Command (Storm MC 6)

ould always protect her.

I promised her I would marry her.

I intended to keep those promises.

17

Harlow

That was odd.

I stared at my phone after Scott hung up on me. “Weird,” I said as I placed my phone on the table.

“What?” Scarlett asked as she made coffee for Wilder and Bourne.

I frowned as I recalled the abrupt way Scott ended our call. “Scott kinda just hung up on me. It’s so out of character for him to do that.”

She shrugged. “Seems like he’s got a lot of pressure on him at the moment.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He really did. But my man knew how to handle his shit, so I was still a little thrown by what he’d just done.

“I want to apologise again for running out on you yesterday.” She’d already apologised twice so there really was no need.

“Scarlett, even if you hadn’t run out, Rogue would probably still have shown his true colours, and the fire would have still happened, so none of it was your fault. Okay?” I’d seen a whole new caring side to her, but she needed to listen to what I was saying and stop saying sorry.

“Okay¸” she murmured.

I was about to say something else when a fight broke out on the back verandah. Wilder yelled something at Bourne who then shouted back. And then it sounded like a scuffle and perhaps a punch up.

Scarlett and I hurried outside to see what was going on. Just as I exited the house through the back door, Bourne knocked Wilder unconscious with a punch to the head.

“What are you doing?” I screamed, panic bubbling up.

Bourne’s eyes came to mine, and in that instant, I realised he was not a good man. He pointed a gun at us, and barked, “Get the fuck inside.”

“Jesus,” Scarlett muttered, “Do you attract assholes or something?”

“It would appear so,” I agreed as we walked back inside. I fought to remain calm on the outside because I refused to show him any fear, but on the inside, I was scrambling to come up with an escape plan.

Bourne had already been inside when he first arrived, so he knew the layout of the house. “In the lounge room,” he ordered, and we did what he said.

As he moved to make sure the door and windows were locked, my hands turned sweaty and my heart raced.

Not again.

Being locked in here with him caused memories from yesterday to flash through my mind and I tried to hold back the feelings of nausea.

I need to fight him.

“What do you want from us?” I demanded to know.

“I want to make Scott Cole hurt. I want him to bleed his pain. And I figure the best way to do that is to take the one thing he treasures the most in the world, away from him.”

Dread sliced its way through me.

He’s going to kill me.

Scott can’t save me now.