He’d take every single bit of her pain and he’d carry the burden on his shoulders for the rest of his life if it meant she could move on with hers.
But he was completely unprepared when she said, “Please don’t leave me.”
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He looked like some demonic angel staring down at her with empty, soulless eyes and a rifle slung over his shoulder. He’d taken Dupree down with a mind-numbing accuracy that left her reeling. And he’d saved her life – again.
So why was he acting so…so distant? He was standing right in front of her, but he was miles away, and she got the feeling he was slipping further and further away with each passing second.
She laid her hand on his chest. He jerked.
Cheri licked her dry lips, searching his gaze for any hint of the loving and caring man she’d left only hours before. “Bo, please, say something. You’re scaring me.”
His nostrils flared, and his lips flattened. He was physically holding himself back. “You don’t have to worry about seeing me around town. I’m moving. You can get on with your life.” Even his voice was cold and rigid, even worse than the first time she’d met him. At least then he looked at her with some type of emotion, even if it had been annoyance. Right now, he was a walking, talking empty shell. “Why would you leave town?”
Why would you leave me?
“Do you need to hear me say it? I’m responsible for Lamont’s death. There. It’s my fault you lost your only remaining family, and I know you hate me for it.” He took a step back, literally removing his body from her touch and she felt the break all the way through to her bones.
Hearing his name brought a fresh wave of tears, and she squeezed her eyes shut against the image of Lamont’s sightless eyes. She’d never hear his laugh again or see his smile.
She felt the air shift around her and opened her eyes in time to see Bo walk out the door. Heart breaking, she ran after him. She couldn’t survive it; she couldn’t survive Bo leaving her too. “I need you. I need you to hold me and tell me everything’s going to be okay.”
Bo stopped in his tracks, keeping his back to her he stared straight ahead. His shoulders heaved, and then he pivoted to face her.
The bleak emptiness in his eyes caused her to stumble backward. She’d lost him.
Then he held out his arms.
She ran to him, sobbing, and when he enfolded her in a tight hug, she clutched him to her with all her strength.
He smoothed a hand down her hair and Cheri quieted, reveling in his strength. Bo would be here for her and he would love her.
And she would love him.
“Is that better?” he asked.
She nodded, rubbing her cheek against his solid chest.
“Do you think you’re okay now?”
Cheri tilted her head back, gazing up at him with tear-filled eyes. He would take her lips now in a passionate kiss and make her forget. But he was like a statue; his jaw chiseled and unmoving. She faltered. “Bo?”
He peeled her hands from his waist and stepped away.
Her knees wobbled and the earth tilted beneath her feet. “Bo?”
She heard the desperation in her voice but didn’t care. He was still planning to leave.
And he expected her to what? To just pretend like she’d never felt anything for him? All because he was under some misguided impression she blamed him for Lamont’s death?
Cheri locked her legs and faced him down. “If you want to run away in the middle of the night, fine, be a coward. But don’t do it and say it’s because I blame you for Lamont’s death. Because I don’t.”
He didn’t say a word. He didn’t give any indication there was a living and breathing man inside his body. A man she loved.
“Say something! Dammit, if you’re going to leave me at least tell me the truth. It’s because you never loved me in the first place. I was just a fucking amusement for you.”
“You know that’s not true—”
Cheri sliced her arm through the air. “You’re a coward, Bo Lawson. You’re a man who’s so afraid of feeling anything you’d rather move to another state than face the fact you have emotions, no matter how much it hurts the people around you. You’re too selfish to care.”
Cheri spit the words out with as much fury as she could muster and prayed he couldn’t see the violent tremors racking her insides.
Bo’s lips fell open. “Selfish? You think I’m selfish? I’m leaving so you don’t have to look at the man responsible for Lamont’s death every day. I’m leaving so you can move on and be happy, even if it’s with Riser.”
She nearly hit the ground. “Have you lost your mind? I don’t want Riser. I want you. I don’t blame you for Lamont’s death.” Cheri fought to keep from collapsing under the overwhelming tide of hurt and anguish. She jabbed a finger toward Dupree’s body and said, “He killed my cousin. Not you. Dupree shot me. Not you. If it weren’t for you, I would probably be dead. How could you think it was your fault?”
Bo didn’t even follow the direction of her finger; he just stared at her. “If I hadn’t given up my chase after Dupree, he wouldn’t have had the chance to kill your cousin.”
“I could have bled out at the scene.”
Bo shook his head in disbelief. “But you wouldn’t have. Your wound wasn’t fatal.”
“And did you know that before you took me to the hospital?”
“No,” he murmured.
“What if you’d gone after Dupree and I died? Would that have been the right choice?”
He blinked. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever talk about you dying.”
“You made the best decision with the information you had in hand.” Cheri chanced a small step in his direction praying he didn’t run.
“But I didn’t protect Lamont.”
Cheri closed the distance between them and grabbed his face, drawing him down to her. She could sense him weakening, sense the crack in his hard exterior. “As much as I wanted to save my cousin from himself, I couldn’t. Lamont made the choice to get involved with someone like Dupree even though he knew how dangerous it was. Neither you nor I had control over that.”
No matter how much she wished it differently, and how hard she’d tried to protect him, she couldn’t. Lamont had gotten involved with Dupree and Frankie; he’d impregnated Ginger Burnell and made the decision to steal from a killer.
Bo shuddered in her hands, the empty look in his eyes giving way to torment. “I let you down. I broke my promise, and Lamont died.”
“You didn’t let me down. You lifted me up, Bo Lawson. You loved and protected me as best you could. And that’s all I ever asked or wanted. But if you leave me, you will let me down. Because the man I love is strong enough to stand up to anything.” Cheri rose on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “The man I know has arms strong enough to catch me when I fall. He has strong shoulders to stand up to the people who do wrong, even if it hurts himself.” She whispered against his mouth, “I love you. I will always love you, whether you think you deserve it or not.”
Her chest squeezed so tight she could barely breathe. Please don’t leave. Please don’t leave.
Bo’s body gave a great shudder, and then he crushed his mouth to hers, flooding her with instant molten heat. Sweet honey slid through her veins, and her knees buckled. Bo caught her up to his chest as he devoured her, seared her with his touch. When he finally broke free, they were both quivering, Bo holding her in his arms under the glow of the lamplight in front of the broken down old restaurant on Main Street.
She put her arms around his neck, and leaned into his chest, savoring every beat of his heart beneath her cheek. “Take me home.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “With pleasure.”
29
Seven and a half months later…
Cheri stood in the hospital room, staring down into a pair of deep green eyes the same shade as Lamont’s. Bo stood behind her, peering over her shoulder at the tiny bundle, with his arm wrapped arou
nd Cheri’s growing belly. “It looks like a little alien.”
Cheri snuggled the baby in her arms, rubbing her cheek against his silky black hair. “He is beautiful.”
Ginger Burnell lay back in the bed, crossed her arms and said, “Don’t you dare talk about my baby boy. Lamont Boudreaux Burnell is the most perfect baby God ever had the grace to create.”
“My bad.” Bo chuckled in surrender. Forced to let Cheri go, she crossed the room and handed Ginger back her baby. This was the first time he’d ever been around a newborn baby, and it wasn’t at all what he’d expected. He thought they’d come out looking like little people, not red-faced, wrinkled tiny aliens.
He’d take that thought with him to his grave.
Cheri hovered protectively at Ginger’s side, smoothing her hand down the baby’s arm as Ginger settled him more comfortably against her chest. Bo would never have thought he’d see Cheri getting along with Ginger Burnell either, but when she’d produced a paternity test proving she carried Lamont’s baby, Cheri’s feelings toward the woman took a one-eighty.
“Bo and I will stop by your place and make sure everything is ready for you to bring my nephew home as soon as Dr. Simmons clears you tomorrow.”
“Don’t forget to go ahead and plug in the baby wipes warmer,” Ginger said.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything.” Cheri glanced over her shoulder at him. “Won’t we?”
Bo answered, “Absolutely.”
Baby Lamont started fussing, and Cheri visibly held herself back from reaching out to take him. “He’s hungry.”
Ginger looked up at her, rolling her eyes. “I’m not feeding him in front of you two.”
“You’re right.” Cheri snapped her fingers and pointed at the hospital door. “Bo, let’s give her some privacy.”
She gave baby Lamont a quick kiss and dragged Bo from the hospital. He trailed along behind her, a smile on his face. “I don’t know if I like this whole hormone thing making you all demanding.”
They’d made it to his truck when she turned and planted her fists on her hips, the slight bulge in her belly evident. “Hormones?”
“Yeah, ten minutes ago you were bawling louder than the baby, now you’re ordering me around. Is it gonna be like this through your whole pregnancy?”
Her eyes flared outrage and Bo fought to keep a straight face. He enjoyed getting his woman riled up.
“And what if it is?”
Bo finally let out his laughter and snatched her into his arms, taking her mouth in a long, deep kiss that left them both gasping for breath. “I guess I’ll just have to keep kissing you to keep you silent.”
“Is that a promise?” She gave him one of her saucy smiles, melting him to his toes.
“You bet it is.” Bo opened the door picked her up, ignoring her squeal of protest as he gently set her in the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt.
“I can get in the truck by myself!”
Bo leaned in and placed a kiss on her belly. “My wife, who I love more than life, is carrying around our unborn child. If I’m a little bit overprotective, you’re just going to have to learn to deal with it, Mrs. Cheri Lawson.”
Before you go…
From the author: I hope you enjoyed Relentless River and thank you so much for joining the adventure. If you loved the story and want to help me out, I’d love for you to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.
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To claim your FREE copy of David: A Men of Mercy Novella, click here
And as a bonus for signing up for my newsletter you’ll be entered for monthly $50 gift card drawings, as well as receive exclusive promotions and excerpts available only to subscribers.
–Lindsay Cross
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To connect with Lindsay Cross
@lindsaycross101
lindsay.cross.author
www.lindsaycross.com
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Also by Lindsay Cross
Redemption River: Men of Mercy Book 1
Resurrection River: Men of Mercy Book 2
Reckless River: Men of Mercy Book 3
Ravaged River: Men of Mercy Book 4
Ethan’s Promise: Men of Mercy, Book 5, in Desiree Holt’s Team Omega Kindle Worlds
Aaron’s Honor: Men of Mercy, Book 6 in Susan Stoker’s Special Ops Kindle Worlds
Revenge River: Men of Mercy, Book 7
Raylan: Men of Mercy, Book 8
David: Men of Mercy, Novella 9
Relentless River: Men of Mercy, Book 10
Praise for the Men of Mercy Series
“Lindsay Cross delivers high-powered action, alpha heroes and an exciting conclusion!”
- ELLE JAMES
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
“This is one of those books that the phrase sit down, shut up and hang on would be used because it’s a wild ride from page one to the end.”
- 5 Star Goodreads Review, Redemption River
“This book was wall to wall action. Once the danger hit, it never slowed down. I was late leaving my house because there was no way I could stop reading.”
- 5 Star NetGalley Review, Redemption River
Acknowledgments
I want to give a huge thank you to my support team: Kristi @ sassysavvy, Nicole @ebooksgalore, Gabriel Mercer and Christine Frieseke-Miller for your social media skills!
Another big shout out to Kari March - without you and a bucket load of patience, the Men of Mercy would never have these truly awesome covers. Thank you Lynn Mullan for your awesome proofreading skills! And thank you Kristi Yanta for your amazing editing - without you these books would not be where they are today!
Thank you to my dad for giving me the love of reading and to my mom for dropping everything to read my books and catch those last minute mistakes.
My beautiful beta readers, Dawn, Linda and Christine-you’ve helped make the Men of Mercy shine.
And last, but most definitely not least, thank you to my true military hero-my husband. I love you all.
Relentless River: Men of Mercy, Book 10 Page 19
