As he crept his way up through the forest towards the cabin hidden back from the road, he heard the gunshot. His heart raced. Fuck, no. He moved faster, nearly blowing his cover.
“Travis, stand back. Wait.” Jake’s voice in his ear barely penetrated the haze of anger. He hadn’t come this far only to lose this guy.
He kicked the door in and entered, barely aware of the voices now swearing in his ear.
“No!” He stormed forward, part of him aware he should stop and wait, search the cabin first. But he knew no one else was here. He saw the body on the ground, part of the head blown off, and the gun that lay inches from the man’s hand.
“Bastard shot himself.” Hunter came up behind him. “Damn. Didn’t see that coming.”
Travis stared down at the body, feeling numb. This was the man he’d searched for years for, and he’d taken his life just like that. He felt…devastated.
“You okay, man?” Gray smacked his back.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Just need some fresh air.” He left the cabin and sat on the steps outside. He’d wanted revenge on that bastard. Revenge for what he’d done to Carys. For murdering the only woman Travis had ever loved. And now that revenge had been ripped from his hands. Fuck.
Epilogue
“Jenna? You’re awfully quiet. Everything okay?”
She had to stop her automatic reaction, which was to say she was fine. It would’ve been a lie. She was working on talking to Curt about her feelings rather than dismissing them as unimportant.
They’d been back in Haven for a week now. It had taken a fortnight for Curt to settle everything and finish up at Black-Gray, although he would still do some freelance work for them. He hadn’t worked out exactly what he’d do now he lived in Haven, and that worried her. He’d moved here because of her. What if he wasn’t happy? What if this had been a mistake?
She placed her hand over her stomach, trying to quell her fears. “I still feel guilty.”
He paused. “I thought we’d talked about this.”
They had and she’d listened to him as he’d told her all the reasons she shouldn’t feel that way. It had helped for a while. “I know. But I can’t help it. I lied to you. I caused so many problems. If those men who tried to kidnap me hadn’t been caught, they could have shot someone, they could have hurt one of my friends who came to find me. It could have been avoided if I had just talked to you. And I feel so bad.”
He pulled her over onto his lap where he sat on the couch in her living room. “Baby, you’re not to blame for what those men did. If they didn’t try to get you then, it would have happened another time. Or The Brit might still be out there, a threat. No one got hurt.”
“I know. But I…”
He rubbed his hand over her back. “You still feel guilty.”
She nodded.
“Guilt will eat you up alive. And it’s the last thing I want for you. I know what it’s like to live like that.”
“What if moving here makes you unhappy? What if you hate it here? What if we’ve made a mistake?”
“Oh baby. You can’t take everyone else’s problems on as your own. You’re going to eat yourself up.” He ran his thumb over her lower lip then nipped it gently. “I should have known you’d feel this way. I haven’t given you that spanking I owe you for not talking to me. I figured we’d both made mistakes and that we’d wipe the slate clean. That might have been a mistake if you’re feeling so terrible.”
“You’re going to spank me to get rid of the guilt?”
Umm…maybe she shouldn’t have said anything.
“Oh, I’m going to do more than that.” He stood her up and slapped her ass. “Go put on something sexy. A skirt and corset or a tight dress. No panties. No bra.”
Her heart raced. “Why?”
He narrowed his gaze. Whoops, probably not a good idea to question him when he was in Dom mode.
“Go.”
She raced upstairs and quickly got dressed, putting on some make-up and doing her hair. When she came downstairs, he was waiting on the sofa. He swirled his finger around and she did a slow twirl.
“Did you obey me?”