Page 34 of When He Fights (Protector & Defender #3)

Chapter Nineteen

Ana has to be safe. This is the best option for her safety.

Ana slipped into the backseat of a nondescript SUV. She didn’t look back. Probably because she didn’t know that he’d snuck down to the parking garage and was watching her from behind a large stone column like the freaking stalker that he was.

Tyler climbed into the back of the vehicle after her. The driver shot away, the brake lights flashing as they turned and then…

Gone.

Ana was gone again.

But Kane would get her back. This wasn’t a forever gone.

He would get her back.

His phone vibrated again. The thing had been vibrating the whole time he’d been talking with Ana. Gray hadn’t just been texting Tyler. He’d been sending his messages to Kane, too.

Kane pulled out his phone and swiped his finger across the screen. The most recent text jumped out at him.

Where in the hell are you, Kane? Call. Stat.

He called his friend. Put the phone to his ear. It was answered on the second ring.

“What the fuck?” Gray said by way of greeting. “I sent you ten messages!”

“Ana just left with Tyler.”

“Oh.” Then. “Oh.” A pause. “You okay?”

Not even close. “What’s our move?”

“Our move? Um, I’m currently in a car trailing Turner Mitchell. Looks like the guy is headed to his dojo. We had agents search his house and dojo while he was being held in custody.”

Kane wasn’t sure that search had been entirely legal, but he wasn’t going to question the situation. For all he knew, maybe Gray had gotten search warrants. Whatever. He’d let his Fed buddy handle the legal side of things. That was Gray’s job, after all.

“We searched, but there was no sign of Logan.” Gray seemed damn disgruntled.

“Not at either location. But maybe they’re planning a meet-up right now.

Maybe this is our chance to grab Logan. Turner isn’t alone, just so you know.

His lawyer is driving Turner. Kyle Sanchez? I think I mentioned him before.”

Yeah, he had. Sanchez was the lawyer who was also connected to Logan. Check.

“Sanchez flew in from New York and started raising hell in order to get Turner released. Now they are heading fast and hard for the dojo. Arrival is imminent.”

“Then I’ll meet you at the dojo.” His motorcycle had been stashed nearby, thanks to the Feds.

“Try not to come in with your motor roaring, would you? We’re going for stealth here.”

If stealth was what he was after, his buddy was talking to the wrong man. Rage poured through Kane’s veins. He wanted to attack and destroy. Not pull some stealth BS.

“Kane?” A note of worry. “You okay?” Gray asked again.

“I’m not losing her a second time.” Flat.

“Hell. You are not okay.”

No, he wasn’t okay. He was in the mood to kick the shit out of Ana’s murderous ex.

Agenda items…

Track down Logan Catalano.

Destroy him.

Love Ana forever.

Done.

“You’re doing the right thing, Ana.” Tyler sat beside her in the back of the SUV. All focused and certain and, well, typical Tyler.

Tyler Barrett had always struck her as a very grown-up, very intense Boy Scout type. The good guy. A good guy with a spine of steel.

“You’ll be safe. Kane and Gray can apprehend Logan, and soon, the danger will be over.”

He was clearly trying to be reassuring. Only she didn’t feel reassured. She felt sick to her stomach. “Why does it feel like I’m abandoning him?”

“You’re not.” Immediate.

It still felt as if she was. She got it—she wasn’t a professional. Or semi-professional or anything close to the super fighters all around her. “You were a Marine, too?”

“Yes.” Just that. No more.

Her head turned toward him even as she continued to clutch the letter Kane had given to her. “You served with Kane.”

A nod. “You’re right about him. He’s a good man. Has a heart as big as the rest of him. That ‘Heartless’ nickname? I’ve always thought it was pure bullshit. He can pretend to be cold, but if know him well, you get that ice never flows through his veins.”

A lump threatened to choke her. She swallowed it down. After three attempts. “For two years, I thought he’d forgotten all about me.” Then he’d come roaring back into her life on that big, black motorcycle of his.

“There are some people that you just can’t ever forget.”

She looked down at the letter in her hand.

Tyler leaned forward. He tapped the driver’s shoulder. “Hey, Wayne. Hurry up and get us to the airport.”

Ana unfurled the letter. Her fingers pressed over the creases. Had Kane really written her a note two years ago?

Dear Ana,

I’m sorry that I am not there with you right now. But at my core, I’m a cold-blooded bastard, and you need more than me in your life. I’ll drag you into the dark, and you belong in the light. Hell, you are the light. At least, you are to me.

You told me that you were falling in love with me. When you said those words, all I wanted to do was grab onto you and never, ever let go ? —

A motorcycle raced past their vehicle, the engine growling. Her head whipped up. She looked to the left and caught a fast glimpse of Kane as he rushed by the SUV.

And all she wanted to do was chase after him.

Instead, she swallowed, and her gaze dropped back to the note.

When you said those words, all I wanted to do was grab onto you and never, ever let go, but I couldn’t do that. You’ve been with a monster. You’ve been running. You’ve been scared. You need peace, and you need a normal life. Or as close to normal as you can get.

So I didn’t grab tight to you. I didn’t tell you that I loved you from the first moment you smiled at me. That I loved you when you curled up with me on the couch and watched all the old horror movies that made you shudder but kept you distracted from the real nightmare that was stalking you.

I walked away, fled the damn motel room, and because of that, you were hurt. I’m sorry, Ana. So sorry that you were hurt. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you never hurt again. When you hurt, I hurt.

I wanted to kill Logan. When I saw your blood, the world stopped. The only thing that pulled me back from the brink was you.

But in that moment, I understood how dangerous I truly was. You don’t need more danger. You don’t need to be dragged into the dark.

You need more light. You need the light to shine even brighter.

So I’m staying away. I’m doing what someone who loves you should really do…let you live the life you want. Let you have all the joy that you deserve.

I’m sorry that I’m not with you right now.

I’m sorry that I never told you that I love you.

But you deserve more than me, Ana. So much more.

I’m a liar. I’m a killer. I’m a man you should not have in your life.

And I am a man who will love you until I die.

Yours,

Kane

Her breath shuddered out. “Bastard.”

“Uh, Ana?”

She carefully refolded the paper. “He loved me two years ago.” Her head turned toward Tyler. “He loves me now.”

“Yes, I figured that out.” He ran a finger over the bridge of his nose.

“He’s not going to find me when the danger is over.”

A furrow appeared between Tyler’s brows. “I’m sure that he is. He said he would.”

“Kane Harte is a liar.”

Tyler didn’t argue.

“He said that he’d come for me—he said that just to get me to leave, didn’t he?”

“I don’t know.” Tyler seemed genuinely uncertain.

Her shoulders squared. “He’s your friend.”

“Yes.”

“You served with him in the Marines.”

“Yes.”

“You know where he lives.”

“I—yes?”

She smiled at him. “Good. Then when the danger is over, you’ll tell me exactly where to find Kane. If he won’t come to me, I’ll go to him.”

His lips snapped closed.

“I’ll go to him,” she repeated with determination. “Because I love him, and I don’t care if Kane thinks he’s good enough for me or not. I want him. I love him. I choose him. ” Always.

“Turner and the lawyer just went inside the dojo.” Gray glanced toward the small, squat building from his position on the opposite side of the street.

A dark blue SUV waited near Gray, partially concealing his body.

How many SUVs do the Feds have at the ready?

But Kane didn’t ask that question because Gray fired out, “They went inside about ten minutes ago. Got eyes on the front of the place and the rear. They went in, and no one has exited since then.”

Kane assessed the perimeter. Large glass windows made up the front of the dojo’s building, but through the glass, he could see no one. No sign of movement at all.

“They must have gone into the back office,” Gray decided. “They hauled ass here for a reason.” He shifted slightly. “I think that reason is Logan Catalano.”

“You believe Logan is inside that building?”

Gray glanced his way. “It’s certainly a possibility. Before Turner was released today, I gave him my number. Told him that if he wanted to stay alive, he’d call me the minute he put his eyes on Logan. That I would be willing to work a deal with him in exchange for Turner giving up that jerk.”

Kane surged toward his friend as rage churned hard in his gut. “Turner tried to kill Ana, and you offered him a deal?” Fuck that!

“I’m after Logan. He is the end mission on this case. Logan Catalano is the man pulling the strings. He’s the one we have to stop, and, yes, sometimes, you have to slither with the freaking snakes in order to get shit done. It’s the way of the world.”

It wasn’t the way that Kane worked. “So you’re just gonna stand out here and you’re gonna wait for a call? That’s the plan? If so, it’s total bullshit. Turner is not gonna be calling you up and just offering Logan to you on a silver platter?—”

The ringing of Gray’s phone cut through Kane’s snarling words.

Gray smiled at him. Then he lifted his phone and swiped his finger over the screen. “Grayson Stone.” He’d put the call on speaker.

“You come in. Only you.”

Gray blinked.

That wasn’t Turner Mitchell’s voice.

“Logan?” Gray barked. “Logan Catalano?”

“I see you outside, Agent Stone. You’re rather obvious. So is your whole crew. You want me? You want to take me down so badly? Then come in. Only you.”