CHAPTER 21
XANDER
“Did you really have to hurt the guy that bad? He’s in the hospital.”
I glared at my cousin Dante, the chief of police in Amesport, through the bars of my jail cell. I was pissed as hell that he’d arrived before I could kill the guy who was trying to drag Samantha to his car. “He deserved worse. He was trying to take her away.”
Dante shook his head. “He didn’t even know what he was doing, Xander. He was so drunk he thought she was his girlfriend.”
“I don’t give a fuck!” I growled. “He had his arms around her neck. She probably couldn’t even breathe.”
“I told you that she’s fine now.”
“I still don’t give a fuck.” I dropped onto the sleeping bunk, the only seat in the barred room. I’d wanted to kill the asshole who was hurting Sam the minute I saw him manhandling her. “Mistake or not, he was choking her out. Tell me you wouldn’t go ballistic if some guy did that to Sarah.”
“Believe me. I get it. Sarah was stalked by a crazy man, and he held her hostage. I know how it feels to be terrified for your woman’s safety. Hell, Xander, how come I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend?”
“She’s more than that,” I admitted, feeling bad that I hadn’t really communicated with my cousins much at all, and they lived right on the other side of town. “She’s saving my life, Dante.”
“She’s that important?”
I nodded, and I knew even in the dim light, he could see me. He was standing right outside my cell. “She is.”
“You doing okay? Every time I’ve come over to your place, you never answered the door.”
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, hating the way I’d treated all my family. “My head was in a bad place. Getting clean wasn’t easy.”
“I know,” Dante replied. “Glad to see you’re rejoining the world. But I’m not happy that you assaulted a tourist during my watch.”
“The bastard touched Sam,” I rasped. “He could have hurt her.”
Dante looked me up and down. “You have a hell of a shiner. You okay otherwise?”
I glanced at him between the bars. “Yeah. I’m good. I just want to know that Samantha is okay. I want to know the asshole didn’t freak her out. She had a stalker once, too.”
I noticed that Dante was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Probably not the official dress for the chief of police, but Amesport was an unusual town.
Dante chuckled. “I think she’s a lot calmer than you are. And she’s worried about you, too.”
That made me feel a little bit better, but I still wanted the hell out of this cell.
I shuddered as I remembered the sight of some dude with his arm wrapped around Samantha’s neck. I’d snapped. I’d completely lost it. Did I regret it? Hell, no. Nobody laid a hand on my Sam. I’d go to jail for life if it meant she was going to be safe.
My only remorse was in the form of not hurting the asshole worse than I had. I’d heard his nasal bones crunch, and he might have needed some stiches, but I was pretty sure he’d be out of the hospital tomorrow. Dammit!
“Just so you know, your watch sucks if it means a woman can be assaulted right off Main Street,” I informed Dante unhappily.
My cousin’s booming laugh rang out in the small space, and I shot him another dirty look.
Barely recovered, Dante said, “Shit happens when we have this many tourists in town. It’s peak season. If it gives you any comfort, he was a college kid. I don’t think he was going to harm her. He was just wasted.”
“I saw her. She could barely breathe, and she was fighting back.”
Dante nodded. “I know. And I feel bad that anything happened to her here. Amesport gets crazy in the summer, but it’s mostly mischief calls.”
“You gonna let me outta here?” I was annoyed that I was even in jail.
“You put a guy in the hospital,” Dante reminded me.
“He assaulted Sam. He deserved it.”
Dante paused before answering, “You’re right. If somebody so much as laid a finger on Sarah, I’d want to kill the bastard. But this kid has influential parents.”
“Very few families have the pull that the Sinclairs have.”
Dante replied with a grin, “I know. That’s why I told his mommy and daddy that Sam wouldn’t press charges if they did the same. I don’t think they wanted the information out there that their drunken son tried to forcibly get a woman in his car.”
“I’d rather she pressed charges,” I answered stubbornly. I didn’t care if my ass rotted in jail.
“She won’t. She’s already said all she wants is for you to get out of here.”
I didn’t know whether to be pissed off at Samantha, or be grateful that she cared so much about my sorry ass. “I’ll talk to her,” I grumbled.
“Not happening,” Dante said. “That was the deal. All charges are dropped and you both walk. Well, maybe the college boy won’t be out of bed for a few days, but I doubt he’ll ever grab any woman other than his girlfriend from now on.”
“Good. He’s a dickhead.”
Dante laughed again as he suddenly opened the cell door. “Nice to see you care about somebody or something. This woman has obviously gotten to you.”
I looked at him as I brushed by him while coming out of my confinement. “She’s has. I’m crazy about her.”
I didn’t mind telling Dante exactly how I felt.
“Stay out of trouble, cuz,” he warned.
“I will if you keep the creeps off the streets,” I rumbled.
“Xander?” Dante said in a low baritone.
I turned around impatiently. “Yeah?”
“Glad to see you better. We’ve all been worried. I didn’t want to invade your space, man. But I hope we get to see you more often.”
“You will,” I promised. “I’ve been feeling sorry for myself long enough.”
“I think this woman is good for you.”
“She’s actually way too good for me, but I can’t let her go.” Sam had become too damn important in my life. I needed her.
“Then fight for her,” Dante suggested.
“I plan on it,” I answered in a clipped tone. “Where is she?”
“In the lobby. I tried to send her home, but she insisted on waiting until I let you go.”
“Later,” I called over my back, moving eagerly toward the front of the large building.
It was a long walk of shame from the prison cells to the front entrance of the city building, but I was practically running by the time I reached the lobby.
I scanned the waiting room anxiously, wondering where in the hell Samantha had gone.
The main lobby was dark, nobody at the reception desk, and I was positive the doors were locked. No doubt Dante was the only cop in the building right now.
Finally, I caught a glimpse of the woman I needed to see. She was curled up on a small couch in the corner, blissfully asleep.
As I approached her carefully and crouched down, I could see the dried tears on her face, and her golden hair was everywhere. I pushed it away to study her. She looked so exhausted that I hated to wake her up.
“Sam?” I said gently.
She stirred, but she didn’t wake.
Fuck it! I carefully slid my arms under her shoulders and legs, then lifted her into my arms. I was getting her the hell out of here. She didn’t need to be sitting in a damn jail. It had to be two or three o’clock. Samantha should be home sleeping, warm and safe.
I turned to see Dante holding the exit door open for me, obviously having just unlocked it.
Nodding my head as I passed him, I just kept on going, holding the most precious thing I’d ever had in my arms.
I stopped as I realized that my car was still near the restaurant and I was downtown.
“Dammit!” I cursed in a low, irritated tone.
Then, my eyes landed on Julian and Micah, both of them leaning against my car in front of the jail. Julian was holding up his hand, letting my keys dangle.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, confused.
“Bringing you your car. We thought you might need it after having your ass hauled away in Dante’s car.”
“Can you open the door? Sam is asleep.”
Julian moved, quickly opening the door and letting me settle and belt Samantha in before he closed it up after me. “She okay?” he asked.
“Supposedly,” I replied. “I only stopped for a minute to settle the bill. It happened just that damn fast.”
Micah clapped me on the shoulder. “Go home and get some rest. From what Dante told me on the phone, Sam is fine. You’re both probably tired.”
“I’m not tired,” I replied as I moved to the driver’s side. “I’m pissed.”
“Can’t say as I blame you,” Julian answered. “If some guy nabbed Kristin like that, I’d want to hurt him, too. I know he was a drunk college kid, but you didn’t know that at the time. Love can fuck around pretty hard with a guy’s reasoning.”
Love? Is that what this was? Is that what I felt for Sam? The word seemed much too tame for the way I felt about her. “Am I in love with her?” I mused out loud.
“Yes!” Both Julian and Micah answered in tandem.
I nodded, accepting my fate. “I’m keeping her,” I informed both of them.
“Does she know that yet?” Micah asked casually.
“Probably not,” I admitted. “But she’ll find out soon enough.”
I put my foot into the fancy sports car that I rarely drove.
“Drive safe,” Micah requested. “We’ll be right behind you.”
“Thanks,” I muttered as I seated myself in my vehicle, not sure if my brothers had even heard me.
As I got the car in motion, I recognized the fact that my brothers had always been right behind me, just like they’d be now.
They never left me, even though they probably should have.
I’d only been alone in my own mind, and as I took a quick look at Sam sleeping in the passenger seat, my chest ached from knowing she truly was alone. I vowed right then and there that she’d never be lonely again.
She’d always have me. Now all I needed was to be the guy she deserved.