Page 68 of Her Devoted HERO

He was sitting on the bed in the room that Rosalie had provided for him, his head bent, his hands clasped in front of him. She pulled over the rolling desk chair, so she was seated in front of him. She covered his hands with hers, and he immediately turned his over and grabbed hers. When had his hands gotten so big?

She looked at the top of his head for long moments, and then finally he looked up. His hazel eyes were swimming with tears.

“Mom,” he said hoarsely. His hands clenched hers tighter, and she hid her wince of pain.

“Tell me, Baby.”

He straightened, then cleared his throat. He blinked rapidly, and the tears were gone. “We need to keep you safe.”

“We are Honey,” she said firmly.

“We need to leave the state. Go someplace else. He knows Rosalie’s house. He knows our house. He knows...he knows...” his voice trailed off.

“The police will keep me safe. They’re tracking him right now. I’m sure this new video will offer clues.”

“It’s not good enough. You don’t know. I don’t want you to know.” He turned back to her, his face once again filled with anguish.

“Dex said you didn’t watch the whole thing. Did you?”

“No. He said I’d end up with enough scars on my soul eventually, and I didn’t need this one.” Austin quietly repeated Dex’s beautiful advice.

“He’s right.”

“But if it would have helped, we both agreed I would watch. And I would have.”

Her heart ached with pride for this man child in front of her. “I know you would have. I thank God you didn’t need to, but I know you would have.” She pulled up his clenched hands and kissed them.

“Can we leave, Mom?”

“I’m not sure that will work. If it will keep you safe. We’re out of here. But first, you have to answer a question for me.”

He looked up at her questioningly.

“Why did you call Dex? Why not come to me?”

His answer was swift and sure. “I knew he wouldn’t let you see it. I knew he would protect you from it, and take care of things.”

Fuck.

How did she say this? “I know Dex has inserted himself in our lives. But, Honey, he’s just a man I’m dating. He’s not my protector.”

Austin’s lips ticked upward, and he snorted. “Then you’re not paying attention.”

She dropped his hands and reared backwards. “I beg your pardon?”

“He’s got it bad for you.”

“Austin, I know this is the first time you’ve ever seen me in a relationship, but you’ve got it wrong. Dex and I are in the get to know one another stage. I don’t know where we’re going to end up. I don’t want you to think this could end up permanent.”

Austin gave her a pitying look. “Believe what you need to believe. As a matter of fact, I don’t know why I even brought up the idea of us leaving. Your future is here. This fucker will be caught.”

She just stared at her child, wondering when she had lost control.

Chapter Eleven

It had been four days since the video had been sent to Austin. He’d talked a reluctant Kenna into requesting the entire week off. All of Austin’s homework assignments were now being sent to Clint Archer’s e-mail, then scrubbed and forwarded to Dex, scrubbed again then they came to Austin. Penny was more than happy catching up on her backlist of books on her kindle. That meant that two people in the Wright household were kept busy.

Dex was finding out a lot about Kenna’s personality, and number one was that she hated being idle. Jack and Beth’s house was neat as a pin, but it now looked brand new. Every nook and cranny sparkled. Kenna had even taken out every item from the cupboards and washed them, then she washed the interiors of the cabinets and put down new contact paper.