Chapter Thirty-Four
Rage washed over Taber in violent, nearly suffocating waves as he heard Roni’s frantic screams echoing through the house. Merinus had come running for him and Callan when she saw Reginald sneaking into the mansion, terrified of his intent.
He had been coming through the backyard when he first heard Roni’s screams. He entered the living room in time to see the bastard, fist closed, strike her temple in a blow that sent her to the floor.
There was no question of mercy. No question of reining in the rage tearing through him. His roar echoed through the room as he threw himself at the other man, desperate to eliminate the threat to his woman.
Reginald was faster and in better condition than Taber had anticipated. They rolled across the floor, the older man grunting as he slugged Taber in the ribs with enough force to nearly take his breath and knock him back for a second.
But the animal he had kept carefully leashed all the years of his adult life was free now. There would be no escape, no mercy for the man who had dared to threaten all Taber held dear.
He was aware, only absently, of the men now moving into the room. Roni was pulled to safety as Callan barked out an order to one of the others to find the doctor.
“She’s alive, Taber,” Callan called out as Taber faced off with Reginald. “Let it go. Let the men take him.”
Taber’s roar had Reginald paling as he stumbled backward.
He rushed the older man. His fist connected with the side of Reginald’s head, blood spraying as flesh tore. He jerked him from the floor as he fell, shaking him remorselessly as the older man’s eyes bulged from his head.
“You kill me and you know what happens,” Reginald wheezed as he managed to tear himself from Taber’s grip. “It will be all over the news, boy. Everyone will know.”
“Ask me if I care,” Taber growled, pacing after him as he backed away.
Reginald’s mouth worked desperately. “I didn’t hurt her.”
“You die.”
“Come on, man,” Reginald was pleading now. He edged back along the room, trying to evade Taber as he stalked him relentlessly. “You know I didn’t hurt her.”
Taber stilled. He would have eased the thirst, the fury for vengeance, in that second if the other man hadn’t made the deciding move. Reginald pulled a small pistol from behind his back, aiming it at Taber’s chest as a smile of satisfaction washed over his face. His finger tightened on the trigger. “Die, cat.”
Taber threw himself to the side as the weapon discharged. Simultaneously, several others went off as well. Rolling to his feet he watched Reginald’s body jerk convulsively from the bullets slamming into his body. One in his heart. One dead center between his eyes. He fell almost in slow motion, the hollow thump of his body echoing around the room.
“Dammit, cat-boy, how many times do I have to tell you how to kill a rabid animal?” Kane snapped as he walked into the room, nudging the body carefully with his foot. “Yep, that’s how you do it. One bullet at a time.”
Taber turned to Kane, adrenaline still coursing through him, rage beating like a spike-edged hammer at his brain.
“You call me cat-boy again and I’m going to shove that gun up your ass and shoot you with your own fucking bullets,” he snarled furiously as he went nose to nose with Merinus’s brother. “You don’t like who you work with, then get the fuck out, Kane.”
Kane blinked down at him. Blue eyes, nearly the color of Roni’s, usually hard and cold, seemed to thaw marginally. He raised his hands. “Truce?”
Taber breathed in harshly, shaking his head, fighting the rage that wouldn’t seem to abate.
“How did that bastard get in the house?” He turned to Callan. “I thought we had Merc on him. What the hell happened?”
“Somehow he caught Merc unaware. Laid him out pretty good.” Callan shook his head as he motioned to two of his men to drag Reginald’s body from the room.
“We caught him, Taber. It’s over.” Callan slapped him on the shoulder as he sighed wearily. “Go to your woman now. She’ll need you when she wakes up.”
Roni was already awake when Taber stepped into the bedroom. Merinus sat beside her on the bed, talking to her softly as Roni held a damp cloth to the side of her face.
Her shirt was torn, her shoulder scratched, the side of her face already bruising darkly. She was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
“Is he dead?” He had expected tears, maybe regret. But her eyes shone with a bitter hope that he was.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to her as Merinus rose to her feet and went to leave the room.
“Taber, you did what you had to do.” The other woman stopped beside him, her hand lifting to rub his shoulder consolingly. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. I’m sure there was no other choice.”
There was no other acceptable conclusion, Taber thought. No man who raised a child and abused it should be allowed to live.
He watched Roni as the door closed quietly behind Merinus, seeing the pain that she tried to hide, the fear. Had he finally crossed a line she couldn’t accept?
“He wasn’t my father.” Her voice cracked then. “Why didn’t Momma tell me he wasn’t my father, Taber? Why did she hide it from me?”
It was as though something had finally broken loose inside her. Taber moved quickly to the bed, pulling her into his embrace, his heart breaking for her. Should he have told her before now? Would it have changed how much this hurt now?
“I don’t know, baby,” he whispered painfully.
“She loved my father.” Her fists clenched in the material of his shirt. “I know she did. She told me she did. Why was she with that bastard? Why did she let him hurt her?”
He could feel the rage pulsing inside her, the pain of years of neglect and emotional abuse. He hadn’t been able to protect her from everything, no matter how hard he had tried. And even now, he couldn’t protect her from the full knowledge of the life she faced. The life their child would face. He could only hold her and pray.
“I would give everything I am to take this hurt from you.” He moved back, staring down at her, his heart hurting for her even as his soul relished the knowledge that he held her heart. She didn’t hate him. She didn’t fear that animal that sometimes broke free. She accepted all of him. And if he could, he would give all he had to save her from this pain.
Her eyes were dark pools of confusion, of hurt, but he could see her trust in him. Her need for him.
“I wouldn’t,” she finally sighed. “I wouldn’t change anything, Taber. None of it, if it meant I couldn’t have all of you. The rest of it doesn’t matter, other than a footnote to Reginald’s brutality. I can live with it. I can’t live without you.”
How could she do this thing to him? Make his chest fill with pride with such simple words? Make him feel as though he could conquer the world with only her smile to back him?
“You will always have me,” he swore, his voice husky, the emotion filling it surprising even him. She filled every part of him. “Always, Roni. Always, you have me.”
She touched his cheek. Almost convulsively his hand rose to hers, gripping it, bringing it to his mouth as he placed a heated, soul-giving kiss into her palm.
“Then I’m happy,” she sighed, a tired, weary little sigh. “Hold me, Taber. Lie beside me and just hold me. Rest with me.”
He lowered her to the bed, pulling her into his arms, holding her tightly to his chest as her head tucked beneath his chin. She settled against his body as naturally as breathing. Comforting. Warming.
“Our child will be loved,” she whispered drowsily.
“Always, Roni. Our child will be adored.” He knew, to the depths of his soul, that it would be no other way.
She sighed heavily, relaxing against him as the events of the past days finally sapped her remaining strength. He heard her breathing deepen, felt her body go lax and he allowed the single tear to fall slowly from his eye. She was his gift. His soul. In her, salvation had come to the man who struggled daily with the animal that lurked inside him. With her, he had finally found his peace.