“She could have died!” His voice roared through the room.
“But she didn’t and now you’re fucking terrifying her by losing your shit.”
But she wasn’t scared. At least she wasn’t scared for her own safety. She was scared for him. His sanity. Because she knew that she wasn’t the only one coming out of this with nightmares. No, his nightmares were etched into his face with a brutality that had tears dripping down her cheeks.
“Ink,” she said quietly, standing. The world swayed for a moment but she managed to shuffle towards him.
“Betsy, stay back,” Duke warned.
Ink growled at him, she touched his arm. He turned towards her and she practically fell against him, knowing he would catch her.
He would always catch her.
He scooped her gently up into his arms and breathed in her scent, burying his face in her hair. “Damn it, Betsy. You’re supposed to stay in bed. I could have lost you. You could have died. What would I do if I lost you?”
“You won’t,” she whispered back. “I’ll never leave you, Ink. I’m a barnacle stuck to your boat.”
He barked out a laugh and she knew her Ink was back with her. He looked down at her.
“You can be my barnacle anytime.”
Someone groaned. She turned to s
ee Razor shaking his head at them, although his lips twitched with a smile. “Is this you two flirting? ‘Cause if it is then your game needs serious work, boy.”
She blushed.
“My game is just fine, old man,” Ink grumbled, carrying her over to the bed again and sitting with her in his lap.
“Sorry, brown eyes. Lost it for a moment.”
“None of this is your fault. You had no way of knowing that Forrest was going to send them. It sounds like they were watching for a while. You couldn’t have known when they would strike. And I’m safe now. I did what you said, I stayed alive until you got to me.”
“Until the fucking Fox got to you.”
“Until you got to me,” she repeated firmly. “I didn’t feel safe until you were holding me. Can I tell you now?”
“All right.”
She looked up into his gorgeous face. “I love you Ink Callahan. With all my heart.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “Love you too, brown eyes.”
She smiled up at him, happiness flooding her.
“Now that Ink’s worked out his issues, can we please focus.” Reyes leaned forward. “Did the Fox say anything about how he knew you were there?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. I’ve got his jacket and phone somewhere. Where are they?”
“They’re downstairs,” Ink said.
Razor went down to get them. When he walked back in, he handed the phone to Jason. “There’s nothing in the pockets.”
“The phone has nothing on it,” Jason said after a few minutes. “It’s a prepaid. No way to trace it back to who bought it. And there are no calls on it other than Betsy calling Ink. There’s no contacts, no photos, no search history other than what Betsy looked at. Nothing except for one phone number. Want me to call it?”
They all looked to Reyes, but it was Sunny who answered. “Call it. He left it there for a reason.”
Jason pressed on the number. It rang three times.