“What the hell do you want?” He sounded thrilled to hear from me, as usual.
Normally, I would have fucked with the cranky son of a bitch. But not now.
“Kelly went out alone.”
“Cass told me. I found the wedding. I’m on my way over there with a team now.”
“I have her. But he was there.”
“Fuck!” I heard him talking to someone else, barking orders. Then he was back. “Is she hurt?”
“No. Not hurt. He almost got her. I’m taking Kelly to my place.”
“Is she okay? Tell me where to go.”
“She is in shock but unharmed. He was in Irvington Park. I’m sure he’s long gone by now, but send it out on the scanners. I have my guys flying drones in now.”
“Where do I go? I need to see her.”
“My place. And Connor?”
“What?”
“Bring your chains.”
He hung up. I had to wonder if he was going to do as I asked. If not, I’d have to get the guys to hook me up. One thing was for sure. Kelly was not getting away from me again.
I pulled into my place. It was a fairly ordinary house from the outside. The neighborhood was suburban, with neat rows of houses. What no one could tell who didn’t know is that the whole neighborhood was full of my guys. Bikers and marines.
Hunter was buying a house a few blocks away, but he hadn’t closed yet. Vice was even closer. He lived on the same damn street.
It was built-in security. We cast a net over the whole neighborhood, biker and non-biker. It was quickly becoming the safest in the whole damn county as a result.
We looked after each other, like a family.
Hell, we were a family.
I looked at Kelly. She looked pale. I didn’t blame her for being scared. The truth was, I wanted to throw up. I was pretty sure that once the adrenaline stopped pumping, I was going to crumble like a fucking cookie.
And I never crumbled. Not in combat. Not in the harshest circumstances. But this was different. I’d nearly lost her.
If I had been one minute later . . .
I shook it off, trying to banish the images of Kelly being tortured. Or worse. Kelly being gone, all because she was too pigheaded to ask me to take her to a damn wedding!
I clenched my teeth, willing myself to be calm. I scanned the area, then opened her door and unlocked her seatbelt. I took her arm and guided her to the house.
Once we were inside, I took her shoulders and forced her to focus on me.
“Kelly.”
She looked at me, tears in her eyes.
“You have to obey me now.”
“Was he really going to . . .”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
I ran my hand through my hair.
“Because of me. Because you know Mase. Because he wants to hurt us.”
“He seemed so nice.”
“He is the devil, Kelly. He is pure evil.”
It hit her then. What had almost happened. What I’d been trying to avoid all this time.
“He would have—oh, Cain. Oh, my God.”
“I know, baby girl. I know.”
I pulled her against my chest, holding her tightly. My anger was gone. I was just worried about her. I knew how scared she must be. If it was only half of what I was feeling, it was unbearable. I heard the rumble of motorcycles outside. Good. Backup was here.
“I need you to hold it together just a little while longer, okay?”
She nodded, but she wasn’t really paying attention. She was thinking about the park. About him.
About what he would have done to her.
Her breathing was coming fast and hard now.
“You can never do that again, Kelly. Promise me.”
“I didn’t think . . . how did he find me, Cain?”
“He must have been watching the house. Followed you.”
I watched her throat as she swallowed convulsively, tears starting to fall. She wasn’t listening. She was zoning out.
“Listen to me!” She looked at me, snapping out of her hysterics. “He will never stop now. Not now that you’ve seen his face.”
Her face paled. I hated to scare her, but she had to take this seriously. She had to know.
“But I’m never going to stop either.” I made a promise. A promise I meant to keep. “I will find him.”
She looked up at me, her little face shining with trust and hope.
“And I will end him.”
Chapter Thirty
Kelly
“Had enough?”
I nodded, snuggling against Cain’s side. We were on the couch and I was wrapped in a super-soft fleece blanket. It was like a sweatshirt, but for your whole body.
My brother had left a few hours ago, bringing a big shopping bag full of God only knew what. And a team of FBI agents. I’d helped them do a sketch of the guy, which Con said made it almost worth it. Cain had told him to get the hell out of his house after that.
Things had been pretty tense.