Rafe stood between Chance and Elliot and watched as the crime scene technicians processed his living room. Glass was everywhere, the window was ruined, Jillian's blood had stained the travertine floor.

It took everything he had to push the rage threatening to explode away.

Rafe looked back across the yard at her window. She was most likely still sleeping, Lacy sitting in the chair beside her bed much like Jillian had kept vigil at hers. The Becks were circling around, and were going to take care of her.

He had to be content with that.

Chance caught his glance. "So how long have you and Jilly been together? Little sister keeps things close to her chest. I thought she had better taste than that, too."

"Recently. It just sort of happened." He looked at her window again and then at the mess that was the front of his home.

Chance had found where the shooter had parked his car and walked in. He had men fixing that security weakness now. "She's safe, Rafe. I don't think she's the target of this. I think her involvement is incidental."

"Is it? She was the one that was hit over the head at the hospital. She was in the car with me when I was ran off the road. And now this. She was the one at the window. Not me." And that was what pissed him off the most. If someone had a problem with him, they should have damned well targeted him. Not her.

Had she been targeted because of something he had done, or was it something else? Just coincidence when someone had been attacking him? Whatever it was, Rafe was going to do everything in his power, use every resource he had to make sure Jillian remained safe. “She was hurt because of me.”

“We don’t know that for certain.” Chance smacked him on the back. Rafe looked at this cousin he hadn’t always gotten along with. There was understanding and compassion in Chance’s eyes. “We’ll help you keep your girl safe.”

"Tell me about this drug, Rafe." Elliot looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder. Elliot, much like Marcus, had a manner about him that calmed people. His father had been the same way.

Now Chance, on the other hand, he had a way about him that just pissed people off. Including Rafe. But Rafe knew his cousins took family seriously.

Rafe hadn't missed the two cars that had shown up on their block within moments of them arriving at the Beck house. Guards, put in place by Chance. Yes, Jillian was going to be protected.

But would it be enough?

It damned well better be. He looked at his cousin just as another limo pulled up and parked right in the middle of the street. Not that it mattered, Barratt had had that back alley blocked off weeks ago, Chance had told him. No one was going to protest the limo’s presence.

The back door opened and the governor of Texas stepped out. Family.

They were circling the wagons.

Rafe wasn’t alone any more.

Rafe headed toward his older brother.

---

Elliot wasn’t about to let Rafe return to his home until his cousin’s people had better answers. Chance’s security cameras had picked up an image of a 4WD truck parked at the back of the far alley. The driver had been a large man close to the same size as Rafe, but otherwise unidentifiable.

He’d lain in wait for Rafe to return. From the video, it hadn’t been evident Jillian was even with Rafe at the time. It led to the speculation that she hadn’t been the target at all.

No one had thought she was.

Her father returned within an hour of Rafe tucking her in her own bed.

Kevin Beck was pissed. After the knock she’d taken to the head, and the fender bender, he was definitely not happy.

And that unhappiness was now directed solely where it belonged.

On Rafe.

Elliot had allowed Rafe in to grab some clothes for himself and anything else he might need.

It remained unstated that Rafe wasn’t going to be too far from Jillian’s side.

Whether her father liked it or not.

Fortunately, Kevin Beck seemed to be the type of father to let his daughters make their own decisions.

Rafe walked inside with the rest of his family, after Travis and Lacy had come outside to inspect the damage. He hated to admit it, but for the first time, Rafe used his brothers as a buffer.

All he cared about at the moment was ensuring he could be there when Jillian awoke.

They had a lot to discuss, the two of them.

Her father watched him as Rafe started down the hall. “Guest room is next door to my daughter.”

“Thank you.” He had no intention of staying in the guest room.

Her father knew that.

“See she stays safe, and don’t hurt her. I haven’t forgotten the pool incident. My daughter has a kind heart, an open one, and I’d hate to see that heart bruised.”

“All I care about is her.” Rafe looked over his shoulder when Lacy laughed at something Marcus said, as Ariella walked in the Becks’ front door. He turned back to Jillian’s father, a man he’d always respected, even when he’d known him as a teenager. “For the longest time all I thought that mattered was my brothers and the kids. Thought that was all I was capable of. I learned differently that night I found her bleeding and alone in a damned stairwell. This morning just cemented that. I can’t not be with her now. I think I need to belong with her.”

Kevin nodded. “You always did struggle to find your place, son. I understand finding that place in a woman. My Susan was my world. When she got sick, I forgot that she’d left a part of her world behind for a little while. These girls, my family, they are where I belong. My world. The bathroom connects with Jillian’s room. Just so you know.”

Rafe knew exactly what the older man was saying. “Thank you. I’ll take care of her. And I’ll find the bastard responsible for this.”