Page 40 of Split You Open

I frown. “About what?”

“That this is where I belong. I thought I understood but it took leaving to have it really resonate.”

My heart shudders at the absolute resolve in her voice. I have so much to tell her—starting with an apology for putting her through all of this to how much I fucking adore her, but all the words are trapped in my throat. I’m overwhelmed. All I can do is crush her to my chest and pray that she can feel at least some of the emotions pouring off me in waves. Later, when we have a moment when it’s just the two of us, I’ll tell her everything.

“I’m glad you understand now.” I grab her hand, pulling her around the truck. “I know you’ve got to be beat so let’s get you inside, showered, fed, and⁠—”

“Cariño!”

Her tired chuckle is cut off as Santi slams into Blair before yanking her off her feet to spin her around. He’s barely made it one rotation before he’s placing her down and kissing her, just as deeply as he’d kissed Rhett.

He pulls back only to bend at the waist with a groan. “Shit, I came…”

Blair laughs incredulously. “Santi!”

“Just a little… Just give me a second to catch my breath.”

I grimace even as I laugh at his enthusiasm. Giving them their moment, I turn and walk over to Rhett. Without waiting to see if he wants it or not, I give him a hug too. He returns it before stepping back and clearing his throat.

“Missed you,” he grumbles as he looks away.

I chuckle. “I missed you, too, Rhett. You take good care of our girl?”

He swallows, his eyes flickering over to Santi and Blair. “As best I could. You would’ve done a hell of a better job, though.”

I snort with amusement which regains his attention. “That’s funny. Blair said the same thing to me about you the night after the two of you decided to drive off into a storm. I think you both need to put more faith in yourselves.”

A rueful smile pulls at Rhett’s lips but he says nothing to that. Instead, he nudges his head toward the truck.

“What should we do with him?”

Him. As in Ledger.

I swallow hard, trying to reconcile the fact that something has to be done. What that is, I don’t know just yet.

“How the hell did you manage to grab him?” I ask, rather than answer.

Rhett’s brows furrow, his mouth pulling down into a deep frown.

“He found us—tracked Blair down at the same time we were hit with another wave of Dixie’s guys.” He shakes his head, his scowl deepening. “Wes, he didn’t try to shoot at us or anything. He was there to help. And get this,” Rhett lowers his voice and leans in closer. “He didn’t fight being tied up and taken back.”

Uncertainty claws at my insides. I’m not sure if I’m surprised that Ledger jumped into the fray to help or not. He had said he was going to bring Rhett and Blair home. It would make sense that Ledger would grab them before Dixie’s guys could. Then again, Ledger was the one to put this fuckery into motion. If he wanted to kill them—Blair especially—that would’ve been the moment to do so.

Some of the hatred for Ledger that’s been brewing in my chest cools. He saved Blair and Rhett. That must mean something, right?

If it does, I don’t have it in me to figure it out tonight.

With a sigh, I look back at Blair. “What does she want to do with him?”

“Trust me,” Rhett clears his throat. “You don’t want to know.”

I wince. “Alright, well, let’s get him into the basement. At least if we put him down there we’ll nullify the threat he poses to us all.”

Rhett opens the back door of the truck, pulls out a small knife from his boot, and bends down to cut something. Paracord falls out of the truck. When Rhett straightens, he nudges his head toward the house.

“Get moving, asshole.”

Bound and gagged, Ledger steps out into the night. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but seeing him look exactly like the man I’ve trusted all these years isn’t it. Had I thought he was going to sprout horns or something?