Page 82 of Catch Me When I Fall

“Good thing you’re one of the best pilots in the western hemisphere,” I said, meaning it. Hayes was one hell of a pilot, and his call-sign was proof.

“I’ll be in the air in twenty.”

After ending the call and leaving my men downstairs, I took the medical kit up to Carrie's bedroom and walked around to her side of the bed. As I got everything ready for the blood draw, I tried to tamper down my anger and push back the visions of her with another man. She’d gone to him. She’d invited him over for dinner.

She was trying to move on.

I twisted the needle onto the syringe and popped off the cap, leaning over her arm to find a vein. “Forgive me,” I murmured as I stuck the needle in. She didn’t move, only a small whimper escaped her. The cat’s head popped up, watching me from his spot on her stomach. I drew the blood, pulled the needle out, capped it, and bandaged her up.

Before I left the room, I leaned over her again, pressing my lips to her forehead. “I’m so fucking sorry, Sunshine.”

Guilt was eating me alive, gnawing at me with sharpened teeth, ripping me to shreds with each passing second. Soon, there would be nothing left.

Once I was back downstairs, I found the house still dark. If we turned the lights on, it would draw unwanted attention, and I didn’t feel like dropping another body tonight.

I located both men on the back porch with black latex gloves on, prepping the body. As I stepped outside, we went over the plan together.

Dominic would take the body to one of the boats and head out five miles; from there, he’d dump the body and wait for the chopper.

I looked down to where Jake was working on Leo’s head.

“You got it?” I asked. I was surprised the damn bullet didn’t go through the fucker.

With a sigh, Jake leaned back, the bullet in his pliers, answering my question. Dominic held open a plastic bag, and Jake dropped the bullet into it. “I’ll melt this down when we get back to Denver,” our weapon’s specialist said.

“No.”

I could feel both of my men looking at me, but my eyes were on the bloodied bullet. “That’s mine.”

“Gray…”

My eyes snapped to Jake’s. “It. Is. Mine.” Each word came out on a growl, my body tense. I wanted to keep the bullet that reaped the soul of the man who thought he could touch my woman.

“And her?” Dominic prompted, raising his eyes to the ceiling. “Is she yours?”

“Yes.”

Claiming her out loud shifted everything. None of us had ever claimed a woman, not even Hayes. He was planning on doing it after he’d proposed to Veronica, but that never happened. I knew how huge this was for Red Snake and the men who worked for me.

Carrie Hale was no longer a target or some fantasy. She was mine, and that meant she was under the protection of Red Snake.

Forever.

After Jake wrapped the body in plastic and we loaded it into the back of the fucker’s truck, Dominic drove it down to the docks, and Jake ran Carrie’s blood sample. He’d set up shop in her kitchen, covering her feminine decor. As we waited for the results, he worked on draining Leo’s bank account, transferring what little funds the man had to a charity for literacy in Seattle, and then we came up with a story—one Carrie would need to memorize.

Jake scrubbed a hand over his face and beard. “Fuck, I need a coffee.”

I looked up from my tablet and nodded to Carrie’s coffeemaker. “Have at it.”

He shook his head.

I studied him for a moment. “This bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Jake shot me a look. “Erasing a man like that from existence is something I take great pleasure in, Gray. You know that.”

“But?” I prompted.

He looked back out the window, watching the snow under the light of street light in front of her neighbor’s home. “Never mind,” he muttered after a few moments. Then, as if to prove there wasn’t a problem, he got up and turned on the coffee maker. Minutes later, Dominic informed us that he’d pulled out of the harbor and was heading out to sea. Soon after that, Carrie’s results came back, and Jake’s green eyes hardened as he stared at the screen. I rose from my seat.

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