"She's still around?"
"I'm keeping her."
Prez blew out his breath. "Does she know what's going on?"
He shook his head. "I keep her locked in the house."
"Jesus."
Grace wasn't club business. She belonged to him. What he decided to do in his own house was his business. Nobody else's.
He couldn’t understand what was happening to him when it came to Grace. The connection between them never went away, only grew stronger after having sex. They shared something he couldn't pinpoint but could feel. A bond that was unfamiliar to him, but he craved her. His need to have her threatened everything and left him weak.
He would trade all his tomorrows to go back to yesterday, and that freaked him the fuck out, considering he would do anything to escape his past. Grace represented every experience he ever had, because she brought out all the emotions in him that he'd missed for eighteen years.
It scared him to death.
"Four got through the lock and would've killed Grace if I hadn't arrived home at that second." He faced Prez. "I killed him."
Prez shrugged. "He wasn't trainable. The handler should've gotten rid of him long ago."
Speaking of Grace, he needed to get home. He hated to leave her alone more than a couple of hours at a time.
"I need to get out of here." He slapped Prez on the shoulder. "You know where to find me if you need me."
At the door, Prez called his name. He turned around.
"If I don't make it, put the patch on Trip. He saw all of this coming when I doubted him," said Prez.
"Trust me. He never saw this coming. What he's going through will show him." Keenan scoffed and grew serious. "I'll check on you in a couple of days. Try to hold out."
He paused as the pile of liquor bottles screamed his name. Forcing himself to walk out without imbibing, he shut the door behind him.
The only thing keeping him going was the woman waiting for him back at the house. If it weren't for Grace, he'd probably kill Prez to get to the club's stash.
Chapter Twenty Two
"You're letting me go?" Grace gawked at Keenan standing in the doorway leading to the garage.
He lifted his chin, motioning her to come with him. "We're going on a ride."
She stepped into the garage. As soon as she noticed the overhead door was up, and she could see out onto the street, she inhaled the fresh air. Her trips outside coincide with Keenan's need to exercise after midnight or early in the morning. But, most of the time, she was too fascinated with watching him workout to take advantage of the thirty-second walk across the lawn to the pole building.
"Where are we going?" She hurried to keep up with him.
He stopped beside his motorcycle. "Up the mountain."
They'd grown closer lately. He acted more like a live-in boyfriend than a kidnapper when they were together. When she was alone, the fact Keenan held her captive in his house got drilled into her head.
The thought of going out into the wilderness sent warning bells off in her head.
She grabbed his arm. "Why?"
"I need to check something out." He sat on the bike and gave her a second glance. "You do know if you try to run off, I'll catch you."
Like a knife in the heart, she nodded. Her make-believe world blew up the moment Keenan threw it in her face that he would still catch her. He was her kidnapper. A fact she couldn't let herself forget.
She climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Hearing him threaten her made her wish she could stay locked up in the house.
The wind dried the tears she let flow out of Keenan's view, where he couldn't witness her falling apart. Maybe he'd threatened her because she would have the opportunity to run off. Whatever the case, she would stay aware of where he was taking her and look for an opportunity to leave him.
She had a life away from Avery Falls, and she wanted that back. One without a man who confused her.
Though, she'd miss the sex. However, Keenan ruined the after-glow when he acted like an asshole.
Leaving town, she looked over his shoulder at the road ahead of them. The twists and turns all seemed to head upward in elevation.
The paved road ended in gravel, and Keenan kept riding over the bumpy terrain. The limbs of pine trees growing close to the roadway brushed their shoulders as the gravel trail narrowed to a single lane.
Keenan shifted, slowing his speed. The ride upset her stomach. She was almost at the point of saying something to Keenan when he came to a stop.
He shut off the motorcycle. "Slide off, Grace."
Hope sparked inside her. Her first thought was that he would dump her like an unwanted dog and leave her in the woods. She'd paid attention the whole way up the mountain. They couldn't have gone more than five miles. She could walk that distance back to town and find help.
She slid off, filled with energy.
Keenan stood and grabbed her hand. She exhaled heavily, knowing he wasn't going to let her leave him.
He pulled her toward the trees. Dragging her feet, she asked, "Where are we going?"
"I just want to look around." He followed a trail that opened to a bare spot hidden from the road.
She careened her neck, looking up at the mountain. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of mountain ridges in Avery Falls. They all looked the same to her.
He paced in front of the rock wall, every so often stopping to nudge one of the base rocks with his boot. She'd stopped holding on to his hand, hoping he'd forget and let her go, but he twined his fingers with hers, so even when she wasn't holding on, it made it seem like she was.
Tripping on a clump of dirt, she stumbled.
He caught her with a hand on her stomach until she gained her balance. "Okay?"
"Why do you care?" She jerked her arm, but he refused to let go of her hand. "I suppose you want to fuck me out here and then drag me back to your house and lock me inside again."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Is that what you want?"
"Of course, that's not what I want." She shoved him. "God, you make me sick."
He frowned and turned away from her, peering at the mountain in front of them. She huffed. He made her furious.
As he started walking, he peered closer at the ground. Back and forth in a fifty-foot span, until she lost all her patience and her fingers hurt from his grip.
She sighed. "Please, can we just go back to the house?"
He scanned the area, tilting his head as if hearing something.
"What?" she asked.
"Sh." He pulled her closer, walking to the edge of the clearing.
She looked at him, trying to figure out what he was doing, and found his beard moving around his mouth.
Holding her breath, she strained to hear what he was saying, but there was nothing but a bird in the distance whistling a short tune.
He turned and put her between him and the mountain. "We have company. Whatever happens, know that I won't let you get hurt."
Fear curled her toes, paralyzing her to the spot. With her hand free, she grabbed his vest. He'd warned her there were men out to harm her.
"Don't leave me."
He cupped the back of her neck, bringing her to her tiptoes. "I will never leave you."