“Would I?” He cackled. God, he actually cackled like some old crone. Weren’t crones women?
“Course you would, Reggie.” She kept her voice soothing, hoping to keep him from becoming too insistent on grabbing her. She could see the intent creeping into his expression, his body bunching in preparation.
“Naw, I wouldn’t tell you this, Roni. Not for all the land in Texas, little girl. Not without a reason.
‘Cause it would have meant my own life. But I’ll tell you now, if you come with me nice and peaceful like.” Calculating and feral, his gaze reminded her of a rabid dog she had once seen.
She couldn’t let him get her out of the house. If she did, his advantage would be that much greater.
“I’m not leaving with you,” she told him carefully, moving farther back, watching him, knowing he had to be insane. “And Taber won’t let you take me,Reginald. You won’t be able to leave the estate with me.
You should leave, while you can.”
His eyes narrowed. “Your stinking little cat is too busy to worry about you, little girl. And I won’t take no for an answer.”
He jumped for her then. Roni knew she would have only a second to evade him, only the slimmest chance to dart past him and run for the door. When his hand swiped for her hair she moved. Any time Reginald became furious with her he would grab her hair first. Hold her in place for whatever punishment he deemed necessary.
She felt his fingers brush by her head as she sprinted over the couch, screaming Taber’s name. Where the hell was everyone, anyway?
“Bitch.” She almost made it. She was clearing the couch when he caught her ankle, jerking her back with enough force to take her breath as she fought to turn her body, to shield her abdomen and the fragile life growing there.
She bounced against the cushions, kicking out with her other foot as he fought to retain his grip on her.
There was no breath left to scream for help. She needed her strength, her wits about her, to try to escape. If no one had heard her screams, then no one was close enough to help her.
She kicked for his groin and missed, but the force she landed on his thigh had him stumbling back. She jumped and rolled over the couch, her ankle an agonizing ache from the harsh twist he had given it.
Stumbling, she bolted for the door, screaming out Taber’s name again as she heardReginald curse viciously behind her.
“I said you’re going with me.” He caught her hair again, this time delivering a sharp blow to the side of her head that left her dazed and crumpling to the floor from the pain.
“Taber,” she tried to cry out his name again, to warn him, to warn someone. But darkness was closer around her, sweeping through her mind, and she knew she only imagined the bloodthirsty animal’s roar that echoed in her head.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rage washed over Taber in violent, nearly suffocating waves as he heard Roni’s frantic screams echoing through the house. Merinus had come running for him and Callan when she had first seenReginald sneaking into the mansion, terrified of his intent.
He had been coming through the backyard when he first heard her screams. He entered the living room in time to see the bastard, fist closed, strike her temple in a blow that sent her to the floor.
There was no question of mercy. No question of reining in the rage tearing through him. His roar echoed through the room as he threw himself at the other man, desperate to alleviate the threat to his woman.
Reginald was faster and in better condition than Taber had anticipated. They rolled across the floor, the older man grunting as he slugged Taber in the ribs with enough force to nearly take his breath and knock him back for a second.
But the animal he had kept carefully leashed all the years of his adult life was free now. There would be no escape, no mercy for the man who had dared to threaten all Taber held dear.
He was aware, only absently, of the men now moving into the room. Roni was pulled to safety as Callan barked out an order to one of the others to find the doctor.
“She’s alive, Taber,” Callan called out as Taber faced off withReginald. “Let it go. Let the men take him.”
Taber’s throttled roar hadReginald paling as he stumbled backward.
He rushed the older man. His fist connected with the side ofReginald’s head, blood spraying as flesh tore. He jerked him from the floor as he fell, shaking him remorselessly as the older man’s eyes bulged from his head.
“You kill me and you know what happens,”Reginald wheezed as he managed to tear himself from Taber’s grip. “It will be all over the news, boy. Everyone will know.”
“Ask me if I care,” Taber growled, pacing after him as he backed away.
Reginald’s mouth worked desperately. “I didn’t hurt her.”