Page 24 of Silver Hills' Christmas Miracle

“Thank you,” she murmured. Kitty sat back. Her chest was heaving, and several loops of her braid were coming loose. As she stared straight ahead, she ended up pulling out the bauble at the end of her braid and quickly unwinding all the strands. It seemed to be a way to calm herself down, so I let her continue as I drove and managed my own anger.

That fucker had nearly put hands on her. And he was a friend? I knew all of Kitty’s friends, but there were only a handful. None of them were that tall guy, to my recollection. Who was that guy, and why was Kitty holding the door open for them?

I chose the scenic drive back to the manor. It was the safest choice in case any of those fuckers tried to follow, and it gave us time to process. Kitty finished with her braid, and as she tousled her hair, I realized that this was probably my first time ever seeing her with her hair down.

Since I’d met her, she always had her hair scooped into various braids. When I’d asked her about it, she’d explained that it was just easier to tie everything back because she loved her long hair. She just hated having hair strands in her face. It was windy here, so that was likely a common occurrence.

Replaying that conversation in my mind as Kitty slumped back in her seat calmed me further, and I flexed my hands slightly against the steering wheel.

“Kitty.”

“What?” she snapped slightly, then she bit her lower lip.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Did they hurt you?”

“No, of course not.” She folded one arm across her middle and toyed with a loose thread on her skirt with the other. “I lost my shoes, though.”

I glanced at her, then down her legs to where her bare feet sat on top of one another. I hadn’t even noticed. “What happened to your shoes?”

“I took them off and then dropped them when you tackled that guy. I never had a chance to pick them back up.”

“Were they expensive?”

“Yes. But I have others. Honestly, they were more pain than they were worth. A bad choice for today.”

“Why?”

I felt her eyes on me but she remained silent. As we drove, the radio on my hip crackled into life and Anders’s voice drifted through. “Rook?”

“I’m here,” I said as I pressed the button. “What’s the situation?”

“You have Little Rabbit?”

“Affirmative.”

“Good. Mayor and his wife are safe but shaken. We’re taking them to the police station, then back to the manor. The team caught a few of the assholes, so they’ll be spending Christmas in the lock-up,” Anders explained. “I want check-ins every half hour until we reconnect, understand?”

“Got it.”

The radio clicked once more and silence fell. Kitty lifted her hand and toyed with her lower lip, then she looked across at me. “Do you think anyone got hurt?”

I met her eyes for a few seconds, then turned the radio back on. “Anders?”

“Yup?”

“Any casualties?”

“A few broken noses, but that’s it. Nothing else. Why?”

“No reason. Heard the gunshots and wanted to make sure they were on our side.”

“Ah, yeah, that was us. Scared away the stupid ones, but the foolish still pressed in.”

“Alright, thanks.”

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