Page 90 of Barbed Wire Hearts

ChapterFifty-Five

Kate

“Ican explain,” I try, my hands holding onto William tight.

“Please do,” Levi says, his tone deadly, as if daring me to come up with a good explanation.

I grimace. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt for my benefit.”

Wiley sits up and leans his arm on the back of the couch, looking at me over it. “And you think leaving don’t hurt no one?”

My grimace deepens. “Well. . . I assumed?—”

“You assumed you could just leave and that would be that,” Dakota interrupts.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It wasn’t an easy decision.”

Wiley stands from the couch and stretches before facing me. “I suggest you set William down, Katie Cat.”

Levi comes forward and takes my duffel bag before tossing it back up the stairs.

“So I’m a prisoner now?” I ask, watching him take it.

“Not a prisoner, no,” Dakota says, all while tapping the shotgun against his boot. “Protected.”

“What’s the difference?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on him. Despite it all, this move pisses me off the most. It’s ultimately my decision, isn’t it? If I wanna leave, then I should be able to leave.

He grins at my question, clearly amused. “The meals are better.”

“You can’t run from everything, sunflower,” Levi says as he gently takes William from my hands and sets him on the back of the couch. William happily lets him, comfortable with Levi in a way that pisses me off right now.

I stare at them with narrowed eyes, angry. “It’s worked so far.”

“But how long can you keep runnin’?” Levi asks seriously, surprisingly more levelheaded than Dakota right now. “You think they won’t catch up with you?”

“I know they will,” I growl, stomping my foot like a child. “I know that. But at least you three would be alive. At least you’d live!”

Dakota’s face darkens at my words, and he stops tapping the barrel of the gun. “Now, you think we could live with ourselves knowing you’re out there?” he asks. He sets the gun aside and stands before stalking toward me. “You think we wouldn’t hunt for you? You think we’d ever stop lookin’?”

I stare at him with wide eyes, not sure how to respond.

He tsks at my look of surprise and stops right in front of me. He reaches out and tips my chin up forcefully, his fingers rough against my skin. “When we said you were ours, we meant it, Kate.”

I stiffen. “If I want to leave, I will.”

He grins and steps closer, my chest against his body as I glare up at him. “You sayin’ you wanna leave, city girl?” he purrs down at me. “You sayin’ we aren’t just as much yours as you are ours?”

“I. . .”

He smirks and threads his fingers into my hair in a semblance of a caress. When his hand is buried there, he tightens his hold suddenly and wrenches my head back hard enough to hurt. He leans down, his warm breath fanning across my face.

“You’re not goin’ anywhere, Kate,” he threatens. “Not now. Not ever.”

“You can’t keep me here,” I gasp, my nails digging into his chest to hold myself steady in this uncomfortable position. “That’s kidnapping,” I snarl as his fingers tighten further, pulling at my scalp.

He presses a kiss against my forehead, a tender action so at odds with his demeanor and his hold. “That’s love,” he whispers. “And I think you deserve some kind of punishment for tryin’ to leave us.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

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