Page 274 of Romeo

He would have if you hadn’t been here.

I had been there because I wanted to surprise her.

That was the part twisting through my gut as I left Granny’s house behind. I hadn’t known Fiona needed me. There hadn’t been some warning from fifteen hundred miles away or some instinct that told me to haul ass to Virginia before something happened. I’d gotten on my bike because my girl told me she missed me, and after nearly a fucking year of taking things slow, the temptation to see her face when I showed up unexpectedly had finally won.

If I’d stopped for gas one more time, Webb would have had another five minutes.

If I’d hit traffic outside Roanoke, he would have had twenty.

If I’d decided to wait until morning to surprise her, Fiona would have...

My hands tightened around the grips until my knuckles ached beneath my gloves. All these months, I’d been so fucking careful with her. So damn impressed with my own restraint. Fiona was young, so I gave her time. She was finishing school, so I stayed the hell out of the way. She had a life in Virginia and family who loved her, so I convinced myself she was safer there than she would be caught up in mine. I let her decide how quickly we moved because the last thing I ever wanted was for her to look back and wonder if I’d pushed her into something before she was ready.

Real noble shit.

Except patience hadn’t been standing behind that shop tonight.

Marcus Webb had.

And by fucking luck, I made it in time.

He would have if you hadn’t been here.

Gator popped into my head out of nowhere and pissed me off almost as much as everything else. I’d given my cousin endless shit over the way he handled Devlyn, because Gator had never been burdened with the kind of restraint sane men were supposed to possess. Once that bastard decided she belonged in his life, he stopped asking the universe for permission. Protecting her became the answer to every question, and anybody who didn’t like his methods could take it up with a very large, very unreasonable Cajun.

I’d spent years thinking he was half fucking crazy.

Maybe I’d been the stupid one.

I should have fucking taken her.

Not against her will. I’d cut off my own hand before I forced Fiona into anything she didn’t choose. But I should have stopped pretending I needed to stand fifteen hundred miles away while she decided whether she wanted me. She did want me. She’d been showing me that for months. She kissed me first. She called me when she was hurting. She let me into parts of herself she kept hidden from almost everyone else, and two nights ago she told me she wished I were there.

Still, I’d gone slow.

So fucking slow a man I’d already warned had gotten close enough to put his hands on her again.

I made it outside Rosewood before pulling off the road and killing the engine. The sudden quiet only made Fiona’s voice louder in my head, so I yanked my phone out and called Nav.

He answered with an irritated, “What?”

“Need you to find Marcus Webb.”

There was a pause long enough to tell me he wasn’t touching a keyboard yet. “Are you in fucking Virginia again?”

“For fuck’s sake, Nav.”

“That’s a yes.”

“I didn’t call to discuss my travel plans.”

“No, apparently you prefer the surprise method. Where the fuck are you?”

“Rosewood.”

Another pause. “Romeo.”

My patience, which was already hanging by a shredded fucking thread, finally snapped. “I need Webb, Nav. Not a goddamn lecture about how many state lines I crossed without telling you. Pull the street cameras around Fiona’s work and find the motherfucker.”