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Chapter Forty-seven
Rayne
Rayne was sound asleep, wrapped in strong arms, sleeping more peacefully than he ever had in another man’s bed, when the shrill ring of Mike’s cell phone woke them both. Rayne had one eye open as he listened to half of the conversation.
“How long ago?” Mike rumbled, his voice laced with sleep. “Is she safe? No, leave the other guys out of it. I’m on my way.”
A sinking feeling filled Rayne’s chest as he sat up in bed. Where the hell was Mike going at two in the morning? Who was this she that he was concerned about being safe? Mike hung up the phone, then tossed it onto his nightstand with a sharp curse. He pushed off the one sheet covering their waists and flung his legs over the side of the bed. He rested his forehead in his palm, his other hand clenched in a tight fist at his side.
Rayne was silent, watching him while a plethora of emotions swam across his face before Mike seemed to settle on furious. His dark brows dipped low, and his jaw clenched so hard Rayne feared he’d pull a muscle in his cheek.
“Mike,” Rayne said cautiously when Mike reached beneath his pillow and pulled out a chrome-and-black handgun. No, please.
“I promised myself that I would never lie to you, Rayne, or deceive you… in hopes you’ll show me the same respect.” Mike spoke to him with his back turned as he released the clip from his weapon, checked the ammunition, then popped it back inside its home with a spine-jolting snap that made Rayne flinch.
“Where are you going?” Rayne asked a question he didn’t want the answer to.
“The same way that I can call on my guys if I need them and they’ll come, no matter what, they know they can call me too.” Mike turned and stared Rayne in his eyes. He was wide-awake now, and Rayne could see him shifting into another gear, into another headspace. A vicious one.
“But we just made love. I don’t want you to leave,” Rayne rebutted. “Stay with me.”
“There’s no way karma will let me have your body and a peaceful night’s sleep.” Mike sighed. “She doesn’t love me that much.”
“Then I’m going with you.” Rayne didn’t know why he’d said that, but he was already getting out of the bed. It was stupid and maybe the result of him reading too many adventure novels, but the thought of Mike going out there in the middle of the night and doing something dangerous or, worse, getting arrested made a sense of foreboding settle low in his gut.
Mike gave Rayne a breath-halting glare that made him pause. “If you try to insist on coming with me, I’ll handcuff you to this bed until I get back.”
Rayne inhaled, his stomach clenching with fear and desire as he stared at the metal bars that made up Mike’s headboard that resembled the entrance to a jail cell “Mike.” It was his only plea because he didn’t know what else to say.
Mike leaned forward and kissed him on his lips, slow and lingering as if he was trying to savor it, remember it. “Mmm. That should hold me until I get back.”
“Promise me you’re coming back.”
“That’s an easy promise to make…” Mike caressed his cheek, gazing at him as if he were mapping every one of his features. “I’ll always come back to you.”
Rayne shook his head, feeling helpless again.
“I don’t need you to come with me, not for what I have to do. I don’t want you to see me like that ever again.”
“Like what… what do you have to do?”
Mike’s expression was grim as he robotically stood and put on a pair of black jeans and a midnight-black hoodie. “I have to teach someone a lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“That women and kids are always off-limits.”
Rayne’s stomach plummeted. “Oh god.” What was Mike going to do? How far would he take the punishment? It was all enough to make Rayne nauseous with worry.
Mike tucked the handgun into his waistband at the small of his back, then took his deadly switchblade and shoved it into his front pocket. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“What do you want me to do, then?” Rayne broke down and asked. “You constantly tell me what you didn’t bring me here to be… tell me what I can be now.”
“No matter what I do tonight… it’s gonna be bad. Vengeful.” Mike came over and kissed him again, this time with more passion and desperation, before he pressed their foreheads together. “Be my peace when I get back.”
