Page 104 of Playing With Temptation

She didn’t look at me. She looked down at her hands, and now that I was closer I could see her jeans were unbuttoned and the zipper was down.

“Where’s the suspect?”

“Kitchen,” Cap called back. “Down.”

Fucking shit.

It didn’t look like any of that blood was hers but she was so covered I couldn’t tell.

“He can’t touch me,” she whispered.

I felt a foreboding wall of rage behind me. Before I heard my partner say, “She’s swaying, she’s gonna go down.”

With no other choice, I rushed her and wrapped my arms around her.

It took everything I had to control her wild kicks and punches without causing her harm. I caught an elbow to the face, twisted her so my chest was to her back, and wrapped her up in a bear hug.

“Rainy, it’s Jase. I got you. You’re safe now.”

“I didn’t let him.”

“Good. That’s real good. He’s not gonna hurt you. He can’t hurt you.”

“No,” she slurred, as the fight left her body and she sagged in my arms.

“Where’s the ambo?” Ethan yelled.

“Getting the gurney out now,” one of the uniforms called back.

I shifted her and scooped her up. “Grab me something to cover her with, E.”

He yanked his button-up open, pulled his arms free, and gently covered Rainy’s chest.

I glanced down at my woman’s face covered in blood and all I felt was grateful.

She was breathing.

Whatever happened in that house, we’d get through it.

Together, we could get through anything.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“He’s getting one. All the kids are getting them,” Jase declared.

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting, just a little bit?”

I knew that was the wrong thing to say when Jase’s very feral growl filled the cab of his SUV.

“Rae, a month ago you were kidnapped. You don’t want the kids having phones and I agree. But they’re getting smartwatches, with parental controls. Just in case of an emergency they can call one of us for help.”

What he was leaving out, was that if I hadn’t left my purse behind the day Julian kidnapped me, Lucas wouldn’t have been about to call him. The following morning when I came home from the hospital—which was a useless way to spend the night. Once the shock had worn off I was fine, totally fine—the only injury I’d had was a cut to my palm from grabbing the knife out of the kitchen drawer, and some bruises from rolling around fighting with Julian.

But I digress. The morning after I got home, Jase had initiated a house rule—kids must memorize parents’ and grandparents’ phone numbers.

And yes, he’d quizzed them.

“Okay, Jase, we’ll get them watches.”