“Where the fuck is she?!” Cade bellowed from somewhere down the street.

My hand paused in wiping my face with a washcloth that my mother had brought me. She sat in the back of Jake’s car, silently leaning against the door with her eyes closed. The stress of the situation taking its toll on her in the form of exhaustion.

Police were everywhere. Aiden’s men were everywhere. And I was sitting beside the car, trying to wipe the bits of plaster off my face.

I tried to focus on my hands, anything that would block out some of the chaos around me. There would be questions later. A lot of them. And I didn’t have any answers. The only people that could help me were Aiden’s group or the FBI. One of which was here, and the other not answering the phone.

After the police and ambulance came, I’d been rushed out of the house with my mom, who had brought down a wet towel by some miracle of forethought. I’d been cleared by the paramedics and had been questioned a little bit before Jake’s team had interceded.

What they told the police, I didn’t know. But they had left me alone for the past few minutes, and I was grateful for the space.

“Suzanne!” Cade bellowed again. He was closing the distance by the sound of it.

When a large hand came into view and grabbed mine, I knew he’d found me.

“Suzie. Fuck, are you okay?” he asked, as his arm slipped around me. “Fuck, baby. Talk to me.”

“I’m okay,” I whispered, as he pulled me into his arms.

He tilted my head back. The firm set of his jaw and wild eyes made me shiver for a moment. The anger emanating from him was unmistakable.

My heart sped up as his eyes wandered over my frame. There were small cuts and a couple of bruises from things that had gotten around the wall of the stairs. Not so big that they required attention, but so many on one of my arms, that it looked speckled.

“Fuck,” he whispered. “I should have been here. Where’s your mom?”

“Backseat,” I whispered, barely able to keep my eyes open. My mind and body felt worn out from the chaos of the previous hour.

“No, don’t go to sleep,” he told me as my eyes closed. “Hey, has she been seen by one of those paramedics?”

“Yeah, she checked out.”

“Suzanne, open those pretty eyes for me.”

“I’m sleepy,” I mumbled, but looked up at him anyway.

“Yeah. Okay, can you get her mom? Take her to Aiden and Liv?” he asked the guy beside us. “I’m taking her to my place.”

The next few minutes faded in and out for me due to my overwhelming exhaustion. Strong arms carrying me, a car ride, walking up the sidewalk to a pretty blue house in the middle of a quiet neighborhood.

Indoors, it was even nicer. Wooden floors, large living room with a fireplace. Sliding glass doors that led to a porch and small yard. It was simple, not a lot of furnishings or things on the walls. Just a beat-up leather couch, and recliner in front of a huge TV. Those items took up maybe a quarter of the living room and the rest was bare.

He pointed out different things while I stood silently just taking it in. Wondering why he hadn’t been working on this place, and had chosen instead to sit for days in front of the house.

When he indicated that a guest bedroom was down the hallway to the right, I stepped in that direction. Two hands caught me around the middle and turned me in the opposite direction.

“Nuh uh. You’re headed for a bath and a nap.” Cade growled.

Pointing toward the empty hallway I said, “But I can—”

“No,” he said, gently guiding me toward the other end of the house. “You’ll be in here. With me.”

“I’m okay. I just need a shower.”

We walked past the open kitchen and I glanced at the bottle of alcohol on the counter. I stopped, barely able to form the words that I wanted to say to him. The explosion had taken all the fight and anger out of me. Everything I wanted to chastise him for seemed to have faded away into a dull ache as I stared.

His hand nudged me down the hall, and I shuffled in the direction he wanted me to go. His bedroom was as sparse as his living room, except for a dresser that had things scattered across it. Painted in blue, the king-sized bed, with a black comforter stood out against the soft hue.

Cade stepped around me and went into an adjoining room, where I heard water running after a moment.

“Suzanne, come get in the bath,” he called.

Joining him, I was surprised to see that he had a huge bath in the middle of the room with a separate shower. The running water steamed against the mirror that was set behind it on the wall.

“Get undressed and get in here.”

Mechanically, I removed my clothing and avoided looking at him as I stepped into the water. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, but it'd been a month. I wasn’t sure what to think.

When I sat down, he adjusted the water temperature and I finally noticed his hands. There were angry cuts along his knuckles and a bruise near his wrist.

Reaching out, I took his hand in mine. More to let him know that I’d seen what was there, but also for my own comfort. It seemed Jake’s information earlier was truer than I wanted it to be. Fights, alcohol, and a man that couldn’t get on with his life.

“What happened?” I asked.

“My knuckles met David’s face.”

I blinked and glanced up at him. His face was grim and closed off, inviting zero comments from me.

“How did you find him?”

He glanced at me. “Pretty easy. People talk, just didn’t know his name.”

I sighed, kissed his hand, and let it go. “I told you not to. It’s a waste of time.”

His fingers slid under my chin, holding me in place, so that I had no ability to look away.

“It wasn’t a waste of my time. I told you I would kill that fucker for touching you.”

I gasped. “He’s dead?”

“No,” he growled. “But he isn’t as pretty as he used to be. He’ll be in the hospital for a while if I had to guess. Felt a few bones pop.”

“Jesus, Cade.”

“Don’t. The only reason he’s still breathing, is because you needed me.”

Reaching up, I tugged at the hand he had on my chin. His grip didn’t move.

As the hot water started to warm my body, I felt life starting to seep back into my bones. That and frustration at the man that was staring a painful hole through me.

“Cade, you can’t go beating up—”

“Yeah. I can. Especially that guy. He had no right to hit you and won’t be hitting anyone else for a long while. I fucking hate abusers.”

He let go of my chin and grabbed a washcloth off the counter before settling on his knees beside the tub. He ran his hands down my back and made gentle circles with the wet cloth.

“I can see that look on your face. You want to lay into me, pretty girl. I told you I would hurt him. You’re my woman, and no one gets to hurt you. Not even me.”

Turning away from him, I gathered my thoughts about what had happened in Bakersville. It was a shitty move on his part, and he knew it the moment I walked out of his office. It made me wonder whether his actions over the last few weeks were self-imposed punishment out of guilt.

“You did hurt me, Cade,” I said, and his hand paused on my back. “But I think I kind of understand why you did it. It’s like watching you sit in your car every day. I wanted you to have your life back. And the guys seem to think you’re just a walking, talking shell of the man they knew.”

“The guys can fuck off. I don’t care what they think.”

I glanced at him for a moment. “You do care. They’re worried about you. They love you.”

“I don’t—it doesn’t mean a damn thing to me, unless you love me too,” he growled, his eyes taking on a frantic look. “I can’t function!”

“Cade.”

“You were always the person I was coming home to. You were the life I wanted for myself. I spent months thinking about the day I could walk in and tell you that I wanted you. Months, Suzie. I thought about driving to the bar and watching you leave work. I thought about sending you a message. Fuck, I thought about just going to your house and telling you.”

His eyes dropped to the water around me. A brush of sadness mixed with anger passed across his face.

“I’m sorry about what I did,” he said, then shook his head. “For all of it.”

“You don’t have to save everyone, Cade. You don’t have to save me. I know you’re sorry, but I think you’ve punished yourself enough.”

His head tilted to the side as he brushed the washcloth slowly over the cuts on my arm. He took his time, gathering more water, and making sure each of them looked more like angry little abrasions rather than wounds.

“I’ve always wanted kids,” he mumbled. “But my dad was such a jackass. He used to hit me at least once a week.”

“You’re not your dad.”

“No. But I’m also not a gentle man. I saw Aiden with his son, Tobias. He’s good with him. Even when they play together, I see that he’s thoughtful about how small the kid is.”

“You’re being gentle right now,” I said, in a quiet tone. “If it was your kid, I’m sure you would learn.”

He took his hand out of the water and brought it up between us. “This isn’t a soft hand. It’s not even a kind one some days. And although I would never use it on a woman or child, I’m still too rough. You look beat up every time we have sex.”

“That’s different,” I chuckled. “That’s two adults having fun with what they like. And I definitely liked it.”

“Hmm,” he replied, letting his eyes wander over my chest.

I smiled. “Get out. I need to wash my hair.”

Smirking, he stood up, grabbed a towel from the cabinet, and put it on the counter.

“I’ll go make you some lunch, if you want.”

“And hide that bottle of alcohol?” I asked, briefly glancing at him.

He shrugged.

“How drunk have you been this month? Truthfully.”

He sighed and stared down at the floor for a moment. “A few times.”

I swore under my breath. “Throw that shit away or I’m leaving. It’s me or Jim Bean. Choose.”

He turned away, then glanced back over his shoulder. “You already know the answer to that. It’ll always be you.”

I gave him a curt nod and watched him walk out of the room. This was going to be a battle, and I knew it. One that both of us could win if he had as much discipline as he said he did. He needed to talk to someone eventually. For now, it was a small step. One problem at a time.

After washing, I left the bathroom to find a baggy shirt he left on the bed, along with a pair of boxers. My clothes were laying on the dresser in a small pile beside what looked like a well-worn book by Jack London. I could have easily ignored the clothes he offered and put mine back on. Maybe it was the choice he was giving me, and after hesitating for a moment, the choice was easy. Baggy shirt and boxers it was.

When I wandered into the living room, Cade regarded me for a moment, before going back to viewing something on his computer. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants without a shirt on. His smooth chest was just as distracting as the first time I’d seen it.

After staring at him for a moment, he glanced back up at me and waved me over to sit beside him on the couch.

Angling the screen toward me, I saw four familiar men in a video conference. Each of them looked like they were waiting on someone to speak.

“Got it,” Brock replied. “Have no idea why we didn’t monitor her phone earlier. Oh, hey, Suzanne.”

“Hey,” I said tentatively.

Cade glanced at me and said, “They’re trying to figure out where the calls came from.”

I nodded.

“Regardless,” Holden said. “This fucker was out to hurt one of us. I’m betting he meant that present for Cade. Or he got Jake mixed up. It’s not like he hasn’t been in and out of the house several times this week. If our guy clocked Suzanne and followed her back, he might have seen him come and go.”

Logan frowned. “You know what I don’t understand here is, why would he specifically drop so many bodies near Aiden’s bars. The last one in Dallas wasn’t even half a block away.”

I gasped. “Was that recent?”

Cade pursed his lips. “Yeah. Girl named Sonya.”

My head dropped slightly. Sonya, the woman that was supposed to be at Gary’s bar in Bakersville instead of me.

An idea formed in my head. It was small but maybe something.

“Her paperwork,” I told Cade. He eyed me with confusion. “Her paperwork was sent to the wrong bar. Do you remember? Gary’s fuckup.”

He opened his mouth, but Brock was too fast. “Wait, wait, wait. You said her paperwork went to the wrong bar? As in, she was on the roster for the bar in Bakersville?”

I nodded, “Yeah, Gary said they were expecting a Sonya Mullins at Rounders, and they had my paperwork in Dallas. Does that mean something, or is it just coincidence?”

Brock ignored me and started tapping on a keyboard just out of view of the camera.

Aiden responded, “Good thinking, Suzanne. I’m not sure that was even something the FBI looked at. Logan, I have a feeling this guy is just randomly choosing clubs and bars.”

“There’s nothing random about this guy,” Logan argued. “Look at the average amount of times he’s dumped them near your places.”

“Meaning what?” Cade asked.

“This guy is either targeting Aiden, or the relationship between Gary’s places and Aiden’s has some significance.”

“Okay, I’ve got something,” Brock said. “Sonya. Same physical description. Redhead. Approximately the same age. So, let’s say this guy has a fix on Suzanne, or Sonya, and he’s given information that one of them would be at a specific bar.”

“Okay,” Cade replied.

“So, let’s also say, that he went to visit, or in this case, stalk his target. He sees both of them…”

Holden ran a hand down his face. “Can you just fucking lay it out, Brock? I’m getting a headache.”

Brock rolled his eyes. “You have zero imagination.”

“Both of you fucking stop,” Cade barked. “Brock, just tell us what we need to know.”

“Two for one,” he explained and leaned back.

No one said a word. Logan had a flash of understanding pass over his face. Aiden leaned back in his chair and clenched his jaw. Holden looked as stoic as he normally always was.

Cade’s hand slid over my knee in a comforting gesture.

“He’s stalking one of them,” Brock elaborated. “Goes to the wrong place, which would mean he has inside info on Gary’s hiring records, he finds the wrong woman, but she’s still his type. He goes after them both in the same month. Or two months at this point.”

“And the body dumps?” Logan asked.

“Vendetta. Or familiarity. Patterns.”

“What about the bomb?” Holden asked. “Seems a little out of his pattern. Grab em and stab em for years, then builds a bomb? That’s not right.”

Brock shrugged. “Eliminating obstacles. Suzanne has been his target for a long time. She drops off the radar, he gets obsessed, maybe pissed, and the next time he sees her, she’s with someone. Presumably Jake.”

“He didn’t change his pattern much,” I said, looking at them. “The doorbell rang at ten, or so. I remember seeing it on my phone when he called.”

“Fuck,” Cade muttered. “Just a reminder that it was him.”

Brock spoke up, “When the police interviewed the courier, they said that the instructions were to leave it on the front porch and ring the doorbell before leaving. He did as he was told. The bomb didn’t arm until one of our security team opened the box. Something to do with the trigger. They had ten seconds to clear out before it blew.”

“So, anyone that was near the box was collateral damage,” Cade mumbled. “It didn’t really matter who opened it.”

No,” Brock answered. “Jake made the right decision not to take it in the house. He just didn’t know it was armed. I suspect that’s something he’ll be thinking about while he’s in recovery.”

“I think this is an interesting little chess game for this guy,” Aiden said. “He has some sort of fixation on bars and clubs like mine. Maybe even all of mine. He goes after Suzanne by coincidence or intent, then we come in like the cavalry, showing our faces. He’s just upped the game and we’ve given him a challenge.”

Silence met Aiden’s assessment. It seemed more than plausible.

“I’m out. I’ll give you a call soon,” Cade said.

Holden sat up and barked, “Don’t do anything stupid, brother.”

“Gonna work it out,” Cade replied, causing both Logan and Aiden to open their mouths before Cade clicked the stop button. Brock was the only one smirking.

His fingers tangled with mine and he pulled me up. Tugging on them as we walked across the house to his bedroom, I wondered what the hell he was doing.

He pulled a duffel bag from the top of his closet and set it on the floor, then grabbed another.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Packing. We’re getting the fuck out of here.”

“Cade, I can’t do that. What about mom?”

Crouching on his knees, he unzipped one of the duffels and pulled out a gun that he started inspecting. “She’s with Aiden right now. We’ll send for her when we get settled someplace safe.”

“We can’t just—”

Cade looked up at me and hesitated before he asked, “Do you love me?”

The emotion in his eyes and the gravity of that question, hit me in the gut like the first time he asked. It was like his world rested on my response, and I was the only person who could comfort him in that knowledge.