How West Was Won (Haven, Texas 7)

She strained to hear what was being said. Then Jake moved to the side and she saw her brother, sitting in his chair. She couldn’t see his expression, but she bet he was glaring.

“You will not arrest me!” he suddenly roared, making her flinch. “Do you know who I am? I’ll have your badge for this.”

Jake seemed to be trying to cuff him, but he resisted. She bit her lip; she knew how strong he was. Had felt those fists against her body, leaving bruises that were more than skin-deep.

“Where’s my sister? Where is that stupid slut?”

She closed her eyes, and West gathered her against him, holding her tightly.

“We need to go now before I lose my shit,” West said.

She nodded. Obviously, Spencer had been drinking. This had been a stupid idea. What had she been thinking?

“Is she here? Felicity? Felicity? Where the fuck is she?”

A police SUV pulled up out front of the cabin.

“Where is she? This is all her fault! All her fucking fault! It’s her fault I’m like this. Always your fucking fault, Felicity! You deserve everything you got and more! You ruined my life, you fucking little bitch! And you moaned about a few slaps. I’m this way because of you!”

She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t take it anymore. She broke away from West and ran out into the small clearing. She could feel West behind her, an infuriated behemoth, and she knew she was in so much trouble for this, but she was done being Spence’s punching bag.

No. More.

“There you are, and you’ve got your protector with you,” he mocked. “He know you open your legs to anyone who promises to help you? Does he know that, huh?”

“You want to shut up now, fucker, before I decide to ignore that there are cops here,” West growled.

“West, stop,” she said quietly. She looked up at him, pleading with him to let her have this. To her relief, he gave a small nod.

“You’re not this way because of me, Spencer,” she said in a calm voice.

“I was out there that night because of you! Searching for you! It’s your fault I’m a fucking cripple.”

“And for years I believed that,” she told him. “I blamed myself for what happened to you. That’s why I stayed. Why I put up with you.”

“Put up with me?” he roared. “You should fucking thank me. I took care of you. Our own parents didn’t fucking want to be around you, they took off halfway around the world to get away from you, and I fucking looked after you and this is the fucking thanks I get. You betray me?”

“I didn’t betray you! You beat me! For years. You blamed me for what was an accident. You probably blamed me for our parents’ deaths, but they didn’t leave because of me. I didn’t cause you to become a paraplegic. And, even if I had, you still had no right to beat me. You had no right to ridicule and shame me. And you definitely had no right to shoot Beau and send Snake to kidnap me. Was he supposed to kill West too?”

“He was supposed to do whatever he needed to in order to bring my property back to me,” he told her darkly.

Her breath sawed in and out of her lungs, she was trembling so hard she wasn’t sure how her legs were still supporting her. West reached around and pulled her back against him.

“I’m not your property. I remember the man you used to be, Spencer. Before bitterness and alcohol took over. That’s the man I choose to remember.”

“How nice for you,” he mocked. “But don’t think you’ve seen the last of me, bitch. I’ve got a lot of money; my lawyers will tie this up for years. No way I’m going down. I’ll be back, and you’re gonna pay for this.”

“Jake,” West said in a low voice.

“Get him out of here,” Jake ordered his deputies. He strode over to Flick. “He’s not getting away with this, Flick,” he reassured her.

She wished she could believe him. But he didn’t know Spencer like she did.

West had obviously had enough, because without a word, he lifted her into his arms and strode over to the ATV. “Can you hold onto me, baby girl? Just for a bit, until we get home.”

Chilled and shaken, she nodded. She didn’t remember the ride home. Or much about when they got there. Some hushed voices asked if she was all right, West carried her upstairs to her room, being so gentle as he undressed her and put her to bed, wrapped in one of his large T-shirts.

Now she was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling.