Bear rolls his eyes. “Man. You’re a piece of work.”
“Tell me about it,” I groan.
He sets his hands on his hips and glares at me expectantly.
“What?” I glare back.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” He nods his head in the direction of Stella’s room. “Go fix it.”
I scoff. “Right. It’s just that easy.”
My big brother arches a menacing brow. If I hadn’t already been beaten with a crowbar tonight, I have a feeling he’d whale on me. “Don’t be a chicken shit. If you can stand up to a murderous lunatic, you can go face the music.”
I snort. He has a point.
But tackling Kaleb Doucet seemed a lot more straightforward. I was never afraid for myself. Only for Stella and Maisy.
But facing Stella and confirming that I have no hope of keeping her?
The thought terrifies me.
Bear must be able to see that fear on my face. “You get points for saving her, you know.”
“Saving her?”I gape at him. “You were listening, right? She savedme.”
He waves a dismissive hand. “You showed up and took that asshole down. Where would she be right now if that hadn’t hap—”
“Enough,” I grind out. That thought is unbearable, and I refuse to go there.
Bear’s mouth curls into a satisfied smile. “There he is.”
I narrow my eyes. “Who?”
“The man who isn’t gonna let his woman slip away.”
Bear slaps a hand on my shoulder—none too gently—squeezes once, and is out the door.
I shut it behind him and lock up, wishing I had an extra deadbolt or a sliding bar or a medieval portcullis.
I turn away from the door but can’t even take one step. Straight ahead are the stairs that will lead me to my room. But I know I can’t bring myself to climb them.
It doesn’t matter that Tyler and Nina are downstairs, close enough if Kaleb Doucet decides to come back.
I need to stay near them. Stella and Maisy. The only way I’ll have any peace tonight is if I’m within earshot of them.
The house darkens when I flick off the foyer lights. But the light over the sink in the bathroom upstairs and the one over the stove in the kitchen offer a glowing comfort. No one who gets up in the middle of the night will be in total darkness.
I rub the back of my stiff neck and drag myself to the living room. Exhaustion seems to triple the weight of each of my limbs. I’m not sure if I’ll sleep much, but I don’t think I can stay up right any longer.
But as soon as I reach the living room entrance, movement to my left catches my eye.
“Stella—”
She’s pressing a hand to the hallway door frame as if using it to hold her up. She looks tired. She looks broken. And I can’t stop myself from closing the distance between us.
You showed up and took that asshole down. Where would she be right now if—
I don’t care about how I fucked up on Sunday morning. I don’t care that Stella thinks the worst of me now. I don’t care if I have to spend the next fifty years proving to her that I love her. I take her in my arms because nothing else is possible.
