AllFreeNovel
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“How many were there?” Duke leans forward, swinging his legs over the side of his bed to face us.
“I think three? I know there was a driver and two others. One of them was the bald guy, Jed. They wore black ski masks. When I got to my apartment, they were already waiting inside. I tried to fight them off.”
My body grows rigid again when I picture her being abducted by three grown men, helpless and terrified. The days of the other two are numbered.
“How did no one hear you?” I grit out.
She shrugs. “My apartment is in a bad part of town. There are fights and screaming, even gunshots, pretty often. I only screamed once, and then they duct-taped my mouth. I was blindfolded in the car.”
“Did they take you straight out to the cabin, or was the drive longer?” I ask, tracing a circle on her hand to help ease her into opening up and calm my own nerves.
She looks down at the covers, where our hands are hiding underneath. “I think it was longer. It takes me twenty minutes to get to work, but it seemed like longer. We stopped once. One or two of them got out, but the third waited in the car with me. They were gone for just a few minutes before one got back in, and he and the other one drove me out to the cabin.”
“How long did it take to get to the first stop?” Duke asks.
“Um, maybe ten minutes? Not long.”
“Did you hear them talking about anything, saying any names or places?” Duke continues prodding.
I’m concerned she’s going to get overwhelmed and shut down, so I throw him a warning look.
“They talked about a guy, someone they were either meeting or maybe who had hired them. That’s who I think we stopped to see the first time. They just said, ‘Tell him we got her.’ Then, Jed told them where to find the cabin. He knew it was behind some hidden gate. I think they used bolt cutters to get it open because I heard them snap.”
Duke and I exchange a look. Jed could have known where to find the cabin, but few people know it’s there. We don’t use it much anymore. It’s just another thing to keep up with that doesn’t make us any money. We spend our time and efforts on bull riding and cattle sales.
“What about?—”
“That’s enough for tonight.” I shut Duke up.
The last thing I want to happen is for Rosie to get triggered or have trouble sleeping. She’ll do better remembering and telling us things on her own time.
Duke stands up, walking toward the bathroom.
“You’re safe now. You’re with me, and I’m not letting you out of my sight. We’ll talk more tomorrow, if you’re ready for it.” I adjust the covers, pulling them farther up to go over her.
You’re getting soft as fuck.
She settles back against the pillows, but doesn’t release my hand. I lie back on mine, looking up at the ceiling and debating how wise it is for me to lie here with her, to let myself make her promises about keeping her safe and by my side.
If there’s any chance she’s still in danger, I can’t not watch out for her.
But who could have possibly done this? What do they want, if not to frame me?
“Does this mean you don’t hate me anymore?” she murmurs, her eyelids growing heavy.
I roll onto my side, leaning up on my elbow to hover above her face, eyes on her mouth. “I plead the Fifth.”
My lips gently press to hers. She’s still for a moment. I savor her taste, caressing the side of her face with my fingers. She whimpers into me when I pull away.
I smirk. “You need to heal and sleep.”
She curls her arm up around my neck. “I need to be touched more.”
Fuck, she’s hard to deny.
“I’ll be the first to volunteer when you can sit up in bed without wincing.”
I peel her arm off, lying back against my pillow. This is getting out of hand. I need to keep my distance from her before I do something I can’t undo, like take her virginity.
