I’m pacing the fucking cell. I was supposed to pick up Ryan an hour ago. He has to be worried to death. I always told him to go back into the office and wait for one of the brothers to pick him up if I wasn’t there.

But what if he doesn’t listen?

“Damn it! I need my phone call!” I growl, calling out to anyone that will listen inside this damn holding cell. They haven’t transferred me to an actual jail cell yet. They did the fingerprinting and the mugshot and I’ve just been waiting. I haven’t seen the other guy, hopefully the fucker never walks again.

I’m fucking stupid and it involves a woman yet again. I thought I didn’t care about the consequences, but that was before I realized I wouldn’t be there to pick my child up. Now it’s fear burning in my gut because I can’t get to my boy and I can’t even call someone to go see to him.

Fuck!

“Cheer up, Sunshine,” a uniformed cop says walking to my cell. “You’ve been bailed out,” he says and my body goes solid.

Did Crusher and the boys find me already?

“Cute little piece that did it too. I’d say that you are one lucky son of a bitch,” he adds. I ignore him, walking behind him as he leads me back to the front lobby area where they brought me in.

My eyes instantly scan the room, expecting to find Dani or maybe one of the other old ladies from the club. Surprise runs through me when I see Rory and standing by her is Ryan.

After spending the time in here worrying like hell over him, seeing my boy is like a bolt of lightning, almost strong enough to bring me to my fucking knees.

I go down on my knees and my boy comes running straight to me, hurling himself at my body and wrapping his arms tight. I close my eyes, smelling his sweet scent. It’s not going to be long that I won’t get this from my boy and I cherish every damn minute of it.

“Hey,” Rory says, shyly. She looks scared or maybe worried and she definitely is more frazzled than I’ve seen her before.

“How did the school let you have my boy?” I ask, my voice gruff. I mean, right now I’m glad, but considering the warnings I’ve given them, it fucking pisses me off at the same time.

“I went to get him, and they wouldn’t actually,” she says, her face coloring.

“Then how?”

“I snuck out and stowed in her car!” Ryan pipes up. “You should have seen Rory’s face. She almost had a shit-fit, Dad!”

“Ryan, don’t say shit,” I grumble, doing my best not to laugh. The officer behind me laughs and when I look over at Rory she’s fighting a smile—even if she’s distracted.

“Okay Mr. Cross, you’re free to go. There’s a court date next Thursday at nine in the morning, but if the papers that Ms. McDaniels have supplied check out, my suspicion is that it will all be dismissed as self-defense,” he says, causing my head to jerk up.

“And Tony?” Rory prompts, obviously worried.

“We have officers at the emergency room. As soon as he’s able to transport he’ll be behind bars. The judge okayed a temporary emergency protection order, based on your past history and the papers you had. Still, you’ll need to visit the Commonwealth Attorney’s office and make sure all that is made permanent first thing tomorrow morning,” the officer says and I instantly go on alert. I stand up, pulling Ryan up my body and holding him on my hip. He’s almost getting too tall, but he’s not quite there yet.

“I will. Thanks, Officer Dumont,” Rory says quietly, taking some papers from him.

“You all have a good evening,” he says and I nod and walk toward Rory.

“I’m really sorry, Noah,” she whispers, guilt thick in her words.

“Thanks for seeing to my boy,” I respond, my voice gruff.

“I didn’t do much, he mostly did it all. Although, you might want to call Mrs. Slater…”

“I will,” I tell her.

“Let’s get you two home then,” she says turning away from us. She leads me out to her car and I secure Ryan in the backseat.

Rory’s just standing by the car in a daze, staring everywhere, but nowhere in particular, and gripping her car key so tight in her hand that her fingers are turning white.

“You keep that up and you’re going to break the thing, Gorgeous,” I tell her, slowly extricating it from her hand.

She jerks in surprise, but does let go of the key almost instantly. I take it and then open the passenger door. With my hand to her back, I slowly herd her towards the car. She holds onto the door and looks at me.

“It’s my car,” she says, looking at me confused.

“I know that, Rory.”

“I usually drive my own car, Noah.”

“You’re in shock, sweetheart. As much as I appreciate the fact that you took care of my boy, I’d rather drive until you’re calmer,” I explain and her eyes seem to lock onto mine and that’s when I see the fear that is deep in her eyes and now plainly written all over her face.

“He found me, Noah. I thought he would have given up by now. Now I think…”

“Get in the car, Gorgeous,” I tell her, knowing she’s headed for a breakdown and needing to get her home before it hits.

“Now I think, he’ll never give up,” she whispers to me, sounding hopeless.

“Let’s get in the car,” I tell her and she nods, but she doesn’t move. “Rory, baby—”

“Okay,” she says, but still doesn’t move.

“Sweetheart, get in the car and we’ll go home. It’s going to be fine. The way I laid the bastard out he won’t be able to bother you—at least not for a while. Now get in the car, yeah?”

She closes her eyes briefly and when she opens them back up, I can still see the fear, but it’s more hidden now. It only lurks in those beautiful green depths now.

“I’ll get in the car,” she says, and she does it—with my guidance.

Rory’s always been so strong and never hesitated to give me shit—it’s one of the things that has attracted me to her, even if I did try to fight it. Seeing her like this is something I don’t like and not because she’s getting on my nerves. It’s because I hate seeing fear in her. Once she’s in the seat, I lean down and cup the side of her face, pulling her gaze up to mine.

“It’s going to be okay, Rory.”

“It will,” she says with a sigh, but I don’t think she’s agreeing because of me. I see her face close down. She has the same look I had on me when I left the club—the look of resignation.

Rory is going to leave.

I should let her, but I know I’m not going to. I’m going to fight to make her stay.

Stay close to me…

Fuck.