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The world swayed, forcing me to brace against the side of the car.
“Tobias, are you okay?”
I knew the words were coming. My smile was more like a fucking wince, but I gave her all I had. “Yeah, just tired.”
I'd slept in snatches of time, fifteen minutes here, thirty minutes there. But it wasn’t the lack of sleep that had me worried. It was the bullet still lodged in my thigh. The grating scrape of the opening barn doors drew her gaze, right as the driving agony took another fucking bite. “Go.” I forced the word. “Go to Nick.”
The look in her eyes told me she wanted to argue, that she knew I was lying. It was all I could do not to beg her.
Go…go to Nick.
She did, leaving me behind. I sagged against the car as she slipped into the darkness inside the barn.
“She’s stronger than you think.”
I winced.Thatmotherfucking voice was not what I wanted to hear right now. “Fuckyou,C.” I narrowed in on my brother on the other side of the car. “Fuck you right to Hell.”
He gave a careful nod, then turned and followed her into the barn.
She’s stronger than you think…
I sucked in a hard breath and shook my head. Shewasstrong, Iknewthat. But this wasn’t about giving her more burdens, it was about me. There was no way I wanted to see the same pain in her eyes that I'd seen in mine when I watched my mom become sick…and finally crumble.
I just couldn’t do it. Not now…
So I ground my teeth and pushed off the car, forcing the scream back down until the pain was just that grinding throb in the back of my mind.
The interior lights came on from a car parked inside the barn. Nick opened the trunk and rifled through the bags, pulling out one to drop onto the rear seat. “There’s clothes for you, princess.”
In the wash of the lights, Ryth looked inside the carry-on. “You put this here?”
“No.” Nick gave a shake of his head. “Your dad did.”
“Dad did this?” She was surprised, but she shouldn’t have been.
“Yeah.” He grabbed out guns, then handed one to Caleb and another to me before slamming the trunk closed. “We have to hurry.”
I took the Sig, tucking it into the waistband of my jeans along with two fresh clips.
Ryth looked around and settled on the open barn door. “There’s just us here,” I answered.
My hand closed around the weapon's grip. No fucker would dare even look at her. She gave a nod, then tugged the gray sweatshirt over her head…but she was bare underneath.
Her skin was so fucking soft, creamy and hypnotizing. Those pink nipples hardened with the night air. She bent and shoved the sweatpants free, kicking them away in disgust before tugging on panties from the bag, then jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket.
“Ready?” Nick asked, glancing my way.
I just stared at her as she grabbed her discarded clothes, rolled them into a ball, and fixed her hair. I looked away, Christ, I had it bad.
Caleb climbed into the driver’s seat, leaving me to follow Ryth as she slid across the back seat.
I forced myself to move, dropped low, and yanked the door closed behind me before C started the engine and pulled the sedan out of the barn.
“The light’s off,” Ryth said quietly as Caleb climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked around the front.
“What?” I looked her way as she pointed to the farmhouse in the distance.
“The porch light was on when we drove in. Now it isn’t.”
