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He must have found the two guys I took out.
I take off after him. This time, I’m not silent. I don’t take it slow. I channel some of the crazy alpha energy I had in my youth and sprint around the house and charge right for the fucker.
He gasps in shock when he sees me and tries to go for my gun tucked in his belt. I crack him right in the face with a hard punch before he can get it out. He stumbles back with a grunt.
I don’t let up. I slam my fist into his stomach and then into his face.
He stumbles back as blood bursts from his nose.
“Is anyone else after her?” I ask as I stalk him down. He stumbles into one tree and then another as he tries to get away from me.
“Fuck you!”
“Wrong answer.”
I slam my fist into his cheek and he stumbles back.
“Is anyone else after my Ruby?” I ask again.
“Just me,” he growls as he spits a wad of blood out of his mouth while glaring at me. “And when I find her… I’m really going to have some fun. You messed with the wrong fucking guy, old man.”
He grabs the gun tucked into his pants with a sinister grin on his face.
A sliver of moon is shining through the clouds. It glints on a blade stuck in the tree beside me. It’s the ax that Ruby aimed at the target, but missed wildly.
“I’ll give Ruby your regards,” he says as he points the gun at my face. “When I’m fucking her and slitting her throat.”
That’s enough.
This ends now.
I leap to the side, snatch the ax out of the tree, and launch it at him in one lightning-fast motion. The ax summersaults through the air and sinks into the middle of his chest.
He doesn’t get a shot off.
Crenshaw drops to his knees as I walk over, staring him down.
I yank the ax out of his chest with a grunt and hold it to his throat.
“You fucked with the wrong girl,” I growl. “She’s mine.”
He looks at me with pleading eyes, but there’s no mercy when it comes to ending threats to my girl.
I slice him open, so my girl can be free.
Chapter Twelve
Ruby
This has been the longest night of my life. It’s nine in the morning and I’m still pacing around, worried sick about Jack.
I don’t know how my mother did it for all those years. She must have been going crazy at home while my father was out on mission after mission, not knowing if he’d ever come back.
I have a newfound respect for her. This is tough. I haven’t slept at all.
“You have to pace yourself,” I remind myself in front of the mirror. “It might take Crenshaw a few days before he arrives and you might have a lot more nights like this.”
I take a few deep breaths, but they do nothing to calm my wrecked nerves.
This is all my fault. I came here and put Jack in danger. No matter what he says, his life is in danger and it’s because of me. If something happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself.
I lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling, wondering what’s going to happen next. What am I going to do if Jack does take care of Crenshaw and his crew? Am I just supposed to pack up and return home like none of this ever happened?
A knock on the door jerks me up and sends my heart rocketing. I rush over to the door, look through the peephole, and nearly burst into tears when I see Jack standing in the hallway.
I yank the door open and leap into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist as I breathe in his masculine scent with tears in my eyes.
“You’re okay,” I whisper into his neck.
His arms tighten around me and he carries me back into the room, kicking the door closed behind him.
“Of course, I’m okay. I told you I’d protect you.”
I drop to my feet and look him over. He has some smudges of black makeup on his face near his hairline and by his ears. His clothes are clean, but he has lines of black soil under his fingernails and he looks exhausted. Something happened.
“Did… Crenshaw come?” I ask, not wanting to say his name.
Jack nods.
I swallow hard, waiting for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t. “And?!”
“He’s not going to bother you anymore, baby girl. Him or his friends.”
“But how can you be so sure?” I ask. “He’s relentless. He’s merciless. He’s—“
“Buried in the mountains where no one will ever find him.”
My body suddenly goes weak as all of the tension I’ve been holding releases like the wind. I stumble back and sit on the bed as that beautiful relief sinks in.
Crenshaw is dead. I don’t have to worry about him ever again.
