Page 35 of July 27

He shrugged. "I've got no one who would look for me."

"He said his name was Shady," said Dio.

Ruger looked over his shoulder at the house as if to warn Rachel or maybe hide the information from her. He ran his hand across the back of his neck. That wasn't the news he thought he'd hear.

While in prison, he never asked Shady how long he had to serve. It was an unspoken rule not to discuss the future with any inmates. They believed it would jinx their parole hearings.

Jagger handed over a piece of paper. "He left an address. He said he'd be there tonight."

He pocketed the information without looking at it. "You never told him where to find me?"

"You know me better than that," muttered Jagger. "I'm not going to put you in danger."

He dipped his chin. "I'll take care of him."

"Do you want backup?" asked Dio.

He looked at Jagger and then at Dio. They were here. They were offering.

"Rachel will need to go back to him." He inhaled deeply. "She's not safe with him."

Both men waited without saying anything. They couldn't give their opinion of his situation because they had no idea what was happening. They had no clue that he'd fucked her moments before they pulled into the driveway.

He'd paid back his favor. He no longer owed Shady anything. Rachel was better off with family than with him so long as Shady could keep her safe.

"Give me a couple hours." He looked at Dio. "Stay here and watch the house until I get back."

Then, he looked at Jagger. He hadn't asked anything of his friend since he'd asked Jagger to keep Katrina safe. But now he would take the offer.

"You can ride with me." He lowered his voice. "Keep me from killing Shady."

Jagger never blinked. Havlin brothers for life.

He walked back into the house. For now, he wouldn't tell Rachel that her brother was out of prison. He needed to see where she would live and how he planned to keep Rachel safe.

After he made sure Shady could take care of her, he would tell her it was time to go home.

Chapter Eighteen

Rachel peered out of the corner of the window. She couldn't tell which Havlin member sat on his motorcycle in the driveway after Ruger came inside and told her he was riding out and would return later.

She let the curtain fall back in place. Since moving into the cottage, Ruger had kept a schedule that only took him away from the house during the daylight hours, never at night.

Her arms itched. She rubbed her skin, wishing time would hurry.

Time balanced between nervousness without having Ruger beside her and dread. Before he left, he'd pulled away from her again after having sex with her.

She would've sworn that he left to get away from her. Still, because a biker was outside, protecting the house, she wanted to believe whatever took him away from her had to do with the club.

But they would need to talk about what happened when he returned. He'd had sex with her in the gentlest way possible. It had to mean something. She needed it to mean something because she was falling in love with him.

How could she not fall in love? He was everything she'd dreamed about—a fact that blew her mind because she had no idea men like Ruger existed in her world full of lies, greed, and disappointment.

Unable to stand at the window and drive herself crazy, speculating about what was going on, she returned to the bedroom and straightened up the room. She gathered all their dirty clothes and started a load of laundry. If she stayed up and waited for Ruger, keeping busy would make the time go faster.

She grabbed a load of clothes from the dryer, went to the bedroom, and started folding them. Washing her clothes with Ruger's shirts and boxers no longer seemed strange.

Her stomach fluttered. They'd had sex.

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