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“It’s only been thirty minutes,” he prompts, and I scowl up at him, trying to figure out what he’s talking about. He runs his finger down my side, over my breast, and trails it down my stomach. “I remember promising you an hour.”

Chapter Sixteen

Storm

“You ready to do this?” I ask Chance as he rounds the truck, and he nods, his expression grim. We both know that the situation we’re about to go into is volatile. Two days ago, we got a call from a woman named Dina who was in the hospital after her husband had beat the shit out of her. One of the nurses gave her our number and even offered to hide her until we could make arrangements for her. But the husband has been sniffing around, and he has enough money that he’ll find her sooner or later. We want to get her out of here before that happens.

“Kodiak and Fuzz are ready at the hotel.”

I nod and climb into the truck, firing it up, and tossing my phone in the cup holder so I’ll hear it if it goes off. Dina’s parents live up in Maryland, and they are coming down to get her but they can’t get here until Wednesday so she’ll have to hang out in the hotel until then. We could leave her where she is for the next three days but the husband is getting a little too close, and Blaze decided we needed to move now. There is such a delicate balance to these situations – when it’s safe to move someone and when it’s not – and I’m kind of glad that it’s not on me to make the call. My phone buzzes, and I grab it.

Ali:

Am I going to see you tonight?

Sighing, I toss it back down and focus on the road. There are so many fucking reasons why I should stay far away from that woman but I can’t do it. I always end up back on her fucking doorstep in the end. I could be putting her in danger but not even that deters me. I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect her, except stay away. I can’t anymore. Every night since I met her, I’ve lain in my bed and thought of her, wondering what she’d feel like pressed up against me and now that I know, I’m fucking toast. My phone buzzes again.

Streak:

I’ve got something you’re going to want to see.

Me:

I’ll swing by later.

My grip on the steering wheel tightens as I think about everything I always keep buried but there is a sense of relief under all the pain, and I’m ready to end this, end him, and put all this pain in my past. For the first time in six years, I see a future in front of me, and I want it more than anything.

“You all right, man?” Chance asks, and I glance over at him before turning back to the road.

“It’s Ian,” I finally admit, his name tasting like acid on my tongue. He straightens up in his seat, staring at me.

“What about him?”

“He started sending me shit, pictures, mostly. He’s had someone following me.”

“Fuck,” he mutters, his tone reflecting the gravity of the situation. He was right there with me when I lost everything, and he knows about the pain I’ve lived with for the past six years – the depths of utter agony that I’ve been pulled into. “You got a plan?”

I nod.

“What is it?”

I glance over at him and shake my head “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, fuck that, Brother. I’m not going to let you handle this by yourself. Tell me what you’re thinkin’ and let’s end this fucker.”

“I said I got this,” I grit out through clenched teeth. I appreciate the sentiment but this is something that I need to do.

“And I said, fuck that. You’re the closest thing I’ve got to family and I’m not gonna let you do this alone.”

“What the fuck is he gonna do? He’s behind bars.”

He stands two fingers to his forehead and twists them. “He’s gonna fuck with your mind. He’s gonna make you dredge up pain that you thought was behind you because that’s what he does. He’s evil incarnate and a master manipulator, and you’re stupid as shit if you go into this without admitting that.”

“Noted,” I snap just as we pull up to the house, and he shakes his head.

“I’m not fucking dropping this.”

I sigh and nod. Chance only has my best interests at heart, I know that, but letting someone see just how fucking broken I still am after all these years isn’t easy. Except, I don’t feel all that broken since I met Ali. “I didn’t expect you to.”