in that way that was all Lex. He held her around the waist and admired her face. He could honestly say, in his woman he’d found another reason to do what he did.

The Stallions were his brothers—the family with whom he belonged.

His kids were what he lived for—the driving force behind all his hard work.

But Alexia was for him. His prize. His future. His great love.

He wanted nothing more than to put this conflict behind them so they could get on with their lives. Together.

“This ends today, Lex. One way or another.”

He sealed his word with hard, closed-mouth kiss, pulling away before he was satisfied. He then took his woman by the chin, stared into her stunning amber eyes, admired her perfect, plump lips, and reminded himself who he was fighting for.

“I gotta go,” he muttered.

“I know,” she whispered with a nod.

He kissed her one more time, then let her go, walking away without another word.

He hurried down to the basement, extracted his holster and his Colt, nine-millimeter from the safe, then finally headed for his cage.