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She looked up as he came around the counter, his expression hard, his eyes gleaming with rage.
“Come on, baby. ” His voice was gentle as he reached down for her. “Lake Patrol will be here to escort us to the dock in a minute. We need to get you dressed. ”
She pulled herself wearily to her feet, gazing around at the destruction. The windows were shattered, glass and debris littering the floor, the paneling splintered from the bullets.
“Come on. ” He lifted her into his arms as she stared around numbly at the destruction.
Despair tightened in her chest as she buried her face against Rowdy’s neck. She could feel her stomach cramping with guilt, with fear. One of them could have died. She could have lost Rowdy, or Dawg or Natches could have been hurt, killed.
“Here. ” He sat her in the middle of the bedroom floor before moving to the small closet and pulling free a pair of her jeans. “Put these on. ”
She accepted them silently, bending to pull them over her feet a
nd then to her hips before she took the sneakers from his hand. She sat on the bed, slipped them on, then struggled to tie the laces.
“Easy, baby. ” As Rowdy knelt before her, she realized the small whimpers she could hear were her own.
He brushed her fingers out of the way before tying the laces quickly, then staring up at her. Something twisted inside Kelly at the gentle emotion she saw in his eyes. Beyond the anger, the determination to kill that she could see raging inside him, she saw his gentleness.
“This wasn’t your fault, Kelly. ” He reached up, cupping her cheek in his hand.
Kelly fought the tears that clogged her throat. Rather than answering, she pulled from his touch slowly, shuddering at the thought that his need for her could end in his death.
“Don’t even try it. ” The snarl that twisted his face had her staring back at him in shock. “Don’t think I’m going to let you run from me now, Kelly,” he snapped roughly. “The time for running was over the minute you let me fuck that hot little body of yours. ”
She shook her head desperately, pushing against his chest as she fought to jerk to her feet. She couldn’t speak. If she dared to attempt to, she knew the screams of rage and fear wouldn’t be far behind.
“Stop it, Kelly…” He grabbed her wrists, forcing her in place as she heard the first hoarse cry leave her lips. “It’s okay to be scared, baby. I swear to you, we’re all okay, we anticipated this, we know how to fight him—”
“No,” she protested fiercely, feeling the tears seeping past her eyes despite her desperation to hold them in check. “He’s crazy. You can’t do this. You can’t…” She wasn’t going to let him do it.
She tried to tear herself away from him, to get away from his touch, his warmth. She couldn’t live like this. She couldn’t live if anything happened to him, or the others, because of her.
“I will do it. ” He gripped her upper arms, giving her a brief, hard shake as she stared back at him miserably. “Hear me well, Kelly. I will stop him. And when I get my hands on him I’ll kill him. Do you understand me? He will never ever touch you or another woman again. Ever. ”
Death shadowed his eyes as she stared back at him, incredulous. He would kill, and he would do so with no guilt, no second thoughts, she could see it in his eyes.
“He’s trying to kill you all. He won’t stop. ” Her voice was shaky, her insides trembling with enough force to make her stomach pitch. “Because of me. What if you’re hurt? What if he manages to…” To kill one of you. She couldn’t say the words, was terrified to let the thought pass her lips, as though giving it voice would make it more real than it already was.
“I won’t stop either, Kelly,” he bit out. “Listen to me, dammit. I will not stop until he’s dead. I will not let that bastard terrorize you. ”
She opened her lips to argue, to beg, only to be cut off as Dawg moved quickly into the room.
“He got away. ” He was breathing rough, heavy. “Lake Patrol is moving in and Ray and Maria are right behind them. Natches is on the deck waiting for them. ”
Rowdy turned back to her. “You aren’t leaving with them, Kelly. Don’t even consider it. ”
Her breath caught, feeling the shudders in her belly beginning to work through her body. She had no other choice. She had to leave. And soon, she would have to leave Ray’s home as well. She couldn’t continue to endanger the people she loved.
“Don’t make me gag you. ” She stared back at him in shock as his voice rumbled dangerously.
“What?”
“You’re going to try to run from this. I can see it in your eyes. Leaving town isn’t the answer Kelly. And if you try, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and cart you out of here like a sack of fucking potatoes. Don’t push me. ”
His lips curled back from his teeth in a powerful snarl as his eyes blazed with green fire back at her. Shock whipped through her at the deadly warning she saw in his gaze, as well as the confidence that he would carry out his warning.
“Don’t…” She tried to protest, to fight against the sheer force she could feel wrapping around her.
