Page 4

Xavier

I’d never been so glad to have Tiny as my backup as I was now.

Standing in the little farmhouse with Tillie wrapped around me, clinging to me like I was her whole world, felt like nothing I’d ever imagined existed.

I could savor the moment, and Tiny would watch over us.

I glanced at the big guy and he nodded before going outside to give us a moment.

For a hot minute, my mind drifted to possibilities I knew better than to dwell on. Sure, I was out of prison now. Had no plans on that changing. But this girl… This fucking girl… She deserved everything in life I could never give her. Like this fucking house.

What were the odds Tillie had been the one to buy this property? No one had made it past talking to the real estate agent in years. Sure, the owner desperately wanted rid of it, but there was an old maintenance road along the southern edge of the property he didn’t own the right of way for.

That road was like the fucking Autobahn for smugglers from Mobile to Indianapolis as a way to be off the radar. The interstate was the preferred route, but the more experienced mules used that small road to bypass the interstate in and around Nashville.

Because the road was no longer necessary after the coal mines were closed, the road wasn’t on modern maps. A cartel presence in the area maintained the road, but as long as no one got in their way they didn’t hinder anyone else.

Eventually word got around and the locals stopped trying to buy the property. Those who either didn’t know or were too stubborn to believe the stories soon got the same warning Tillie just got.

* * *

“Thank fuck we got here when we did.” Tiny spoke softly as he took a hard left, weaving in and out of traffic. “Sorry as shit we didn’t get there sooner, man.”

“We got here before she was hurt. That’s the main thing. It’s my fault someone wasn’t already here waiting to get her to safety. I should have realized when she told me the house she’d bought was in Terre Haute.”

“Did I do something wrong, Xavier?” Tillie and I were in the back seat of the big F-150 Tiny brought for the trip here.

Tillie was still plastered against me, chest to chest, with her arms wrapped tightly around my neck, straddling me.

Her voice was barely above a whisper. She sounded so Goddamned fragile it was breaking my heart.

“No, honey. There’s no way you could have known about that property. I’ll explain all that later. For now. I want you to stay right where you are until you feel like moving.”

“Shouldn’t I sit in the seat and buckle up?”

“Only when you’re ready. Tiny’s our road captain for a reason. He’ll keep us safe.”

“Once we get on the interstate I’ll ease up,” Tiny said. “They won’t follow us even if they were watching, but I’m not taking chances.”

“You leave a calling card?” I met Tiny’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

“Yep. They ain’t comin’ after us.” Tiny adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “Even they know better.”

I expected Tillie to question us or at least ask where we were going, but she seemed content to stay silent and where she was.

The slight tremor of her body told me she was probably in shock and still terrified.

I reached for the blanket I’d put in the seat beside us.

It was one she’d brought me, and I got the impression she’d liked it herself.

I draped the throw over her, so she was covered from the neck down.

The large blanket even draped over her feet and legs.

I held her securely, rubbing my hand up and down her back, needing to soothe her as much as I could.

“It’s all right now, baby. You’re safe with me,” I murmured into her hair, inhaling her scent. Vanilla, and something uniquely Tillie. It was intoxicating.

She nuzzled closer, her breath warm against my neck. “I was so scared, Xave. I thought… I thought he might…”

“Shh. I know. But he didn’t. And no one’s gonna hurt you now.

” My arms tightened around her instinctively.

The thought of someone threatening her made my blood boil, but I kept my voice steady.

I felt like this was at least partly my fault.

I should have had Knight keep closer tabs on her.

If I had, I’d have known she was headed toward trouble and kept her away.

“Knuckles is sendin’ an escort in our direction.” Tiny spoke softly, respectful of Tillie’s fragile state. “Said Venus and Piston will be joining us shortly, and will have our six until Chains and Oktober meet us and bring us home.”

I snorted. “They escorting us to safety or just out of their territory?”

Tiny shrugged. “Does it matter? Even if they’re makin’ sure we’re just passin’ through, they’d be good to have at our back in a fight.”

“Fair point.”

“Wh-where are we going?” Tillie still shook, but the soft rhythm of mine and Tiny’s conversation seemed to have settled her somewhat.

“Nashville, honey.” I tried to soothe her as best I could when this kind of care wasn’t in my nature. She seemed to need the gentle caresses, and I didn’t blame her.

When she didn’t say anything more, I thought maybe she’d settled enough to drift off. Sleeping off adrenaline drop was the easiest way to feel human again.

I was wrong, though. After a couple of minutes, she spoke again. “That was my home. I don’t have anywhere to go.” She sounded so forlorn it tore at my heart. If we were right and the Menendez family had sent a goon to scare her, I was going to make someone bleed.

“Yeah, you do, honey. You’re stayin’ with me. You trust me. Right?”

She lifted her head to look straight into my eyes. The pain, fear, and absolute devastation was so stark in her expression I wanted to kill someone. “I think you’re the only person in my life I do trust, Xave.”

Christ, this girl! “Good. Then stay right where you are. Let me hold you as long as you need to feel more like yourself. We’ve got a four-hour drive.

Take all the time you need. When Tiny thinks it’s safe enough to stop, we’ll find a fast-food place and grab a bite and take a piss.

” As I hoped, that got a small giggle from her.

“There’s my girl.” I gave her a light, reassuring squeeze before resuming my steady rubbing up and down her back.

“Talk it out if you need to, honey. Or sleep. Or whatever you need. I’m here. Ain’t lettin’ anyone hurt you.”

She was silent for a long time. I actually thought she’d gone to sleep. “I just wanted a place that felt like a home should.” She spoke so softly I barely heard her. “I’ve never had a place I felt like I belonged. Mom and Dad basically used me as a transaction, and Paul…”

“I get it,” I said, not able to stand her bringing up that fucking monster.

Any man who could hurt a woman as sweet, giving, and caring as Tillie deserved to die fucking hard.

I’d shot the bastard, but if I had it to do over, I’d draw out the process and no one would ever have found the body.

But there was more to that story than I ever wanted Tillie to know.

“You figured if you weren’t born with a proper home, hadn’t been able to find a proper home after you got hitched, you’d make your own fuckin’ proper home.

” I growled out my interpretation with a bit more anger in my voice than I wanted, but Tillie either didn’t notice or didn’t take my tone to mean I was upset with her.

“Yes!” She sat back a little so she could study me closer.

Her eyes were wide and a pale silvery-green that’d mesmerized me from the day I’d met her.

“That’s it exactly! I was going to make my own home.

A place I always felt safe and like I was in charge of my life because I could do anything I wanted.

Go to bed when I wanted. Eat junk food all day in front of the television if I wanted.

If I didn’t want to get dressed, I could wear my pajamas all day and no one could say one Goddamned thing!

” By the end, tears were streaming down her cheeks and those gorgeous eyes of hers were swimming in a luminous pool of tears.

The headlights from a passing car made her eyes shimmer almost like glitter.

I couldn’t stop myself from brushing one tear away with my thumb as it rolled down her cheek. “You’ll have all of that and more, baby. I swear on my Goddamned life.” Why the absolute fuck had I said that out loud?

Didn’t make the statement any less true, but I’d have preferred we were alone when I told her I was claiming her.

Now, with Tiny here, giving me a look in the rearview mirror, I knew I’d fucked up.

Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way that would get me picked on mercilessly if Tillie didn’t want me to claim her.

Her eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“Don’t worry about all that right now.” I tried to steer the conversation to something else, needing some time to really think about this because, honestly, I’d never considered I’d be in a position to actually make Tillie mine.

If not for the threat to her, I’d still be in prison.

The second I realized there might be a problem, Knuckles started working on getting me out.

The man had some serious pull in and out of the system.

Someone who had enough power to get me an unscheduled release in hours rather than days, weeks or even months.

“Why wait?” Tiny gave me a shit-eating grin in the rearview mirror. Bastard. “Got hours before we get home.”

Tillie narrowed her eyes, giving a wary look. “I just told you you’re the one person in my life I completely trust. Did I misjudge you?”

“No, honey. You didn’t misjudge me.” I tugged her back to lie against my chest. She resisted at first, but then melted against me, burrowing her face in my neck once more.

I wanted to leave it at that. Let her rest. Fuck that bastard, Tiny, anyway.

But my mouth had other plans. “You’re the woman who’s haunted my dreams since that fuckin’ day I met you.

I’m a son of a bitch on the best of days, but I’m your son of a bitch. Leave it at that. For now.”

She trembled in my arms, but she didn’t pull back. Instead, her fists bunched in my shirt. She heaved in a shuddering breath before letting it out. “You swear?”

Christ.

“Yeah, baby. I fuckin’ promise. On my fuckin’ life.”