“Brian? The guy who promised Flick he’d help her but, in the end, he betrayed her. Know him?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“I sent some friends around to have a few words with old Brian, make him aware I didn’t appreciate him hurting my woman. He should be able to eat solids in a few weeks.”
Flick drew in a gasp of air. He looked over at her. “Baby, I want you inside. Now.”
She nodded shakily. Fuck. He closed his eyes briefly. He wasn’t that man anymore. He knew he couldn’t be that man again. Jaret was right, he’d had a taste of the sweet life and he wanted more. He couldn’t have that if he went back to who he’d been.
But he also couldn’t have that unless his woman was safe.
“We’re gonna have a little chat, you and I, and you’re going to tell me what I want to know.”
Flick made herself busy packing up all their stuff, trying not to think about what was going on outside. She’d never condoned violence. So why wasn’t she out there stopping West?
He should be able to eat solids soon.
Had he rea
lly done that? Sent people around to beat up Brian?
He’s doing something to get Snake to talk right now.
But Snake would have killed West. Would have taken her back to her brother. Snake wasn’t a good guy.
She jumped a foot in the air as the door opened. She stood there, watching as West walked in. He stopped in the middle of the cabin.
“You think differently of me now? You can’t accept me for who—”
He let out his breath on a whoosh of air as she launched herself at him. He caught her to him.
“Easy, baby girl. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“I know who you are, West Malone, and I love you no matter what.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered, holding her close. “Thank fuck.”
They stood there for a long moment, just hugging each other. She leaned back to look up at him. “He tell you anything?”
“After a bit of incentive, yeah.”
She shivered. He ran his hand up and down her back. “Don’t worry, I didn’t have to come on too strong. He’s weak without your brother backing him up. Good news is, I got some answers. I know how he found us. He confessed to shooting Beau and that your brother sent him to do it.”
“Really?” She pulled back to look up at him.
“Really.”
“How did he find us?” she asked.
“Your locket.”
She frowned, glanced down at her locket. “What?”
“Your brother put a GPS chip in it years ago.”
She froze. Her face looked pinched. In pain. “Oh, God. When he had the clasp changed! That’s how he’s always kept tabs on me. How he knew about Brian. All these years and I never suspected.” She let out a bark of laughter. “What an idiot I am.”
“You are not an idiot,” he told her fiercely. “You loved your brother, looked up to him, and he manipulated you.”