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“Why do you care about her so much? You only met her a couple of weeks ago.”
Of course, the bastard knows that. Of course, he’s been following me.
I should’ve bitten down on my pride and gotten that restraining order when I had the chance. I should’ve reported him the first time I knew he was tailing me.
In a sick and fucked-up way, I’ve gotten what I said I wanted. Justification to tear him apart.
But I don’t want that. All I care about, all I can think about, is keeping Rosie safe. My whole body is tight with the need to protect her, protect our family, forever.
“She’s going to be the mother to my children,” I snarl. “We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. I wouldn’t expect a man like you to understand.”
I need to stop. I can’t risk angering him, but it’s just so fucking obscene, the way he thinks he can manipulate us, threaten what we have. It’s like he thinks there aren’t going to be any consequences. But there are.
If he dares to hurt her…
“Put the handcuffs on,” he says.
“What handcuffs?”
“See the cinderblock off to the left?”
I scan the surroundings and see what he means. The edge of the handcuffs poke out behind the pale gray block.
“Yeah, I see them.”
“Okay, so do what you’re told and put them the fuck on. Unless you want me to go and show Rosie what a real man feels like.”
I bite down so hard I’m sure my teeth are going to shatter, forcing down a hundred furious retorts as I walk over to the handcuffs. My whole body is urging me to punish him for what he just said, punish him for disrespecting my woman.
But I have to keep my cool, remember that my priority is to keep her safe.
She’s all that matters.
Just her, just my Rosie.
I’d die, I’d kill to protect her.
And maybe I’ll have to.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rosie
“Look at Mr. Tough Guy.”
I twist in the chair at the sound of Zane’s voice, letting out a whimper when I see Ryker. His suit is crumpled, his eyes bloodshot, his whole body seeming to expand and fill the fabric of his clothes even more than before.
His hands are behind his back. Zane has his hand on Ryker’s arm, guiding him deeper into the room. He drops a duffle bag from his other hand. It lands with a metallic clang, letting me know Ryker really did go back to his apartment and get the gold bars.
Ryker’s eyes meet mine, a silent question in his, Are you okay?
I give him a look in return, Yes, I think so.
I’m not sure it’s true. But I don’t want him to panic.
“You’ve got what you want,” Ryker grits out, shrugging Zane’s hand off. “Now fuck off and leave us alone.”
But Zane clearly isn’t done. He grabs the knife and aims it at Ryker, tilting his head as though in challenge. “First I want to show your little princess something. There are two rules to this game, Ryker.”
Game.
The word stabs into me.
“If you scream, I fuck and kill your girl. If you try and fight back, I fuck and kill your girl.”
“What are you—”
I almost yell when Zane spins and punches Ryker in the face, a cruel sucker punch that sends him hurtling back and crashing into the wall. With his hands behind his back, he can’t catch himself, causing him to slam into the wall hard.
Zane grins as he twirls his knife in the air. “Remember what I said. Both of you. No screaming.”
“Does this make you feel tough?” Ryker growls, seemingly oblivious to the blood dripping down his chin.
My heart is thundering, my blood rushing in my ears, every instinct I possess tells me to help him, help my man. Tears prick my eyes but I blink them away, they won’t help anything.
And yet I’m not sure what I can do to help anyway. My bindings bite into my wrists as I try to work myself free to no avail.
“You deserve much worse,” Zane snarls. “For the way you threw me under the bus. Maybe I’ll make you watch as I fuck this… this thing. That’s if I can even get it up for her. Goddamn, Ryker, I thought you had better taste than that.”
Ryker growls and surges forward. Zane lets out a yelp and raises the knife, stepping back.
“Careful,” he says, trying to act tough again, even if he just showed how much fear Ryker provokes in him.
“You’re a fucking coward,” Ryker growls. “You don’t have the right to talk about my woman like that. Nobody does.”
“No? What about this? Do I have the right to do this?”
I whimper, biting down when Zane swings around and smacks Ryker across the face. It’s so hard not to scream, not to yell, not to do something.
My tears ignore my protestations of bravery and slide down my cheeks anyway, as Ryker hauls himself up, grinning with a bloody mouth.
