Page 14 of Wilder’s Mistake

“Then what do you want?” I ask.

Wilder’s phone vibrates on the dresser before he can answer.

He reaches for it, and the change in him is immediate. His expression hardens, every trace of heat disappearing behind the focus I saw in the yard.

I sit up. “What is it?”

He doesn’t answer. I shift closer and read over his shoulder.

NEW WIFE. WOODEN RIFLE CRATES. TWO STEEL CASH BOXES. MIDNIGHT.

Beneath the message is a photograph of my car passing through the Kingdom Come gate.

Cold moves across my skin. Somebody watched me arrive. They saw the ring, heard what I told the prospect and sent the message within hours.

“They know about me.”

Wilder studies the photograph, enlarging the edge of the frame before checking the number. Then he forwards the message.

“Kane?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

He’s already reaching for his jeans when a hard knock lands against the door.

“Church,” Judge calls from the corridor. “Now.”

Wilder stands and pulls on his clothes with controlled speed. The man who held me against this wall disappears beneath the Road Captain his brothers follow.

I gather his shirt around me. “Because I’m your wife.”

His attention returns to me.

“They think that makes you leverage.”

“Does it?”

He fastens his weapon at his hip, then crosses the room and takes my face between both hands.

“It makes you mine to protect.”

The words should feel possessive. Instead, the care in his grip makes the threat outside the room feel suddenly real.

“Stay here,” he says.

“Wilder—”

“Inside the compound. Until I know where this came from.”

He presses one hard kiss to my mouth, reaches for his cut and opens the door.

Judge waits in the corridor. Wilder steps out beside him without looking back.

The door closes, leaving me in his bed, wearing his shirt and the cheap ring that has just put a price on my head.

CHAPTER 4

WILDER