Page 36 of Scarred Souls

“Not in my experience.”

Since it seemed like the doc was on my side, I figured I’d try another approach. “And are you going to get upset if I hog-tie her and fly her to Montana?”

She made a face like I was a moron. “What do you think?”

So kidnapping was a hard no. For now.

“You’re unbelievable,” Hope grumbled, and approached me with arms folded. “Do you care about your family?”

A rift between my dad and me meant I hadn’t spoken to him in years, but I cared about my mom and Owen. And my found family—Brandon, Sage, and the team—meant everything to me. “I do.”

“And would you abandon them when things got tough?” Her brow pinched. “Would they abandon you?”

Hope couldn’t have known how hard that question hit me. My Zulu brothers had put everything on the line to rescue me in Venezuela. The look on my face gave Hope the answer she needed. I might be an asshole, but I was loyal to my team.

She pointed to Daphne. “That woman over there is the only family I have. She saved my life. She gave me a home. I owe her everything. What do you think happens if the jerks from last night come looking for me and I’m not around?”

Shit.

She raised a valid point. In the event those dumbasses returned, it would be easy for them to lean on a local to get Hope’s address, and that would lead them to Daphne. She’d pull a weapon on them, just like she’d done to me, and it would get her killed.

“Fine.” I sighed. “There’s room on my plane for both of you.”

“You have an airplane?” Hope gawked.

“The team has several, and I’ll take you for a joyride in each of them if you make my life easy and come to the ranch.”

“I’d go with you if I could,” Daphne said. “But I can’t leave the dogs, and the people here need my clinic.”

Hope shook her head. “I won’t hang Dee out to dry when the one they’ll want is me.”

I’d expected resistance but not her flat-out refusal to leave. This placed me in a difficult position. I’d done my part by convincing Hope to help us, but leaving her here unprotected wasn’t an option. Someone had to stay to keep her safe, and I wasn’t cut out for bodyguard duty.

I’d ask Brandon or Sage to send a replacement as soon as they could. Anyone would be a better choice than me.

There was no way around it. For now, I had to stay.

Fuck.

I told myself to suck it up, because what was the worst that could happen? I was stuck here for one night, maybe two? What was the big problem?

The answer stood before me with her sharp tongue and curvy body beckoning me like a siren’s song. I either wanted to fight with Hope or fuck her. Combining the two sounded like fun. Even now, as she watched me keenly through stunning gold-flecked amber eyes, the urge to move closer to her felt instinctive.

Which had to be the dumbest fucking compulsion I’d ever had.

I kept people—women in particular—at a distance for their safety. One accidental brush of my scars could cause me to lash out and hurt them. It wasn’t worth the risk.

Plus, Hope was Carlos goddamn Espinoza’s daughter. Not to mention a woman I should be protecting. Wanting to claim her in the unholiest of ways was a severe conflict of interest.

Jesus, Decker. Get your head on straight.

What I needed to do was remain focused on the job. Keeping Hope safe was the priority, but just as important was keeping her amenable to feeding us information about her father.

That might prove difficult because the antagonistic jerk within me couldn’t help but have a little fun while on the job.

“I guess there’s nothing I can do about it, then.” I walked past Hope and headed for the front door.

“Wait. That’s it? You’re leaving?”

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