fucked up and he had to pay the price. Taking out another’s woman.”
“Did you know they’re looking for her?” Rick said.
“What?”
“The Smiths. They’re looking for Tulip.”
It was such a dramatic change of subject, he honestly didn’t know what to fucking think. “What? That’s crazy? That’s insane. They’re looking for her?”
“It is what it is. I’m guessing they want to make up for Sarah’s loss.”
“That’s fucked up. You can’t let that happen.”
“I can’t stop it.”
“They gave her up.”
“I know. I didn’t at any time say I agreed with them looking for her,” Rick said. “I found their accounts. They’re paying a private detective who works for me to locate Tulip. Right now, I’m feeding him the information about her.”
“Is this your way of telling me that she can have a normal life?” he asked.
“In a way, I guess it is. She can have a family.”
Landon shook his head. “No. They gave her up. There’s no way she would want anything to do with them.”
“Do you really think so?”
He paused. He honestly didn’t know. “Are you saying you’ll kill me and send her to live with her family?”
Before Rick got a chance to answer, the door to the office was thrown open. Rick already had a gun poised at the people who entered. Guards held Jade and Tulip by the hair and threw them to the ground.
At the way the guard treated his woman, Landon saw red. Even with his body aching, he attacked the son of a bitch, pouncing on him and slamming his fist repeatedly in the guy’s face.
“Landon, stop,” Tulip said.
He didn’t care. No one touched his woman with anything other than respect. This man needed to learn the hard way, and he was going to make sure he paid.
Landon was dragged from the guy’s lifeless body. With his constant hitting, he hadn’t realized there was blood.
Rick had him around the throat. “Now, we’ve got another problem.”
“It’s okay, Landon, I’m right here,” Tulip said.
Even as Rick held him immobile, his woman came up to him. His fist was covered in blood. In fact, blood spatter was on the front of his body.
She didn’t stop though. Tulip went to him and touched his cheeks. “I’m right here. I’m fine.”
Rick let him go and he wanted to touch her.
“I’m dirty,” he said. He didn’t want to get that vermin’s blood on her.
“How did you two escape?” Rick asked.
Jade was captured by Gabriel, his half-brother.
“I picked the locks,” Tulip said.
“I was all for escaping while Tulip wanted us to come and get you. Sorry, Landon. You know I don’t want to go back to my family nor do I want to marry you.”
Gabriel tightened his hold on Jade.
“Hey, that hurts.”
“Naughty escaping prisoners don’t get to be treated nicely.”
“Fuck you.”
“Take her to one of the private rooms,” Rick said. “If you both agree not to leave this fucking house, I’m going to figure all of this out, which means you don’t have to marry Landon, and hopefully, you don’t have a fucking bounty on your head. Do we have a deal?” He lifted up his gun. “Or I can kill you all now and you can bleed to death. I really don’t care.”
“Deal,” Tulip said.
“Deal.” Landon would do anything to be with her.
“My family doesn’t know I’m here?” Jade asked.
“The correct answer is deal, girl,” Rick said. “I can throw your ass back in the basement or at the door of your family’s house. Now get the fuck out.”
Gabriel led Jade out of the room.
Tulip took his hand.
“You were coming to save me?” Landon asked. “How? Why?”
“I didn’t exactly have the how planned. I guess I’d hoped for a sloppy guard.”
“I don’t have sloppy, Tulip. Next time, don’t even bother thinking of escaping. The only reason you got out the first time was because I allowed it, no other reason,” Rick said.
They were excused and Landon wasn’t going to push his luck. So far, this hadn’t exactly gone the way he’d hoped.
“Come on, I get to show you my room,” he said.
“Do you think we should go and check on Jade?”
“She’ll be safe, I promise you. Rick is many things, but hurting her, he wouldn’t dare do it.” He was in pain from being beaten. Rick may have seen through his act, but he’d wanted to be captured. He wasn’t a fool and he knew it was only a matter of time before he got them all killed. Without his family, he couldn’t keep Tulip safe, and she was his number one priority.
****
“Let