Chapter Seven
Corde
The sight of her slashed tires burned deeply.
He had gotten the message immediately, even if Kylie hadn’t quite clued in yet, but Corde knew. We can get to her in broad daylight. Knowing that someone had come back to the commuter parking lot and done this was an insult to his ability to protect his mate. They had thrown the challenge in his face, and he wanted to respond in kind so very badly.
A fireball to their hangout would suit him just perfectly. It would be so easy to track them down; he was positive he could do it that very evening. His mind’s eye showed him the image now, the flames reaching high as he stared with a happy smile.
But he couldn’t. Unless it crisped all of them, then his attack would only up the ante. While Corde had little to fear, he knew that Kylie was vulnerable. They would wait until the opportune time, and strike back at him by getting to her. His hands were tied; there wasn’t much he could do, especially with Kylie unlikely to want escalation. She would prefer to settle things peacefully. Which meant he needed to concentrate on protecting her, and not revenge.
Not to mention Colonel Mara would probably be unhappy if I started killing everyone who looked at Kylie wrong.
It irritated him to be effectively helpless, but the cards had been dealt and he needed to roll with them.
Kylie looked lost, her violet eyes looking wide and uncertain of what to do next. He needed to get her moving, thinking about next steps.
“You need to get some new tires,” he observed, trying to stay calm and not let his anger show through. She didn’t need that.
“Apparently.”
“I will accompany you home and ensure you arrive safely,” he stated, his eyes hardening when she started to protest. He wasn’t going to let her go home alone. Not after this.
“Okay. But I need to call a tow truck and get it taken to the shop.” She sighed.
“I will wait,” he rumbled, standing tall and looking as protective and strong as he could.
Kylie looked unsure, but she didn’t argue. Instead she pulled out her phone. Corde used that time to test the air as discreetly as possible, trying to pick up the scent of whoever was responsible. The air reeked of all sorts of chemicals, but he couldn’t get anything identifying. Too much time had passed.
Snarling silently, he walked around the vehicle to see if there were any other marks, but besides the rents in the thick rubber there was nothing.
“Okay, the tow truck will be here in about ten minutes,” Kylie announced, her voice breaking through the silence.
They waited in silence, Corde seething with anger.
“Can you stop that?”
His head snapped around, fixating on his mate. “Stop what?”
“Being so angry. I can feel it from over here. Something has you all riled up.”
“Of course something has me angered. They damaged your car because of what I did to them.”
Kylie frowned. “I highly doubt that. This is part of what they were saying earlier, that they wanted to teach me a lesson. Hopefully this is what they meant.”
Neither of them believed that, but Corde went along with it. “Perhaps.”
Just then the tow truck pulled into the parking lot, coming directly over to them. Corde stood back while Kylie told him where to take it.
He placed a phone call to the executive taxi company he’d been using, requesting a pickup. The military was footing the bill as part of his payment, so Corde didn’t blink at the cost. All that mattered was ensuring Kylie was as comfortable as possible.
The cab arrived shortly before her car was lifted onto the back of the truck, so there was no wait.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked as he opened the door for her, letting her in first.
“Of course. It’s not a big deal, I promise.”
Kylie nodded as he slid in next to her, the back seat tight with his massive frame, making the proximity between them feel closer than it actually was. She didn’t try to move away, which Corde took as a good sign, though he wasn’t about to push it. This cab ride was going to be his best chance to learn some more about his mate, and he intended to do just that. No more messing things up for today.
“Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?”
“This. Earlier today. Everything, really.” She sighed, and he sensed she was about to tell him something meaningful. “I had you pegged as major trouble after yesterday. I thought I was punishing myself and you by docking you hours for being so lazy.”
Lazy? She’d thought he was being lazy? Corde wanted to tell her that he wasn’t being lazy, that he’d thought the work demeaning and beneath his status.
“I…did not make a good first impression,” he said awkwardly. “Thankfully I was shown the errors of my ways by a friend.”
Corde wasn’t overly interested in explaining how Vanek had torn a strip off him after he’d finished whining about it all. He was sure she’d hear the story in time, but not just yet.
“Yes, well, whatever they said to you, I’m thankful. You really saved the day today. In a bunch of different ways. Then with Jose and his ilk. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t intervened.”
“It was the right thing to do.”
“Perhaps,” Kylie mused. “But that doesn’t mean everyone would have stepped in.” She gave him a wan smile. “After all, aren’t you in the program because you didn’t know what the right thing was?”
Corde couldn’t fight that logic. “Sometimes, in the act of doing the right thing, we commit some wrongs.”
“And just what right act were you committing when you decided to threaten a whole bunch of people with something that could kill them?”
He turned away, gazing out the window, unable to answer. Now was not the right time to put even more worry on her shoulders. Kylie wasn’t ready to deal with the knowledge of what was coming.
“Why did you get involved in this world?” he asked, changing the subject.
“What world?”
“You know, working with people who have committed offenses or crimes.”
It was Kylie’s turn to glance out the window. “I guess I wanted to help,” she said at last. “To make a difference.”
Corde watched her face in the reflection, noting the stress lines as she spoke.
“And?” he prompted.
“And what?” She continued to stare outside as they drove through city streets to her house.
“Are you helping? Are you making a difference?”
“I…”
Whatever else she was going to say was lost as the cab pulled to a halt.
“Kylie? What is it?”
“My house…”
Corde looked past her out the window at the house. The single story affair was in rough shape. Beige paint peeled off the front in huge strips. The shutters hung at weird angles, and the roof was partly tarped over on one side. The lawn was overgrown and hadn’t been cut in far too long.
But none of that was what caught his attention. The huge bay window out front was smashed, and the front door was hanging from a single hinge. As he watched a stray cat hopped out and took off down the street.
“Wait here,” he said, speaking to both Kylie and the driver.
A quick check of the premises confirmed them to be empty, but not untouched. Everything had been ransacked. Tables flipped over, drawers emptied, curtains ripped down. Her entire life was strewn across the house. If it could be broken, it had been.
“Kylie, just hold on,” he said, coming out the front door.
She was already coming up the walk however, and there was no stopping her from seeing that it was just a pair of broken windows. Her beautiful eyes filled with sadness and tears, one lovely pale hand coming up to cover her mouth as she took in the devastation.
Even now, when she was at her most vulnerable, he couldn’t help but see the beauty in her pain. It spoke to him, made him want to reach out and hold her. That was his job after all, to protect her, to be her rock and to see the best in her in every situation.
Without thinking he reached out and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t fight him, but her head looked past him at the ruins of her house.
“It wasn’t much,” she whispered. “But it was mine.”
Fury hotter than the sun surged through him at the hurt in her voice. The fear.
He was responsible for this too. First her car, now her house. His actions were tearing apart his mate’s life in real time. It was all happening so fast that he wasn’t sure how to make it stop. Could he even fix it? Or had it gone so far beyond him that it was past saving?
Would Kylie even want him to do anything about it though? Every way he’d turned so far had simply made things worse for her. There was little doubt in his mind that her life would have been better off if he’d never become involved in it. Maybe he should just exit it.
She might be his mate, but that didn’t mean it was a guaranteed thing that she would love him. Corde had to prove to her that he was the right fit, and so far, he’d simply demonstrated his uncanny ability to screw things up. He was lacking, and it was obvious that Kylie could see it. Just like others had seen it before.
The tiny form in his arms looked up at him. “What do I do now?”
Corde looked down, noting the fear in her eyes. Leaving would be the best thing, but he couldn’t do it just yet. Not until she was safe. Once Jose’s group was dealt with, then it would be appropriate for him to exit her life, leaving Kylie to live a better, safer life without him around.
Decision made, he answered her question. “We call the police. Then I’m putting you up in a hotel.”