Page 13 of Lone Star Target

The words had done some heart-ripping, too.

It’s over. I don’t love you, and our marriage was a mistake. Please don’t try to contact me ever again.

With that, she’d walked away. Kit had made it all the way back to her car before she had broken down and cried. And cried.

And cried.

Several days later, she’d received a small package from Jace. There’d been no note, only the gold wedding band that she’d bought him on the day of their elopement. He was returning it to her. That had brought on yet more tears and a finality that it was truly over. Her father had won, and Jace and his foster brothers weren’t going to be subjected to hell and back. Well, not from Ramsey anyway. They had likely made some trips to hell during their time in military and police force.

“What did you do with my rings?” she asked because it was something Kit had always wanted to know. During the dark moments, she’d envisioned then at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Jace shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“No,” she heard herself say. But it did matter. Why exactly, she didn’t know other than she liked the idea of Jace hanging onto a little piece of what had once been their life.

She certainly had.

His ring was in her jewelry box, and on tough days, she had taken it out and put it on her own finger. A keepsake she’d kept from Ramsey because had he known about it, he would have found a way to destroy it.

“You’re telling me this now,” Jace stated several seconds later. “Because…why? Angel, Presley, and I are with Maverick Ops, and you thought we were out of your father’s reach?”

“That was part of it. I doubt even the mighty Ramsey Barclay wants to go up against Ruby Maverick. But there was also that attack. Marvin’s attack,” Kit clarified. “My father was watching from the window. I saw him, and he wasn’t doing anything to stop Marvin from hurting that woman. That’s when I knew I had to do something. And because you and your foster brothers were safe, I could do that something by testifying.”

Jace stayed quiet for several long moments. “So, you’re setting yourself up for Ramsey to come after you full throttle.”

She was, and while Kit definitely wasn’t looking forward to this showdown, she also hadn’t seen a way around it. She’d walked the narrow, cowardly way for nineteen years, and it was time for that to end.

“You…” Jace started but stopped again. He groaned and hit his fist on the steering wheel. One hit, that was all, and then he settled and nailed his attention to the road ahead as he took the exit to Brandon’s. “This conversation isn’t over,” he issued like a warning.

She hadn’t thought it was, but it had to go on the back burner because Jace turned into the parking lot of Brandon’s apartment complex. Not an affluent part of the city, but the units all looked well-maintained.

“No security gates,” Jace muttered.

“There isn’t, but I believe this is a safe neighborhood. And it fits Brandon’s budget. Since he turned eighteen, he’s been working part-time and living off what his grandmother left him. He didn’t want to take money from his parents.”

And that led her back to her earlier question of why had Brandon gone to his father’s office. Soon, she’d want to find out, but for now, she just needed to make sure Brandon was safe and to see what was on those phones.

“It’s number 211,” she said, tipping her head to the center unit on the second floor.

To access the apartment, they’d have to go up a flight of stairs or take the elevator to the landing. After that, they’d have to walk, out in the open, past four other apartments to get to Brandon’s.

Kit checked to make sure Brandon’s door was closed. It was. And she didn’t see him at the windows that faced the parking lot. Good. He was staying out of sight.

Jace parked in a visitor’s spot, and since there wasn’t a second one next to him, Angel circled around and pulled into a loading zone about thirty feet away. She reached for the door handle, but Jace slid his hand over hers to stop her from getting out.

Her body, and her mind, reacted to that touch.

The reaction was the norm, and Jace could definitely light some fires with just a touch. Or a look. Heck, just by breathing. But that wasn’t a heated look he gave her. It was a reminder of the danger.

“Wait until Angel comes over,” Jace instructed.

She looked up and saw that Angel was already out of his van and was heading their way. Unlike Jace, there was no Viking warrior vibe from him. Not with that black hair, deep brown eyes, and tats on his heavily muscled arms. He looked tall, dark, and very dangerous, more like a mafia hitman.

Once Angel made it to the SUV, he went to the passenger’s side and opened her door. “Kit,” he greeted, and despite that whole mafia hitman feel, there was a touch of warmth to it.

She was about to greet him in return, but then she caught a blur of movement from the corner of her eye. Motion coming from the second floor.

Kit snapped in that direction, and she saw something she definitely didn’t want to see.

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