Page 52 of Tracked By Sasquatch

“She owed me. Not just for this but for sleeping with my husband and flaunting it. When my savings dried up, I sent Thom to her to collect a debt she could never fully pay back or pay with her life. You, my dear, were the payment she offered instead.”

The story Devin had told him about how they met and how he got back into her good graces made so much sense to him. It all fell into place.

Another D name for Devin crossed his mind, devastation. Standing there, knife at the side of her throat and blood still trickling down, the woman he loved was Devastated Devin.

A rage took over every fiber of his body. Jana, who was going to die clean out of respect for the fact that she’d given birth to Croon and Devin, was now going to go slow and messy.

He pushed the knife harder into Thom’s neck, eliciting a cry of pain. He needed the surprise to create an opening. Any window, no matter how small and he could thread the needle with a bullet.

“Put down the knife or you have three seconds to say goodbye to this sorry sack of shit… three… two⁠—”

“Go ahead. He’s outlived his usefulness to me. He’s not even mine.”

Thom struggled. “You bit—” He didn’t finish the words as chaos erupted.

Between one heartbeat and the next, the front door exploded inward. Ida startled hard and Devin jerked back. His mind zenned out in chaos, it’s where his senses sharpened. Sounds drifted away, his vision focused. The room around him slowed in his mind’s eye allowing him to take in the entire scene in a fraction of a second.

There it was, like a gift from the devil himself, an opening.

Bringing his arm forward, he fired a shot that landed right between Ida’s eyes while his other hand drew the blade across Thom’s throat.

The smell of spent casing and the warmth of the blood on his knuckles brought him back to real time. The sights and sounds assaulting him.

Squatch sprinted around the recliner where Thom gurgled and choked on his own blood, toward Devin. She met him halfway and launched into his arms. Nitro entered and took the weapons from his hands so he could properly embrace his woman.

Her body sagged into him with relief. She trembled lightly, but he was impressed with how she was holding up.

Squatch dropped his head into the crook of her neck and inhaled. Needing her scent to soothe him, anchor him. His nose was met with wetness.

“Shit.” Moving her back, he inspected her injury. “Does it hurt, Sweetness?” Using his clean hand, he gently swiped the blood away to see the small wound. Then he leaned down and kissed it. The taste of her blood lingering on his lips.

“It’s fine. Stings a little.” She downplayed it. It wouldn’t need stitches, but it wasn’t merely a scratch either.

“What about you, Jasper?” She held his hands in hers. “Oh my god, you’re bleeding.” He snatched his bloodied hand away before Thom’s blood could taint her.

“It’s not mine.” She shifted to look around him, but he blocked her. If it hadn’t already, it would register with her as soon as her adrenaline levels returned to normal. “Sweetness, look at me.” When he had her attention, he continued.

“Listen.” He spoke in a gentle voice he didn’t even know he was capable of, never had been with anyone else. “One of the brothers will drive you back to the hotel. Scott should be waiting in my room for you. Get cleaned up. He’s well rested and will drive you back, okay?”

Squatch had checked his messages while he’d grabbed her coffee earlier, Scott was close to landing. Even before Devin’s early-hours confessions about her mom, Squatch had already decided what he would be doing after Thom and Ida, no matter how it had played out.

Dropping a kiss on her forehead was more for him than her, it soothed his soul. When he pulled back, he could tell shock was already setting in because Devin didn’t protest or argue, just nodded.

“Do what you’ve gotta do and come back to me.”

Pride swelled in his chest. He knew Devin was perfect for him, but she’d just shown it in front of his Omaha brother and in the aftermath of what went down. He knew she’d break down later as she processed it, but she held it together in front of others and that was the mark of a good ol’ lady. One who could handle the life.

Nitro clapped him on the shoulder. “I thought Zombie was yanking my chain when he said you staked a claim. Hell, brother, you picked one hell of an ol’ lady.”

Fuck. He was torn between reveling in the high praise and punching Nitro for outing him.

Devin just looked at him. She’d heard the words but her mind was working hard to hold back everything that went down. Later whenever it filtered through everything else, she was going to be fucking pissed and he was more than willing to grovel, but first, business.

One of the brothers led her to her car. As soon as the taillights disappeared he turned to Nitro.

“Go ahead, Sasquatch. Head to the clubhouse for some rest, we got it from here.”

“Thanks.”