Rock Me Deeper (Licks of Leather #5) - Jenna Jacob Page 0,49
the dark and dangerous path of my childhood. Instead of letting those horrific memories swallow me up, I focused on the sound of Caris’s sexy voice.
“Yes, I really am. He’s sitting next to me, sleeping.” I could hear the laughter in her tone. “Yes, they’re both with us in the limo, sleeping, too.” She paused for a minute and chuckled. “I’m sure they’d be happy to sign a CD for you. Thank you, for covering my ass, for being such an amazing friend, and for keeping my deep, dark secrets. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
A few minutes later, Caris ended the call, exhaled a tiny sigh of relief, and leaned her head on my uninjured shoulder. Without opening my eyes or moving too quickly, I slid my arm around her shoulder and drew her in close against me.
She felt so fucking good.
Better than pain meds.
Better than the screaming roar of the fans.
Better than life itself.
I dozed off again, waking to the ping of gravel bouncing off the limo’s undercarriage. We were almost at the ranch. As relief wended through me, I felt Caris tense.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered.
“I’m nervous.”
“About?”
“Facing everyone.”
“Because?” I was well aware of what was bothering her, but I was determined to walk Caris through each step of her unwarranted guilt.
She lifted those soulful brown eyes up at me and scrunched her brow as if I was the dumbest man on the planet. Like a match to kindling, the fire to take her over my knee singed my veins.
“You’ve got a hole in your shoulder. Your tour’s been cancelled yet again. And everyone at the lodge just had their entire lives uprooted, all because of me.”
“You’re wrong, angel. Their lives have been uprooted because of Ozzy, Burk, Ross, Darren, and me.”
“And me,” Mia piped up with a defiant lift of her chin. “They broke into Zattman’s house because of me, Caris. Because of me, you, and all the other women that son of a bitch raped, tortured, and killed. He’s a monster that had to be stopped.”
A wide grin spread over my lips. I was about to begin preaching the exact same sermon to Caris. But it was better that Mia had taken the pulpit. Maybe now Caris would finally understand that Zattman was the only one to blame for this shit show.
“Ozzy and I talked for days about getting my photos back. First, we talked to Reed Landes about the legal avenues we could pursue. But the risk of exposing myself without any guarantee a judge would issue a search warrant made us expand our options. We discussed everything from blackmail to hiring a hit man but finally settled on stealing the photos back.”
I felt the tension bleed from Caris’s body.
“We knew going in Zattman might figure out who’d stolen the photos,” Ozzy explained. “But saving Mia’s career was worth the risk.”
“Worth it to all of us,” I added. “Finding you there was a…frightening and thrilling surprise.”
“You don’t get to own this, Caris. You were an innocent victim, like the rest of us,” Mia stated succinctly. “Syd getting shot, the tour being cancelled, and everyone uprooting their lives is all on me.”
“You’re wrong, Mia,” I drawled. “It’s on all of us who planned and plotted against him. And we’d do it all again to save you from him trashing your reputation.”
“We’re family,” Ozzy murmured.
“Fuck yeah, we are.” I grinned, then sobered and delved deep into Caris’s eyes. “And so are you now. Understood?”
She nodded and immediately tensed again as the limo pulled to a stop. Cole and Brad sat up straight, both on high alert.
“What’s happening, Elliot?” Brad called to the driver.
“Checkpoint, maybe? I’m not sure. All I know is I’m trying not to piss myself over the two big fuckers blocking the driveway, pointing guns at me.
Cole ducked his head and hurried to the front of the limo.
“For fuck’s sake,” the big man bit out. “It’s Tony and Al. Tell me those two Boy Scouts don’t actually think Zattman’s going to drive up in a damn limo.”
“Step out of the vehicle nice and slow,” called one of the men outside.
“I got this,” Brad grumbled as he opened the back door.
“Hands up,” the man outside called again.
“How about you put your hands up, Dexter. It’s us, you moron…Brad and Cole.”
“About damn time you guys showed up,” another man groused. “Boss is down at the house.”
“I know. I just texted him, telling him we’re here.”
Wearing a perturbed scowl, Cole stepped out from the vehicle and waved.