me.
“You’re a sick fuck, you know that, right?” I said softly.
Nodding, he just snorted and kept walking.
Nico and Turo were the last ones in the hallway as Mas opened and closed the door at the other end of the hall. His whole demeanor had changed. While he hadn’t been a springy butterfly, he’d at least had more light filtering through the darkness that clung to him like a ghostly cloak.
I waited for the other two men to finish whatever discussion they were having. Glancing at my watch, I saw that Willow had five minutes left before I trucked her sexy ass out of this hell house and into my penthouse.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out. Felt my lungs seize up. “Baxter?”
“All good, Mr. Penn.”
I blew out a long, slow breath. Nodded.
“We’ve arrived safely in Montana. Alda is enjoying a rest in the walk-in whirlpool with the aide. I’ll be getting a burner phone. I’ll text you with a number once we’re secure.”
“Thank you. I’ll get a burner as well. We’ll use those for contact until you come home. Be safe.” I swallowed. “Both of you. How’s Ricardo?”
Baxter chuckled. “He’s doing well, all things considered. Says he’s going to write the next Great American Novel with Big Sky country as his muse.”
I laughed. “Good. I’ll expect to read some pages in a few days then. You know where to find me.”
“That I do. Be safe, sir.” He hung up.
Nico and Turo were watching me from a few feet away. “How’s your grandma?” Turo asked.
I shoved the phone in my pocket. “Enjoying the easy life with my driver-slash-bodyguard, his husband, and a private nurse. She thinks she’s on vacation.” I shrugged. Pushed away the pain in my heart. I guess I should be thankful dementia gave her some semblance of peace during all of this. She wasn’t bothered or worried about me. She could focus on simply enjoying her life.
Turo smiled. “Better to be ignorant of many things in this life than deal with the true horrors of reality. Let’s get these women out of here.”
“Damn straight.” I turned with them and we walked to Willow’s door.
Chapter 6 – Willow
I looked around my home for the last eighteen months. It had been exactly what I needed at the time when I most needed it. Memories washed over me in 4K detail. Over there by the little desk where Tali and Nico helped me draw up the business plan for my bakery.
The couch where I huddled with Momma after a week of nightmares. Papa baking his signature molasses cookies in my new oven. We’d spoken of nonsense for hours and hours. Not once had I been made to feel like I was an imposition. A drain on their lives.
I looked across the room. The table that carried the echo of my tattoo where we’d had hundreds of late night dinners and board games to help chase away the demons. The games of Mafia and Clue that made us chuckle. The games of Monopoly that brought out the most savage in all of us as we maneuvered for Top Dog.
Every part of this home had been touched by the family that had loved me. Accepted me. Made me one of their own.
And now it was time to leave. To move on to the next part of my life. With the man who had become my whole world.
He came up behind me, slid his hands over my hips. Pressed his lips to my hair. “You good? You’ve got a minute left before I paddle your ass.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. Just saying goodbye.” I spun in his arms, curled my hands against my chest and leaned my forehead against his sternum. “Ready for me to move in with you?”
Not a single hitch in his heartbeat, not a catch of breath. Just the steady soothing rhythm that was Ryker. His arms closed around me. “More than ready. And this time I won’t have to worry about someone trying to kill you when you should be safe.”
I leaned my head back, stared up into his devilishly handsome face. I raised an eyebrow. “As long as you don’t make me want to kill you, then I guess we should be fine.”
He laughed as he leaned down and took my lips in a swift, fierce kiss of dominance. He licked into my mouth, demanded entry. We both groaned when I let him in.
In some ways it felt like forever since we’d touched each other. In a million