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“No, Snowy faces outwards.”
My back stiffened as Rooster and I made eye contact. The snowman had indeed been moved.
“How?” I whispered as Rooster took my elbow and walked me away from the kids. “The security system was set. You saw me do it.”
“I’m guessing this wasn’t you either,” Rooster said and led me into the kitchen.
A small cry of horror left my lips.
My kitchen dining table had been set for two, including plates, cutlery, and glasses.
“Get your shit now, Kendara. I don’t like this. It feels fuckin’ menacing,” Rooster demanded, and I fled down the hallway to the stairs. I raced up themand slammed into my room. The boys called out to Rooster, alarmed, and I heard him calming them down.
Someone had got past the security system once again and entered my home. This wasn’t anywhere near amusing. Was it the same person? Was one a stalker and one a killer? What had I done to attract them—or him?
Rooster walked into my bedroom and sat down on the bed as I hauled a suitcase out. I began packing jeans, tees, and sweaters. I didn’t need my suits as I was not at work.
“Lance, someone has got in again, no bullshit,” Rooster said. “Hold on, I will put you on loudspeaker.”
“What happened?” Lance demanded down the phone. “Where are you?”
“Can’t you see us on camera?” Rooster asked.
“Dude, there’s no one in Kendara’s house.”
“We’re here,” I squeaked.
“Fuck, let me get Owl and Worm,” Lance replied and bellowed their names. “I’ll call you back.”
I kept cramming stuff into the suitcase, and Rooster leant forward and covered my hands.
“Babe, breathe,” Rooster murmured as I stared, panicked, at our hands. “The asshole won’t get through me, Kendara. Whoever this is, he will not touch a hair on your head.”
“You can’t put yourself at risk for me.”
“Why? Because I’m a cripple?” Rooster growled out.
“No, shut up, you idiot. I meant the children. They need you, you’re their world. You have to put the boys first,” I insisted.
Rooster smiled, and I revelled in the warmth radiating from it.
“You mean that?”
“Of course I do. The boys will be broken if anything else happens to you. They watch your every move if you haven’t realised. We can’t risk their happiness over me. You have to drop me at a hotel or somewhere. The kids come first,” I babbled.
Rooster reached out and grabbed me and rubbed his hands up and down my arms. The friction of his skin on mine made me shiver, and I stopped moving as Rooster continued to comfort me.
“Kenny, calm down. Nobody’s gonna hurt the kids or you. I may have lost a leg, babe, but I am still a man and capable of defending you,” Rooster soothed.
That was it. The straw that broke the camel’s back. “Will you shut up about your fucking leg? You are the only person it bothers. I couldn’t give a shit that you had an amputation, and frankly, I’m tired of hearing about it. It doesn’t make you any less of a man.
“Sadie is a bitch. I get she did a number on you, but not everyone thinks like Sadie does. And to be honest, it’s insulting you think your leg bothers me. Should I harp on about the colour of my skin and wonder if you have issues with it? No? Then don’t insult me, either. I’m not Sadie or any of the other bitches you mentioned.
“I’m actually full of admiration at how you got yourself back on your feet and marched on. How easy would it have been to wallow in what you lost and lose yourself in drugs? Nope. Not you. You pulled shit together and kept moving forward for your boys.That’s a real fucking man, Rooster.A lot of full-bodied men couldn’t give a fuck about their kids,” I yelled at him.
My chest heaved as I was panting so hard in temper.
Rooster stared, and then I was hauled into his lap, and his mouth descended on mine. His lips were firm and gentle, but there was a desperation in Rooster’s kiss that wound its way through my anger and turned it into a roaring desire. Rooster’s hand held my head in place as his arm wrapped around me and drew me closer.
