Page 78

A pressure was building behind my eyes. I tugged on his hair. “You. So shut up.”

His laugh rumbled through me as he carried me inside. And as much as I wanted to continue what we’d started, I was still hung up on everything he’d just told me.

We’d make him pay for what he did to her. We would destroy him like he’d destroyed her.

The longing that welled in me at those words was powerful and all-consuming. What would it feel like, to have someone like Court in my corner? Someone who would do anything to get back at the person who’d harmed me?

I thought maybe it might be enough that he’d kill Thorne. He did mean he was gonna kill him, right?

“You’re really going to kill Thorne, right? You’re not just saying that?”

Court paused before his door, and then he slid his hand up my back. “Yeah. I’m gonna kill him. He deserves everything that’s coming to him. I won’t feel an ounce of remorse when I put a bullet between his eyes.”

I nodded, my cheek brushing against his shoulder. “Good.”

He seemed to feel the air between us shift back to somber, so when he brought me into his room, he just sat on his bed with me in his lap and held me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”

I traced a pattern on his back with my index finger, not trusting myself to speak right now.

“I could hardly hold myself back from barging into that store and stealing you away when I found out you were working there. And it was hard enough letting you keep going in, day after day, but we had to be sure. And it was never the right time. Until it was.” He sighed, long and deep and weary. “Whitney…I will never let anyone hurt you, not while you’re here with us. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” I whispered. I was having a hard time catching my racing thoughts, trying to slow them down and pick out something to say. Court was so much stronger than I thought—and I already thought he was strong. “Yes,” I repeated inanely.

“Good. Because you are the most important thing to me right now.”

Right now.

Which meant…at some point, I wouldn’t be important to him. I would be nothing at all. It was only a matter of time.

My heart sank.

Before I could respond or properly process what he’d just said, he kissed my cheek and stood up. “Come on,” he coaxed. “Let’s go eat.”

TWENTY-TWO

I was quiet during dinner. It seemed that with these guys, meals were a family affair, with everyone squeezing in around the table and talking in between eating whatever Vincent had cooked.

I listened to them all joking around and telling stories about each other. Their easy camaraderie made me start to envy what they had, and I wanted them to like me. To fit in. They didn’t seem to dislike me, at least.

After dinner, Brooks and Cade headed out to the back porch to smoke. Vincent disappeared, and Court steered me toward the stairs.

“I’m tired,” was all he said. I didn’t argue. I walked ahead of him and went into the bathroom, showered, and changed into a pair of his boxers—I didn’t want to stop wearing his clothes just because I’d gotten mine back—and one of my old shirts I’d stolen from a thrift store a few years ago. Court was lying back against the pillows watching TV when I emerged. His eyes found mine immediately, then made a slow perusal down to the boxers I was wearing.

I wanted to kiss that slow, satisfied smile he gave me. I wanted to nibble on his perfectly plush lips that I knew were softer than anything.

“I brought your clothes back,” he reminded me.

“I know,” I said, walking over to the blankets laid out on the floor by the bed. “You also took my pocket knife and my knitting needles.” I left out the underwear I was sure he’d taken, too.

“I’ll return them when I feel like you won’t stab me with them.”

“How am I supposed to knit? Those aren’t even sharp, Court.” I gave him a dark look.

“They’re sharp enough. You’ve proven that almost anything can be used as a weapon,” he said with a smile. “You’re very creative.”

“I can’t be creative without my knitting needles.”

He just laughed, his green eyes sliding to mine. I wondered if his younger brother had eyes like his. If he looked like Court and Cade. I hoped so.