“No idea. I’m not even sure where Raven shot him. I didn’t have time to look. I just got out of there.”
“We’ll assume he’s alive, then. But if he was bleeding badly and couldn’t get to a doctor, he probably wouldn’t have survived. Did they kill the physician at the camp?”
“As far as I know, they killed everybody.” Except me.
“Will you be able to do this tomorrow night? You can go home and get some sleep, and we’ll leave tomorrow afternoon.”
“Yeah, that works.” I just needed a few hours of rest, and I would be recharged. There was so much adrenaline and vengeance in my veins that I was so pumped, I might not be able to sleep at all.
“I have a couple horses. Can we use yours?”
I nodded.
“Alright.” He stacked his maps and paperwork and closed his laptop. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”
I walked into the other room and found the girls sitting together on the couch in the other living room. I stepped inside and looked at Raven. “Let’s go home.”
She hugged her sister, and they both got up and joined us in the front room.
Fender turned to me. “Just in case things go south, the girls should stay at your apartment. Napoleon knows where I live.”
I nodded in agreement.
Raven’s expression quickly changed, looking at me like I’d betrayed her. “What does that mean? What’s happening?”
“Fender and I are taking a group of men back to the camp tomorrow night. We’re gonna kill them all, free the girls, and then walk away from the business.”
Even though I was finally giving her what she wanted, she didn’t seem to care. “And you expect me just to wait here for you? I’m coming with you.”
It didn’t surprise me at all, but she would never talk me into it. I turned to Fender and said goodnight before I headed to the front door.
Raven walked behind me, chasing after me. “I’m coming with you. That’s final.”
I walked down the steps to my bike in the roundabout. “Raven.” I turned back around and gave her my focused stare.
She halted when she saw the look in my eyes.
“You can’t come with me this time.”
She shook her head, her eyes furious. “I want to free those girls as much as you do.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“You think I care? After everything I’ve survived at this point, you think this is too much? I protect you, and you protect me. That’s how this works. That’s how this has always worked.”
I appreciated her loyalty to me, but without proper training or experience, she wouldn’t be able to assist. “We’re going to sneak into the camp with fifty men. We’ll be armed and prepared. You don’t have the skills for this.”
“But I had the skills to shoot that asshole from a hundred feet away, and I’ve never shot a gun in my life. Come on, give me more credit than that.”
I wanted to lose my temper and scream, but I knew she deserved better than that. “Nothing you say will change my mind. Fender and I are the best fighters in our crew, and we will destroy those assholes. I won’t be able to focus if I’m worried about you the entire time. You need to trust me.”
“And what do I do if you don’t come back?” Her voice broke. “It’s not like I can just move on. You are the man I’m supposed to be with, and without you, I’ll be alone…forever. If you die, I want to die with you. If you’re going to risk your life, I risk mine too.”
“I will come back.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Did I promise?”
Her eyes fell. “I want to save these girls too. I belong there.”
“And you did save them…because you saved me.”
She inhaled a deep breath, her eyes watering.
“They’re not going to expect us to hit so hard and so quickly. It will be an easy defeat. I’m not arrogant and won’t be complacent about it so my guard will drop. I will finish this, and I will come back to you. You need to have faith in me.”
She continued to breathe hard, like I’d just asked her to do the impossible.
“I’m not bringing you. I’m sorry, but I’m not. Instead of spending our last night arguing about it, we can go home and be together. That’s how I want to spend our time. What about you?”
She inhaled another breath, her eyes watering more. After a loud sniff, she nodded. “Are you riding to the camp?”
I didn’t expect such a question. “Yes.”
“I want you to ride Rose. She’ll take care of you.”
My heart softened as I heard her offer. “Okay.”
We slept on and off. We made love many times then went to sleep. We would wake up again and be together once more before drifting back into our dreams. When we woke up the next day, it was past noon.
After I showered and got ready, I went downstairs to see a coffee waiting for me. There was also a muffin, even though I wouldn’t eat it.
I grabbed the cup and took a drink.
She stood there, in a nice dress with earrings in her lobes, terror permanently in her eyes. She was like a wife watching her husband go off to war.
I stood in front of her and looked into her face, seeing the invisible tears behind her eyes. “In a few hours, those women will be free. There will never be another Red Snow. They’ll go back to their lives and find peace. Just think about that while I’m gone.”
She looked down at her hands. “I care about those girls, but I care about you a lot more. You’re the one I’m worried about. I need you to come back to me.”
Watching her love me was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It was a kind of love that was far beneath the skin, deep in the heart. It was unconditional and passionate. I’d been with a lot of beautiful and interesting women in my lifetime, but I’d never had anything like this, something so special. I wasn’t sure what I did to earn the undying affection of such an incredible woman. I knew I would treasure it every single day as long as I lived. “I will do everything I can to come back to you, ma petite amie.”
“I know…”
My hands cupped her face, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Her arms wrapped around my waist, and she rested her head against my chest. She held me tight like she didn’t want me to go.
I didn’t want to go either.
But I knew, once it was over, it would just be us.
Just us forever.
The sound of the elevator rising to our floor was audible from where we stood near the kitchen.
“It’s Fender.”
She pulled away but kept her arms around my waist. “I’ve never been so scared in my life. It’s far more terrifying to lose the life of someone you love than your own. I never thought I would fall in love like this. I never thought I would have a man like this. I just got you… I’m not ready to let you go. You’re supposed to be my husband. We’re supposed to make babies. Please don’t take that away from me.”
All those things didn’t scare me. I’d never thought about having a family of my own. I never thought about having a wife. But once Raven and I were committed to each other, all of that seemed natural. I never even told her I wanted those things. She said she wanted them, and then I did too. “I won’t.”