by Debra Kayn
“He’ll catch you, you asshole.” She fought the pain and threw her weight into his side.
Her attack only pissed him off more, and he pulled her around to the driver’s side. “Listen carefully. You’re going to crawl through and close your door. Don’t even think about running. If you do, I’ll kill your brother, Archer, and those other two losers on the side of the garage. Then I’ll shoot you.”
She nodded, and when he leaned over, she scrambled across the driver’s seat and gearshift, and into the passenger seat. Scott followed her inside.
“Shut the door.” He started the engine and flipped on the lights.
She closed the door and found her purse on the floor between her feet. She picked the red bag up and set it on her lap, never taking her gaze off Scott.
“You have all the money?” Scott twisted his body. Then he put the car in reverse with his left hand without taking his aim off her.
“Yeah.” She opened her purse.
Scott’s laughter made her sick. She reached inside. “It’s all right here.”
At the end of the driveway, Scott shifted into first, put the pistol between his legs, and held out his hand. “Let’s see it. I swear if there’s even a hundred dollars missing, I’m going to beat the shit out of—”
She raised her hand and sprayed the Mace directly in his face. He let the clutch out and took his right foot off the gas, killing the engine as his scream filled the car.
“You bitch!” He grabbed for her but, in his blindness, he missed.
She latched onto his hair and shook his head, her vision blurred from the cloud of Mace filling the Mustang. “You can’t hurt me anymore,” she screamed. “I hate you.”
The door flew open, and Kage was there, pulling her out to safety. Garrett, Lance, and Tony moved in, guns drawn. She rubbed the heels of her hands into her burning eyes. She was going to kill Scott.
Chapter Twenty-two
The takedown of Scott Carson lasted less than twenty seconds after his Janie used her Mace. Kage shielded Jane from the scene happening on the ground on the other side of the Mustang, making sure she was safe first. He held her arms between them to keep her from rubbing her eyes and making the sting from the Mace any worse.
She uttered not a word, but he knew it must hurt like hell.
“I’ll take her in and wash out her eyes.” Tony reached for Jane, giving Kage his nonverbal promise to watch over her as if she was his. “You’ve got five minutes. Police are on their way.”
He nodded and let Tony take Jane. He waited until the front door closed and she was out of sight before heading to where Carson was being held. Fury twisted with fear over losing Janie fueled him forward with his intent to kill the man.
Garrett hovered near Carson, who sat on the ground, slumped against the wheel of the car, his hands cuffed behind his back, his eyes red and streaming, having taken a direct hit from the Mace. The cords along Garrett’s neck stood out as he spoke low to Carson.
“Stand him up,” Kage said.
Lance moved forward. “Check yourself, man. You do not want to go there.”
He ignored the advice. “Stand him up, Beaumont, or I will.”
Garrett grabbed the front of Scott’s shirt, pulled him to his feet, and got in his face. “You better hope you have a long stay in prison, because I will hunt you down and make your life miserable if you even speak or think about Jane.”
Scott struggled to open his eyes, squinting against the pain. “Go to hell.”
Garrett turned to Kage. “You called dibs. The piece of shit is yours.”
Kage stepped forward, an arm’s length away from Carson. Disgust rolled through him. Most of all, he wanted to kill the man who had dared lift a hand to Jane, and probably every other woman he’d had in his life.
“Is it true? Everything you did to Jane?” he asked quietly.
Scott sneered, his eyes mere slits in a red face. “Damn right. That bitch deserved it.”
Kage drew back and landed a vicious punch to Scott’s ribs. The whoosh of breath and grunting afterward were enough evidence that he’d hit his mark. Jane wasn’t going to be the only one who suffered through the agonizing pain of broken ribs. Three, if he guessed right.
“Did you force her to sleep with you?” he asked, equally quiet.
“Fuck”—Scott grunted—“off.”
“Wrong answer.” Kage brought his knee up and nailed Scott between the legs. Carson’s eyes rolled back in his head as he slunk to the ground.
Kage pulled him up, steadying him. He leaned in and said, “You’re not even worthy enough to speak her name.”
He swung an uppercut to Scott’s chin, sending him flying over the hood of the Mustang before hitting the ground with a sickening crunch. Carson’s head rolled around as he moaned. Kage helped the asshole back to his feet and propped him against the car again. He was no way near done with the bastard yet.
“This is for all the times you made her feel less than a woman.” He kicked him low in the stomach. There wasn’t a spot on Carson that wasn’t left hurting, but Kage still wasn’t satisfied.
He wrapped his fingers over Carson’s throat and squeezed. “Last, I take your life, because you touched my woman.”
Satisfaction, the kind of which he’d never experienced before, gave him the strength to keep pressing in, past the muscle, past the cartilage, past the ability to breathe. Carson’s body seized, stiffened, and then slumped, and still Kage continued strangling the life out of him.
“He’s not worth it, man,” Garrett said.
Unaware of Garrett until he spoke, Kage whipped his head to the side. “He hurt Janie,” he spat out.
“Yeah.” Garrett looked away. “I’m not stopping you. I’d be in your spot, killing him myself if you hadn’t called rights at him first. But I also know my sister. She’s been through a hell of a lot. You killing someone for her will add guilt onto what has already happened, and she will blame herself. That’s the kind of woman she is. I’d prefer that you don’t put that burden on her.”
“Fuck,” Kage breathed, letting go of the bastard.
Kage watched Carson collapse to the ground the same moment he heard the sirens coming up the lane. He turned to Garrett, wanting him to know how much he wanted to kill. How out of control he’d become. How he had the ability to become an Archer in every sense of the word. How he didn’t deserve Janie.
Instead, Garrett lifted his chin. “There’s a difference between you and them. There always was. Don’t go there.”
Kage flexed his hands and stared at Garrett. He knew. Out of all the PIs at the Body Shop, Garrett knew him the best.
For all the strength it took him to stay away from a life a crime, to turn his back on his family, and to separate himself from society. His biggest fear was that, deep down, he was capable of going over the edge. His anger, his scars, his memories burned inside of him, and he feared one day he’d have enough and go after the man who had hurt everyone he loved.
Garrett glanced down at Carson and back at Kage. “We got this covered. He went crazy. He struggled. In capturing him, he got a few injuries. You didn’t see a thing. Case closed.”
Turning away, Kage walked to the house and asked Tony to head outside to help Lance and Garrett. Jane sat on the couch, a wet washcloth over her eyes. He stood on the other side of the living room, soaking in the sight of her and filling his lungs with air. He’d quit breathing when he rounded the house and seen she was not in the car.
Without her, he didn’t know what would happen to him. For years, she was his ideal of the perfect woman, someone to aim for and strive for so that someday he could do her proud. She was beautiful, poised, and, when some jack wasn’t messing with her head, unpredictable and crazy, in the best way. The thought of having her had kept him walking the straight and narrow, and yet he almost killed a man tonight.
“Baby?” he whispered.
He wasn’t sure she heard him, until she raised her head and removed the cloth from he
r face. Eyes swollen and vacant stared back at him. He pushed down the pain and approached her.
Already, her cheekbone showed signs of a bruise. He wanted to go back outside and put more hurt onto Carson for what he’d done. No one should ever go through what Jane did.
Sitting on the coffee table in front of her, he put her knees between his thighs and inhaled deeply. He had to tamp down the fear and vulnerability he’d experienced tonight, thinking that she could die and he’d never told her he loved her. “You okay?”
“Bluff…” She scrunched her nose. “She’s gone. Tony helped me look everywhere in the house, and she’s not here.”
“I’ll find her, baby. She could’ve run off into the woods. Cats are smart. She’ll hide out, until she knows it’s safe to come back to you.” He held onto her legs, stroking the top of her thigh with his thumbs. “I know your eyes are burning something fierce, but are you hurt anywhere else?”
She laid her hand on her chest but shook her head. He removed her hand, swept her hair over her shoulder, and changed his mind about not killing Carson. A faint bruise already bloomed on her collarbone where he’d pressed the pistol to her.
“I’m fine.” She glanced toward the window. “Garrett?”
“He’s dealing with the police,” he said.
She nodded. “Good.”
“Yeah.” Kage kept watching, not understanding or liking what he was seeing. “Baby?”
Jane stood. “I should put some cat food outside in case Bluff gets hungry and comes back. I wouldn’t want her to go hungry.”
He followed her into the kitchen. She was in shock, pretending tonight never happened. That her ex-boyfriend hadn’t had a gun to her head and almost took her life.
“Do you care if I open a can of tuna too?” She poured a cup of dry cat food in a bowl.
“Go ahead,” he murmured.
She gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks. She’ll like that. She always goes nuts when I splurge and give her moist canned cat food, and tuna is like the granddaddy of any cat dessert. She’ll probably smell it from the woods, don’t you think?”
Kage leaned against the archway, not answering. She had her own way of coping, and no matter what he said, she wasn’t absorbing that outside her the danger was going away. Never again would she have to worry about someone coming after her or hurting her.
Jane opened the back door. Kage moved to follow her out and watched as she set the bowl on the bottom step. She gazed out into the darkness and called out to the cat.
He had no idea if Bluff had run off or if Scott had found her and gotten rid of her to hurt Jane. He blinked hard and peered up into the sky, missing the little ball of fur himself. First light, he’d go out and look around.
“Come back inside,” he said.
She turned around, ducked her chin, and walked past him into the kitchen. He hooked her waist. She startled, and he swore. “Sorry, baby. Just need to hold you for a second.”
“I’m okay, Kage. Seriously. It’s over.” She patted his arm.
He let her go, and she walked away from him without looking back. He frowned and followed. It would have made sense for her to be angry, or even to cry. Yet she walked around the house as if she’d arrived home after a day at the garage.
Garrett, Tony, and Lance came in, closing the front door behind them. Jane stopped in the middle of the room and stiffened. Garrett crossed to her and wrapped her in his arms. She held on, head turned, staring at the wall behind Kage. He gritted his teeth. He did not like what he was seeing.
“It’s finished, sis,” Garrett said.
Jane nodded and pulled back. “Thank you.” She gazed at each one of them, but when she looked at Kage, she settled her eyes on the front of his shirt. “To all of you.”
Garrett glanced at Kage and back to Jane. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” She stepped closer. “Can you take me home?”
Garrett’s brows rose. “That’s what you want?”
“Mm-hmm.” She lifted her arm. “I’ll just grab a few clothes, and then you can pick up the rest of my things tomorrow.”
“Sure, sis,” Garrett said, waiting until she walked out of the room before looking at Kage. “Wanna tell me what that’s all about?”
“She’s in denial.” He crossed his arms. “I’ll tell you now while she’s in the other room, I won’t let you walk out the door with her. She’s not going anywhere.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes. “My sister’s life has hung from a very thin thread the last four years, which I’ve recently found out about and doesn’t make me feel good, seeing as how I’m her brother. I watched a drug runner hold a gun on her tonight and, frankly, anything my sister asks me for right now, I’d do in a heartbeat, so tell me one good reason why I would ever leave her with you when it’s obvious she doesn’t want to be here.”
Kage looked him dead in the eye. “Because I love her.”
Chapter Twenty-three
The tension that filled Kage’s living room could be cut with a knife. Jane walked straight to Garrett, ignoring Kage. Each step she made more painful and desperate for her. She’d brought Scott into Kage’s life and put him in the position to stand back while Scott beat her. Her heart broke for the fear and frustration emanating from Kage, and she was responsible for him feeling that way.
He’d survived so much in his life and came back stronger each time, but she feared she finally broke him, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. How would he ever look at her again and still want her? It was one thing for him to hear secondhand about the abuse she’d gone through. It was another to have witnessed how powerless she became around Scott.
He spoke not a word, nor moved toward her, but she could feel his gaze. Each step away from him hurt him in a way she knew he’d never forgive her. She stopped beside Garrett and waited. Her brother lifted his arm, and she shook her head, moving a step away. She’d crack if anyone touched her.
Garrett’s brow furrowed, but he respected her wishes. She owed Garrett big-time for what she’d put him through over the last month.
Tired of being the center of everyone’s attention, she wanted only to go home. Feeling truly lost without Bluff and now Kage, she walked to the door with her bag hanging from her hand. Away from everything, she could hole up in her bed and pretend that none of this had happened. She’d hold Kage’s love inside her heart for the rest of her life and know it was the best thing anyone ever gave her.
“Later.” Tony bypassed her and jogged to his Chevy.
“Glad it’s done, Janie.” Lance winked at her, unsmiling, before heading after Tony.
She stepped off the porch and inhaled deeply, finding it easier to breathe outside.
She listened in the darkness and peered out at the bushes on the edge of the front lawn. “I hope Bluff’s o—”
“Baby?” Kage said from behind her.
She stopped and squeezed her eyes closed. Her throat tightened, shutting down her eagerness to respond. The comfort in one endearment tempted her to turn around and fly into his arms.
“Janie, look at me,” Kage said.
She opened her eyes and pivoted on her heel. She bit her tongue to keep from sobbing. He gave her the breath to breathe, her strength to be strong, and her will to overcome her past.
“Thought you understood me and what being in my bed meant.” He tilted his head. “I promised you I’d never push you out of my life again, and now you’re the one walking away. You’re killing me, baby.”
“Kage…” She glanced at Garrett, who stepped away, giving them space. “I need time.”
His pupils constricted, he was that close to her. “Away from me?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
He immediately deflated, and it killed her. “One question…do you love me?” he asked softly.
She pressed her hand to her chest, aching inside. “You know I do.”
Kage snapped his gaze up and nodded to Garrett. Her brother stepped in
front of her, kissed her cheek gently, and said, “You’ve haven’t been given a choice in a long time, sis. I’m giving you one now. You say the word, and I’ll take you home.”
She stared up into her brother’s eyes and opened her mouth, but the words never came. She grabbed his arm, desperate for him to understand she wanted him. She trusted Kage to tell her if she was doing the right thing. Her decisions always got her in trouble and steered her down the wrong path, but she’d learned to trust herself when it came to him. Her choice to love Kage wasn’t wrong or bad.
“I love you.” Garrett kissed her forehead and walked away. Behind her, the car door opened and shut. She whipped her head around, scared she was doing more harm than good by staying.
“Let’s go inside and talk.” Kage slipped his fingers into her hand.
She tugged to free her arm so she could run toward the car to catch Garrett, but Kage pulled her back against him and wrapped both arms around her. With her back tight against him, she watched her brother back out of the yard, not even looking her way.
“I don’t want to talk. Let’s just savor the moment.” She squeezed her eyes shut.
He picked her up on a startled scream and headed toward the house. “Then you can listen, and I’ll talk. Every time you want to build a wall around yourself and push me away, you can bet I’ll do everything in my power to make you stop.”
She kicked out with her legs. “Put me down!”
His arm tightened around her knees. “Not happening.”
“Let me go.” She hissed through gritted teeth. “I’m through with men who want to boss me around and…and…assholes.”
“Good to hear.” Kage carried her through the doorway and kicked the door shut. “I’m protective when it comes to my woman. I wouldn’t want you around those kinds of men either.”
“You’re one of them.” Jane pushed at his shoulders, and to her relief he put her down. Without missing an opportunity, she scrounged through her bag and found her phone.
