Page 102 of Five Mountain Daddies

He shrugs. “He wasn’t alawyer.”

I chew on my lip, shaking my head. “Samuel, this iscrazy.”

“You’re telling me.” He shakes his head. “Fuck, Amelia. I wanted to kill thoseguys.”

“I’m glad youdidn’t.”

He grins at me as we pull into the driveway of his house. He gets out and stalks inside. I have to hurry to followhim.

Once inside, I stop in the doorway. “Hold on,” I say. “Wait.”

He looks back over his shoulder at me. “What?” he asks,surprised.

“There was… a gunshot. A few, actually.” I stare at him, standing in the doorway. “Youdidn’t…?”

“No,” he says, laughing. “But they fucking tried. Nobody gothurt.”

“They tried to killyou?”

He shrugs a little and heads back into hiskitchen.”

I follow him slowly. I’m not afraid of Samuel, but I’m definitely a little wary right now. He’s clearly amped up from that fight, and it’s pretty scary that he was able to take down three guys like that… and they had guns,too.

When I get into the kitchen, Samuel’s standing near the sink with a glass in his hand. He tosses his head back and it takes me a second to realize that he’s drinking. There’s an open bottle of whiskey nearby, which he uses to fill his glass again. He sighs and turns toward me, sipping this secondglass.

“Are you really trying to tell me that Ingram tried to kill you right out in front of that building?” I askhim.

He shakes his head. “No, I don’t think that was hisintention.”

“What happened, then?” I cross my arms, getting annoyed that he’s not giving me straightanswers.

He sighs. “I came to see you, but Ingram wasn’t about to let that happen. He sent his goons out to stop me… and this time I didn’t get suckerpunched.”

“That asshole,” Iwhisper.

“The gun was just a product of the moment,” he says. “I think the guy was afraid, and he made a stupid mistake, bringing that thingout.”

“So you, what, disarmedhim?”

“Pretty much.” He sips his whiskey again. “Ingram sent guys to hurt some of mypeople.”

I clench my jaw. “Why?”

“Because of the strike this morning. One of our guys, I think you met him, Boone, Ingram’s boys broke into his house and beat his ass, almost put him in a damncoma.”

I have to sit down. This is all too fucking much. Ingram sending guys with guns to stop Samuel from seeing me and attacking workers in their homes… it’s too far, even forIngram.

“I can’t believe he’s doing this,” I sayfinally.

Samuel sits down across from me. “Believe it,” he says softly. “I have guys out right now protecting the other late-shifters. And Boone’s going to be okay. But it could have beenworse.”

I meet his gaze, and I suddenly can see all the pain and suffering there in his expression. I knew he cared about his guys, but I had no clue how deep it really went. This is eating him up inside, destroying him, and it’s so clear on his face. The pain isn’t just from his injuries. It’s from the injuries of his people, and the war we’ve suddenly found ourselvesin.

I don’t know why, but I have to go to him. It’s a sudden, visceral feeling, needing to touch him. I stand and walk around the table. He leans back in his chair, watching me with eyes full of emotion. I stop in front of him and slowly straddle his lap until I’m sitting on him, arms around his neck, hair spilling down aroundus.

“This can’t keep going on,” he says softly, though I don’t know exactly what hemeans.

“You won’t let it,” Isay.

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