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“I’m setting things straight. I should have done this from the start, Rose,” he said.
“You don’t have to—” He covered his hand over her mouth, and she couldn’t help but look up at him.
“I need to get this out,” he said. She nodded and he dropped his hand from her lips. “I don’t really fool around with women. In fact, if I do take a woman home from the bar, it’s for one night and one night only.”
“I don’t need to hear about you and other women,” she mumbled.
“I’m not going to tell you about me and other women, because there are no other women,” he insisted. “I’m not with you because you’re a convenience for me or because there’s no one else around. I want you, Rose, all of you. Hell, I even like your kid,” he said.
She giggled, “Her name is Sadie,” she reminded.
“I’m aware,” he said. “The little monster has grown on me, just like her mother has. I don’t want to go back to my life because I don’t want that life back. I want you, and if that means that we have to figure out what life outside of this house is going to look like, I’d like to figure it out with you.”
“You would?” she asked.
“I would. I didn’t make this clear, but when you got into bed with me, you became mine. I plan on keeping you, Rose,” he whispered into her ear.
“You do?” she asked.
“I do,” he repeated. “Are you good with that?” he asked.
“I am,” she said without hesitation. “But none of this changes the fact that I’ll need to meet with Joe. He won’t stop coming for Sadie and me if I don’t give in and do what he wants.”
“I don’t want you to ever have to see that fucker again, honey,” Thorne growled. She felt the same way, but how else was this mess going to end unless she did what Joe wanted?
“I don’t see any other way,” she said. “What if you come with me?” she asked.
“That’s just going to piss your ex off,” Thorne warned, “but, I’m in. I won’t let you talk to him alone, and you seem hell-bent on settling things with him.”
“I am,” she said. “It’s the only way to end this. Plus, once Joe realizes that I’m not afraid of him anymore and that I have evidence that can put him away for a while, maybe he’ll leave Sadie and me alone.” She knew that she was hoping for something that probably wouldn’t happen, but she needed a little bit of hope right now. Without hope, she was doomed to live a life in hiding, and even though Thorne just made her a very pretty promise, he wouldn’t wait around for her forever. That was just too much for her to hope for.
Thorne
Savage had setup the meeting between Rose and her ex for the next day and he had to admit he wasn’t looking forward to any of it. He had tried to talk Rose out of going to the meeting, but she refused to listen to him. Savage had sent reinforcements to the meeting. He and Bowie showed up along with a few other guys. They had picked a place halfway between Huntsville and Austin, where the safehouse was. If things went south, Savage said that he didn’t want Joe to know where he could find them. That worked for Thorne because keeping Rose safe was his focus.
Bowie agreed to stay back at the hotel with Sadie and keep her safe, promising that if they needed to get out of there fast, he’d meet Thorne and Rose back at the safe house with her. Rose didn’t seem to want to leave her daughter behind, but she knew that it would be safer for her with Bowie. There would be no way that Thorne would give Joe what he wanted—and that was Sadie. He knew that not bringing the guy’s daughter along, as he had requested, was only going to piss him off, but Thorne didn’t really give a fuck.
They drove to the meet-up at an abandoned parking garage, and Thorne could tell that it was a set up before he even got out of his truck. “Stay in the truck,” he ordered.
“Why, what’s happening?” Rose asked.
“I think that your ex is playing games and I don’t want you getting out of the fucking truck. Can you just listen to me this one time, Rose?” Thorne asked.
“You don’t have to be an ass about it,” she spat. “Why do you think we’re being set up?” she asked.
His cell phone chimed with an incoming message, and he pulled it from his pocket. He read the text from Savage and handed her the phone. Rose gasped as she read the message out loud. “He got Sadie,” she breathed. Savage’s message said that Joe had shown up to the hotel room, knocked Bowie out, and took Sadie. That was his plan all along.
“He lured us out of the room just so he could get to Sadie. He knew that I wouldn’t bring her along and he planned this whole time to take her,” Rose sobbed. “We fell for it too. I told you that I should have stayed behind with her.”
“And what would you have done when Joe showed up to take Sadie?” Thorne asked. The thought of her facing her ex alone scared the hell out of him. She was right though. He had let her down. Allowing Joe to get to Sadie was on him, and now, he needed to get Rose’s daughter back or he was sure that she’d never forgive him. Hell, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself, but that was something that he didn’t want to consider. Right now, he had to call Savage and get a plan together. They were going to have to get an Amber Alert put up before Joe was able to leave the state with Sadie. Otherwise, he might not ever find her.
“I know that you need someone to blame right now and that I’m it, but I’m already blaming myself enough for the both of us. You need to remember that I do this kind of thing for a living. If someone needs saving, I’m the one people hire to do the job. I’ll find Sadie, Rose, and then, I’m going to fucking kill your ex.”
“You can’t do that,” Rose insisted. “You’ll go to jail.” He sent her a look and she sat back. “I forgot that you’re good at killing,” she almost whispered. He regretted telling her that, but she was right—he was good at killing. If he wanted to kill her ex and have no one ever find out about it, he could do just that. The question was—if he killed Joe would Rose and Sadie be able to forgive him?
* * *
He got in touch with Savage, and they agreed to meet back over at the hotel. Bowie had called the police and when they pulled into the hotel parking lot, Thorne cursed at the amount of cop cars and ambulances sitting there. “They’re going to let the whole fucking world know what went down here,” he grumbled.
