“Sorry, Tate. I can’t let you go,” Smith says as I walk back out into the living room. He offers me a sympathetic look and I nod, hiding the Taser behind my back.
“I understand, Smith. And I hope you’ll understand why I have to do this.”
He scowls as I press the Taser to his skin and he drops to the floor, his muscles locked as he jerks from the force of the volt. Leaning down, I press a kiss to his cheek.
“Please don’t hate me.”
I stand back up and step over him, grabbing the Camaro’s keys off the counter before I race outside, eager to get back to my man.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lincoln
Fuck!
I skid to a stop in the driveway and pull my phone out of my pocket, scrolling through my contacts once before dialing Rodriguez’s number. I would call one of the guys but Rodriguez may come in useful if I manage to get to Tate’s house before this asshole takes off. I’m being overly optimistic in hoping that it’s Dominic when I’m sure, in reality, he probably just sent one of his goons to do his dirty work. I’m sick and tired of this prick coming for my girl and I want to get him out of her life as soon as possible.
“Yeah,” Rodriguez answers in a clipped tone.
“Hey. It’s Kodiak. Someone is breaking into Tate’s house right now and I need you to meet me there,” I say as I swing my leg over my bike and slip the key into the ignition.
“On my way.”
He hangs up without another word and I fire the bike up, checking the cameras again on my phone. The guy is taking his damn time, looking through each drawer in the kitchen and I have to wonder just what he’s looking for. It’s clear that Tate’s not there so why doesn’t he just bail out? I shove the phone back in my pocket. Gravel flies behind me as I peel away from the house, flying down the driveway way faster than I should be but I can’t help it. Not when all I can think about is the fact that if I hadn’t convinced Tate to come stay at my house, she’d be there with this prick right now. She’d be in danger and the thought makes my stomach turn as I tighten my grip on the handlebars. I speed up, my anger propelling me to move faster. I need to get there before he leaves. I need to end this.
But how?
How the fuck do I stop Dominic King from coming after my girl? I had multiple fantasies about killing the son of a bitch with my bare hands before Blaze pointed out that it would only put Tate in more danger. King has racked up so many enemies over the years and at this point, he’s the only thing keeping them from coming after Tate. He protects her as much as he hurts her but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand idly by while he tries to take what’s mine. It will be a cold day in hell before I willingly let my woman leave with that man.
My thoughts drift to only twenty minutes ago when she and I were in bed together and my stomach rolls as my mind races. I have no fucking idea if showing her the ring and putting the ball in her court was a good idea or not but it felt like my only option. Since everything fell apart, all I’ve done is apologize and tell her that I would always be here and that was clearly not working. If I allowed it to continue, she probably would have taken her anger out on me for the rest of our lives. She’s that goddamn stubborn. Fuck, what if she really decides to walk away from this, from us? No, I can’t think like that. What she and I have is real and hopefully, with this little push from me, she’ll realize it, too.
I turn onto Tate’s street and the roar of my bike echoes off the houses surrounding me as I spot Rodriguez’s car parked on the curb. When I pull up behind him, he steps out and inspects the front of the house, a stern look on his face. After pushing the kickstand down, I turn off my bike and pull my phone out again, scanning the cameras. Each one is empty and I flip to the last one pointed at the back door, jumping back as his mask covered face fills the screen.
“Jesus, fuck,” I hiss, jumping as my heart hammers away in my chest. “Back door.”
The man stares right into the camera, his baby blue eyes devoid of any life as he lets out the same demented cackle I heard over Tate’s answering machine. I jump off the bike and pull the gun out of my waistband as Rodriguez holds his arm out in front of me.
“I’ll take the back. You cover the front,” he whispers, pointing to the open front door and I nod, tucking the phone back into my pocket. As Rodriguez rounds the back of the house, I creep up the front steps, each one creaking under my weight and I flinch, the sound of each breath filling my ears as my shaking hands hold the gun out in front of me.
“Get it together,” I whisper to myself as I step into the house and scan the living and dining room. Both are empty and I take another step, my finger hovering over the trigger and I strain my ear, listening for any sound that could give him away.
“Clear,” Rodriguez calls from the back door and I blow out a breath as the top stair creaks behind me. I spin around, my finger pressing down on the trigger before I catch sight of red hair and my arm falls to my side.
“Are you fucking shitting me, Tate?” I hiss, walking over to her and grabbing her arm. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She rips her arm out of my grasp and presses her lips to mine. “If you thought for one second I was letting you come here and face my demons alone, you don’t know me at all.”
God, I fucking love this woman.
I love her fire.
I love her sass.
But most of all, I love the way that she can’t stop loving me even though she may want to right now.
“All clear,” Rodriguez says, stepping into the room. His eyes fall on Tate and he nods as he fights back a smile. “Tate.”
“Detective Rodriguez.”
I turn to Rodriguez. “You sure he’s gone?”
“He is. He bailed out my bedroom window while y’all were charging the doors.”
“Fuck,” I sigh. “I really wanted to get my hands on him.”
“What good would it do?” she asks with a shrug. “He’s likely just one of my father’s goons.”
I cup her chin and force her gaze to mine. “He broke into your house and I can’t stop thinking about what would have happened if you had been here so I don’t care who he was; I still want to get my hands on him and teach him to never come near you again.”
“Lincoln,” she whispers, a smile lighting up her face as she grabs my hand. The glint on her ring finger catches my attention and time seems to stop as I stare at it, not quite believing what I’m seeing. Holy shit, it worked. My mouth pops open and she follows my gaze before grinning.
“Oh, yeah… about that…”
“Are you for real right now? You’re going to marry me?” I ask as my heart stutters in my chest and my mouth goes dry.
She nods. “If you’ll still have me.”
“Fuck yes,” I growl, wrapping my arms around her and lifting her into the air as I press my lips against hers. She giggles, threading her fingers through my hair and it’s the sweetest damn sound I’ve ever heard in my life. She’s mine now. Forever.
“I love you,” I whisper against her lips and she smiles.
“Turns out, I love you, too. And I’m sorry that I’m so stubborn and unreasonable. I was so worried about you when you left and I realized that I don’t want to spend another minute of my life without you.”