Page 21

21

Tex

“Thank you,” Salem whispered as I continued to hold her in the parking lot.

What the fuck was she thanking me for?

Turning my head, I kissed her cheek, then trailed a line of kisses until I claimed her mouth. Slowly, I lowered her back down to her feet, then cradled her face in my hands while I soothed my wounded soul with the taste of her. She was here. I had her, and I’d be damned if I ever let her out of my sight again.

“Easy,” Micah called out. “Don’t get too carried away. You’ve got an audience.”

I wanted her alone, and he was right.

“Let’s get in the vehicle,” I told her, pecking her lips one more time before straightening back up.

She glanced around, and a small smile touched her lips when she saw Micah leaning against the black Escalade that had picked us up from the airport, then back up at me.

When she’d walked out of that door, I’d been hit with so much emotion that I missed the details. She had lost weight, and there were dark circles under her eyes. I reached up and brushed the pad of my thumb over one, drying the tear streak that hadn’t been soaked up by my shirt.

“Did that bastard starve you?” I asked as rage began to burn in my chest at the thought of him locking her away without food.

She shook her head. “No. I…I didn’t have an appetite, and sleeping was…hard,” she replied, then reached up to touch the area below one of my eyes. “You don’t look like you’ve had a lot of sleep either.”

I shook my head. “Once my sheets stopped smelling like you, I had to move to the sofa. I couldn’t be in that bed without you or your scent in it. Most nights, I went to sleep sitting up.”

A sad smile tugged at her mouth. “I didn’t think I’d see you again,” she whispered.

I ran my knuckles along her cheekbone and down to her jawline. “I’d never let that happen. I’m sorry it took so long to find you.” I paused as the reminder of what I’d found out from her background check stabbed at me again. That was going to haunt me forever. Bringing it up now wasn’t the time. I had her back, and I wanted to enjoy holding her. The reassurance that she was with me. Safe. Mine.

The pop of one of the silenced Glocks went off, and she jumped, then glanced back at the door she had come out of.

“Good thing Huck went in to deal with the management. It’s not loud, but there are gonna be questions,” Micah said, reminding me he was still there.

The property was crawling with Blaise’s men. The way they stayed hidden so damn well was eerie.

“Do you think they killed him?” she whispered.

I couldn’t tell if she was upset about that or not.

“When Blaise walked in that room, his fate was pretty much sealed,” I told her.

She nodded, then turned and laid her head against my chest. I reached up and held it there, threading my fingers through her hair.

Please don’t let her be crying over that man.

If she had some bond with him, it was going to fuck with my head. I didn’t want any part of her past life to affect us in the present or the future. But it was selfish of me to think she could wipe that all away.

Her shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “His life was horrific. The way he grew up,” she said softly, but there was no hint of tears in her voice. “My heart breaks for the boy he was, but the man he became…” She shook her head. “He didn’t have to be that way. He could have chosen to be better than the world he’d been born into. Both he and Eamon could have.”

I closed my eyes, relieved. She wasn’t holding on to that part of her past. We could shut that door and walk away from it.

“Come on. Let’s get in,” I told her. Nodding toward the SUV.

She looked down at the ground where she’d dropped her shoes and bent down to get them. When she stood, I scooped her up in my arms, and she squealed in surprise, and then I headed toward our ride.

“I can walk barefoot,” she said, grinning.

“I know. But I don’t want you to. In fact, I may fucking carry you for the next few weeks. If you’re in my arms, no one can take you from me. I’m going to need that reassurance after the hell this has been.”

She was quiet for a moment, and I dropped my gaze to check on her. The smile was gone as she stared off, clearly thinking about something.

Stopping at the Escalade, I opened the back door and put her inside.

“That was our cue,” Micah said. “We can leave.”

I nodded and climbed in the captain’s chair closest to the door, then held out my arm for Salem to come sit in my lap. I wasn’t riding anywhere with her that far away. Micah climbed in on the other side and took the seat she had been sitting in, and Brick climbed into the passenger seat.

Salem curled up against me and laid her head on my shoulder.

“Jars, Country and Lick are staying with Liam until it’s finished,” he said.

Salem lifted her head and looked at me with a slight crease between her brow. “Lick came with you?”

I nodded, trying not to clench my teeth. “Yeah,” I replied, my hold on her tightening.

I’d seen the security footage and watched him go talk to her out by the pond while I was at the fucking doctor’s office with Nixie. Jealousy and possessiveness curled in my gut. He’d been planning on stepping in and trying to take her from me.

Not a chance, fucker.

She didn’t say more, but laid her head back down.

The driver’s door opened, and the kid who had driven us here climbed inside. I’d been so worked up that I forgot his name, but he seemed so young to be involved in something like this.

“Boss said to take you to the strip. There is a plane waiting on you,” the kid said.

“Thanks,” I told him.

He nodded once and started the engine. We all sat in silence as he pulled away from the motel and onto the quiet street.

My world was set right again. I pressed a kiss to the top of Salem’s head.

“Who were the men who came into the room to get me?” she asked.

The kid glanced back in the rearview mirror. “That was King, Thatcher, Storm, and Levi,” he told her. “King, Thatcher, and Storm are all Georgia boys. Levi is one of the Ocala guys. He grew up with the boss. But he is Thatcher’s cousin.”

I’d wanted to go in there, but Blaise said no. That the safest way to get her out was to let his men handle it. My going in there would make it messy. Watching them go inside and knowing she was so close and I couldn’t go take her ate me alive. When minutes passed and no one came out, Blaise tossed down the cigarette he’d been smoking and headed for the door.

We’d all known that Brady Murphy’s life was over.