“Trail him. Figure out his habits and the best place to catch him alone, off the radar. I want him to see my face.” While I beat the fuck out of him.
“We’ll do our recon and go from there. Unless someone has something else to say we’ll call it a night.” Tiny paused. “All right, we’ll meet back here in a few days.” Standing, Shooter’s chest swelled with pride. Logically he’d known they all had his back, but this was his first time being on the receiving end. One by one his brothers clapped him on the back in a silent show of support before they left to go their separate ways.
Knocking on the door to avoid startling Juliette, he pushed it open. She lounged against the headrest, legs tucked under her and an e-reader on her lap.
“Well you’re still here, so that’s a good sign.”
“You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?” She smiled, but there was no joy behind it. After setting the e-reader aside on the nightstand she placed her hands in her lap. “I was attempting to lose myself in a book. For once it didn’t work. It was Peter who sent those flowers. I looked it up. Forget me nots, bachelor buttons for anticipation and tonight begonias, which mean beware. He’s building up to something.”
“No you shouldn’t be dealing with it all, and soon you won’t be. Why come back now?”
“ I don’t know that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. What did you decide?”
“We’re going to do some investigating and then go from there. We didn’t get to be where we are by making rash choices.” Sitting beside her, he pulled her body to his. “Do you know anything that could help?”
“I know I wasn’t the first girl he did this to. I used to wonder why a man five years my senior, with a swimming pool full of cash, would be interested in me. It ended badly with a few other girls on campus and he’d gotten a reputation. Unfortunately, I didn’t move in the right circles to hear about it in time.”
“You think there was a paper trail?” Shooter asked, eager to avenge his old lady.
“Maybe a deeply buried trail, or a payoff with a non-disclosure.”
“Do you remember the girls’ names?”
“Not offhand but I could go home and search through some of my old school stuff and figure it out. I see people all the time from school coming through the library.”
“Do you work tomorrow?”
“Yes, I have the early shift. I have to be there by eight to get everything set up to open at nine thirty.”
“I’ll accompany you home so you can get ready and then I’ll make the necessary changes while you’re at work. New locks and a hi-tech alarm system. Regardless, I want you over at my place until this is finished.”
“I am not leaving my home.”
“Then I’ll be staying with you.”
She opened her mouth.
“No. This isn’t up for discussion. If he could keep his crazy under wraps for five years, there’s no telling what the fuck he’s capable of. This is what I do, trust me.”
“How long do you plan on keeping this up?” With a heavy sigh, her shoulders drooped.
“That depends on him.”
“I can’t believe this is happening.” The fear in her eyes gutted him.
“I swear he’ll never touch you again. I’ll kill him first. You know that, don’t you?”
“Shooter…”
“I was special forces in the Marines, a sniper. I can make it clean, quick and untraceable.”
“Please don’t do that.” Her eyes grew wet.
“Why would you care?”
“Because he’s not worth the darkness that would stain your soul.”
“It’d be one of many blots there. Knowing you’re safe would be worth more than any mission I ever undertook for Uncle Sam.” The thought of anything happening to the woman who’d begun to heal his shattered heart one piece at a time made his gut ache. “I’m a bastard. Because right now all I can think of is being so deep inside you we can’t tell where you begin and I start.” Reaching around her, he removed the pins from her thick hair, smoothing the tangled tresses until they tumbled down her back. His dick thickened and he palmed it with a moan. “You’re a fire in my blood consuming me a little more every day.”