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I look up at the house that we’re guarding as I ignore his comment. It’s wrong to feel this way about someone else after everything I’ve done but I’m too goddamn selfish to leave her alone.
“Brother, I know better than anyone the way you’ve been torturing yourself for the past six years but it’s okay to like her. Hell, it’s even okay to love her. And don’t bother denying it. I can tell you’re crazy about this girl even if you won’t admit it.”
“I just met her,” I grumble, like that’s a good reason why everything he’s saying is complete shit.
“So what? Three weeks after you met Fi, you were begging her to move in with you. You’ve never half-assed anything in your life, why would you with love?”
“Stop saying that fucking word.”
“What?” He laughs. “Love?”
“Yes. I’m not fucking in love with her. Maybe, fucking, maybe I like her but that’s it.”
He laughs again and shakes his head. “Denial… it’s not just a river in Egypt.”
“Shut the fuck up, Brother,” I growl but he just shakes his head at me.
“Man, it’s okay to like her.”
I’m about to tell him to shut it again when my phone buzzes and instead, I pull it out and ignore him.
Unknown:
I’m ready.
I point to the house, indicating to Chance that it’s time. After yanking open the door, I slam it shut and stomp up the steps, ready to do what we came here to do. Stopping about halfway up, I look back just as Chance steps out of the truck.
“You coming or you want to stay here and talk about your feelings like a fucking girl?”
“I’m right behind you, asshole,” he shoots back with no venom in his voice. I push back everything he said, needing to focus on the task at hand. We scan the street, looking for anything out of order. This has to go perfectly, and we can’t afford to be caught up in other shit when our job is this important. When we reach the door, I knock softly and Chance keeps a watch behind me.
“Who is it?” a hesitant voice calls from the inside.
“Storm and Chance, Darlin’.”
The door flies open, and I bite out a curse at the fresh bruise under her eye. I slowly reach out so I don’t scare her and brush my thumb over it. “What happened?”
Her shaking hand comes up to her face, and she lightly touches her fingers over the bruise, shaking her head. “It was nothing.”
I nod. We’ve been doing this long enough that we know it will take some time for her to process all the shit he did to her. I spent a lot of time talking to Emma about her mental state after everything she went through so I could better understand what these women are thinking when we rescue them. It was a fucking difficult conversation to get through but now I’m glad that I did.
“You got a bag ready, Sweets?” Chance asks, offering her a kind smile that makes some of the tension leave her shoulders.
“Yeah. I’ll be right back.”
She bustles off into the house, leaving the door open a crack, and I glance around the neighborhood again. “What does the boyfriend drive?” I ask.
“Dark blue Lexus,” Chance says and rattles off the license plate number as I scan the road. It’s a quiet little street, and nothing seems out of place. We scoped the house out for the last three days, getting to know the area so we would recognize something out of the ordinary. My phone buzzes, and I pull it out while trying to keep an eye on the road.
Streak:
On it.
I tuck the phone back into my pocket with a sigh. I feel better knowing that I’m moving forward and doing something to end this. This fucker doesn’t get to mess with my life anymore, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep him away from Ali.
“We’re good,” I say, turning back to the door just as Jenny comes back with her suitcase. She offers us a weak smile, and my stomach twists as I think about all she’s been through.
She came to us about a month ago after a particularly bad fight with her boyfriend. Most of her face was bruised along with several splotches down her arms. She walked to the clubhouse from the house she shares with him when he left for work and asked us for help. We tried to get her out shortly after that but when we showed up, she backed out. These women are terrified, and it happens a lot so we left a phone with her and told her to call us whenever she was ready.
