Page 108 of The Souls We Claim

HALO

One second.

He had his hands on Ari. I should have killed him.

One second.

She was nearly taken. Lola was nearly taken from me.

One second.

Fuck. I can’t say anything right now. He came near my girls. He was at the store, which couldn’t have been a coincidence. He obviously knows Ari’s routine or has someone watching the house, and the idea they’ve violated my sanctuary makes me want to vomit.

I try to bank the thoughts of finding them like I found Mercy, face down in a pool of their own blood.

One second.I need to hold on to the edge. These girls are mine. Ari’s hand is cold as her fingers grip mine. It takes all I have to steer Saint’s truck home. She’s biting down the side of her thumb.

One second.

My house comes into view. Saint is behind me on my bike. I was so fucking scared for Ari that I didn’t even trust my friend to drive her home.

“Are you mad?” Arianne asks. “I didn’t know it was him.”

Her voice is so fucking small, I want to rage into the car. But I can’t. Not at her.

One. Fucking. Second.

I pull up onto the drive, take a breath, and scan my home. There are no new tire marks on the gravel, and I don’t see signs of anyone being here. My security system would have alerted me to anyone attempting to break in or if any of my cameras had gone offline.

“I know. I’m not mad at you, kitten,” I manage to grind out as I kill the engine. Once I felt like my life would be better if I were carefree, if Ari and Lola left to live somewhere else. Now, I can’t imagine my house without them in it.

Arianne’s palm touches my cheek. I hadn’t even realized she’d taken her seat belt off.

My kitten looks at me with sad wide eyes.

“She’s asleep,” Arianne says, looking behind us at Lola in the car seat. “It’s as if none of this has happened to her. She doesn’t realize she’s lost her parents. That she’s caught up in something bad.”

“By being here, it means you are caught up in it too. I hate my dad’s choices created this for you both.” I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and let my knuckles graze her cheek. “If any of my brothers had asked me two months ago what the one thing I wanted was, I’d probably make some joke about a cold beer and some pussy. But the truth is, when I walked up that grocery aisle and saw you in trouble, my first thought was for your safety. And my next thought was that I was going to kill every single man who’d put his hands on you. Let’s get inside.”

Saint parks the bike and climbs off as we get out of the truck, and I get Lola out of her seat in the back. “I’m going to take a look outside. You doing okay, Ari?” he asks.

“I just want this to be over by any means necessary.”

I give Lola to Ari and crowd them as they head towards the door. The property looks secure, but I’m still cautious as we step inside and I do a full search while Ari waits in the hall.

“Come sit with me while we wait for reinforcements,” I say, taking Lola before leading her down to the finished basement. There are fewer windows and only one point of entry. It means for a hot second I can focus on her and make sure she’s okay.

I lay Lola down on the rug, and Ari puts some toys in front of her in case she wakes up.

Do I check out Ari’s ass? Of course.

Do I try not to think about her ass so much that my dick gets hard? Sure.

But I fail.

Because I just put myself on a path where Arianne becomes my old lady. And not even the thought of explaining what it means to her can reduce the chub growing in my jeans.

Not even knowing my brother is here.