“I know,” I murmured. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
I wasn’t, but I didn’t want him to know. I was afraid he would see me shaking. He already blamed himself. It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t have to feel guilty about this.
His jaw was clenched as our friends came back into the room. He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead.
“I’ll be back,” he said, staring into my eyes. “The girls will stay with you. Try and rest.”
“Okay.” I looked at him tenderly. My hero. My savior. And he loved me. He’d said it. A feeling of warmth filled my heart. “You get some rest too.”
He opened his mouth to speak and then shook his head, clearly thinking better of it. He pressed one last kiss to my forehead and let go of my hand, walking to the door and taking one last look at me.
I saw something in his eyes that scared me. Something haunted. I realized I had forgotten to ask what had happened to the man who had taken me.
Suddenly, I knew. Nothing had happened to him. Nothing had happened yet.
I looked at the other girls and saw my worries reflected in each of their faces. Michelle shook her head slowly. We were thinking the same thing. We were all aware that we had to keep quiet, especially here. Some things could not be talked about. This was one of those things. Because our men loved us, they were doing something against the law. Something that could hurt them if the truth came out.
I would never, ever let anything hurt Shane. I knew the other women felt the same about their men. None of them were here. Mason, Cain, Connor, and Shane were all missing from this gathering. I knew it wasn’t because they didn’t care. It’s because they did care. They felt that they had to end this, once and for all.
I knew that the killer didn’t have much longer to live.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Cassandra
“She’s so strong.”
“She’s had to be,” I said, giving Michelle a look. Kelly was getting us all bottled water in the cafeteria. Meanwhile, all our men were conspicuously absent.
And not one of us could stop thinking about where they were and what they were doing.
“I need to make a call.”
“Watch what you say,” she warned.
“I know.”
I had been texting my husband but he wasn’t answering. All I’d gotten for hours was a curt ‘I’m fine.’ Well, he’d better answer the damn phone, especially if he was about to throw his career and maybe his life away on revenge. I trusted my man, but I also knew how much the killer had taken from him.
I walked out in the hospital parking lot. I kept walking until there were no cars around me. No cars, no trees, nothing. I still knew I couldn’t speak freely. Especially if something did go down.
It was different for the other girls. Sure, they would be worried. They should be. But their men were bikers. They had one foot outside the law as it was. Mine was an FBI agent. The law was his life.
In a situation like this, that didn’t offer him protection.
It put a much bigger target on his back.
He answered on the first ring.
“Conn . . . please, please tell me you aren’t doing something stupid.”
Silence. He didn’t answer. In fact, it was so quiet wherever he was that it sounded unnatural. Then I heard him. The crinkle of his jacket when he moved. His shoes on the floor. I knew in an instant that it was bad.
Real bad.
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“Nothing. I’m not thinking anything. And it’s not my decision.”
“Then come home. Let the others sort this out.”
That might not be fair, but I was scared. I couldn’t lose him to this madness. The killer had already stolen way too much.
“Our babies need their daddy. All three of them.”
I heard him take a breath.
“Three?”
“Yes, you dolt. I’m pregnant.”
“Cass . . .”
“Well, what do you think happens when you can’t keep your hands to yourself?”
“It’s not my hands that make babies.”
“But what beautiful babies they are,” I said with a sigh. I loved my babies. And I loved their daddy. He was scaring the hell out of me.
“It’s your fault, woman. You prance around the house looking so damn sexy all the time.”
“Sexy? In my sweats?”
I did wear athleisure wear quite a bit. Of course, I made sure it was sexy and cute athleisure wear. Tiny and revealing enough to make it fun. I might be wearing sweats some days, but they still hugged my ass, and I paired them with sexy camis.
“You look sexy in anything and everything. And nothing. Especially nothing.”
I wasn’t going to get drawn into this.
“Just tell me if it’s done. If this conversation is pointless.”
“It’s not done. We’re still talking.”
“Conn . . . don’t let Mase be involved. At least send him home.”