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He shook his head no. The one thing he knew about Danni was that she didn’t care about what people said about her.
“Now get upstairs, she’s fretting about you getting hurt. She’s on the third floor in room three ten.”
“Thank you, Rachel.” He kissed her cheek.
They both got up and he started to walk towards the entrance when Rachel called to him. “By the way, Jackson is still upstairs with Simon, Seth, Ben and Elijah in Danni’s room. Don’t get yourself in trouble,” she warned him.
He shook his head at her. Grateful for the warning, he still wanted Jackson to just go home, preferably Louisiana. “I’ll behave,” he promised.
Would Jackson?
**
There was little in his life that Walker cherished. Danni was one of those things. He slipped into her room and noted that her brothers were leaning on the heater in the room, all metal and about four feet long and a foot wide. They were crowded together and all three gazed at him when he walked into the room.
Then he saw Danni’s eyes lock on his face and he knew that she was happy to see him. “Danni, you behaving yourself?” He teased her.
She rolled her one good eye at him. Then, Walker’s gaze traveled to Jackson who was right beside her sitting in a chair. He could feel the tension radiating off the man before he got too far into the room and that was just too damn bad. He wasn’t leaving Danni again today. Whatever this was, whatever anyone else thought about them being together he wanted to give her what she wanted at least while she was in the hospital.
Ben pulled himself away from the heater where he sat. Elijah followed him. He hesitated behind Walker, clapped him on the back and said, “Take care of
her.” Walker was surprised by that, since Jackson was his friend. His best friend at one time. “Let’s go Jackson. I’ll drop you off at your mom’s house.’
Walker sat in the other chair near Danni’s bed where he could reach out and touch her. She put her hand between the rails and he took it. Once again, it was like it was just them in the room. She wanted to ask him about seeing Jesse but not until her brothers left the room with Jackson. He could see it on her face, her impatience.
“Danni, I’ll see you once you’re settled at home,” Jackson told her.
She turned her head towards him, but she didn’t say anything. He leaned over the bed and kissed her forehead. Walker had to look at the floor to hide his emotions at the intimate gesture. They had history but then so did he and Danni.
Ben and Elijah told Danni goodbye next then they told their father and Seth. They followed Jackson out of the room. Walker saw him look back. He was still holding Danni’s hand. Jackson looked at her then he looked at Walker and the challenge was on. Walker knew he was in for a fight if he wanted Danni. Then he turned his gaze to Danni. Walker had to figure out what was best for her.
The door shut behind the three men. Then Simon asked what Danni had wanted to. “What did Jesse say?”
“He’s not responsible which I already suspected and when I questioned him about the people looking for him, he said they would go after me or Mom, not Danni. He’s probably right about that.”
“Now what?” Simon asked. Walker knew his frustration. Someone had hurt Danni his daughter and they had no clue where to start.
“I’m giving my brother thirty-five thousand dollars to get the hell out of town,” Walker grumbled.
“No,” Danni protested.
He looked at her. Then he squeezed her hand. “I have to, Danni. That is one less person I have to worry about hurting you.”
“Anyone in prison that you made enemies of?” Simon asked him.
He broke his gaze away from Danni and looked at her father. He shook his head no. “I kept to myself. My cell mate was annoyed at me a lot because I worked out between our bunks to save my sanity, but he liked me. He was the only one I interacted with for the most part.”
Simon sighed. “Who then?” He asked shaking his head. “This wasn’t random. Danni was targeted with the windshield last night which Grandpa fixed for you this morning,” he told his daughter. “And then the beating. Somebody is after her.”
“The man wanted to draw her outside?” Walker asked.
“Makes sense, less chance of leaving a fingerprint.”
“The sheriff dusted for prints?” Walker asked.
Her father nodded. “Yours were easily identifiable,” Simon explained. His intention hadn’t been to bring up a touchy subject, Walker knew but it still prickled just below the surface of his skin that his prints were easy to ID because his were on file. “He printed Danni, the rest of us here in her room to help identify the others they found. Haven’t heard from him yet.”
He looked down at their hands, connected. Her fingers laced with his. It seemed so natural but strange to him. Even stranger was that he had kissed her. The little girl that he had always loved was now a woman that he had fallen for. It made sense to him, but he was still hesitant. He wanted to hold onto his walls to protect her from himself. The stigma of being with him. To protect her from Jesse who would always be a threat.
