Page 101 of Fury

21

TEXAS HILL COUNTRY, USA

This was crazy,right?

Hollyn fidgeted with the strap of her purse in the backseat of the town car that had picked her up from the airport just under an hour ago. It was cooler here in Texas than she’d anticipated, and she kind of wished she’d packed warmer clothing. Too late now, though. The jeans and T-shirt she was wearing would have to suffice. Even though she’d lived most of her life in the States, she’d never been to Texas before, and her brain had been telling her it never got under ninety degrees. Well, it did. But that realization was soon eclipsed by the sight of the A Breed Apart front gates.

Hollyn swallowed as the driver turned down the long driveway. It had only been a week since Davis had left for the States, but every day had felt like an eternity. She’d worked as quickly as she could to arrange coverage for the running of the lab and the rest of the business side of things that she was now in charge of. The second she’d been free to hop on a plane to Texas, she had.

What are you doing? Maybe this was a bad idea.

She swallowed down the doubts creeping up. She’d been in communication with Davis since he’d left, but his days were long and their conversations short. One truth remained unchanging, though: her feelings for Davis had only grown since he’d come back into her life, and—beyond the shadow of a doubt—she was in love. If he didn’t feel the same way, then at least she was about to find out for sure.

Hollyn tucked her loose hair behind her ears. Smoothed a hand down the front of her maroon shirt. Maybe she should have grabbed one of the barf bags from first class on the flight over. Her stomach was in knots, and the queasy feeling rumbling around in there was escalating by the second.

As the town car driver came to a stop in the parking lot near a large building, a woman with white-blonde hair was heading down the front steps. Beside her, a reddish colored dog with a lean, muscular build eyed the car with ferocity. A slight motion of the woman’s hand brought down the dog’s intensity a few degrees, but it was still unnerving.

Hollyn thanked the driver and asked him to wait for a moment before she stepped outside. This place was much bigger than she’d pictured. From here she could see several large structures and at least two very large fenced fields. Some people were working with dogs in one, but Davis didn’t seem to be one of them. Barking came from one of the buildings.

“Can I help you?” The woman and her dog stopped a few feet away.

“Uh, I hope so?” Hollyn stood a couple inches taller than the blonde but definitely didn’t come close to the tough presence the woman naturally exuded. Oh yeah, she was out of her comfort zone here in Davis’s world. “I’m . . . looking for Davis Ledger?”

The woman chuckled. “Is that a question or a statement?”

Hollyn laughed nervously and told herself to relax. “A statement. Definitely. I just—I need to speak with him. If he’s available,” she tagged on quickly.

The blonde scrutinized her for a moment, something that was heavily mirrored by her dog. They must have decided she wasn’t a threat, because the woman nodded over her shoulder. “We were actually on our way near where he’s working. We’ll take you to him.”

Relief washed over Hollyn. She turned and grabbed her backpack from the car. As it drove away, Hollyn chewed her lip, hands squeezing the straps of her bag.

“You coming?” the woman asked behind her.

Hollyn spun and hurried to catch up as she hooked her arms through the straps of her bag. “Yes, sorry.”

“I’m Rio, by the way.” The blonde gave Hollyn a smile. “And this”—she reached down and patted her dog’s side as they walked—“is Chaos.”

The dog panted happily, and Hollyn could almost swear she saw it smile.

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Hollyn.”

Rio’s step faltered. “Hollyn?”

Uh-oh. Not the reaction she’d been expecting.

“Is that bad?”

“No, no,” Rio said before a grin spread across her lips. “Just so . . . interesting. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

In the span of a week? Curious. Davis wasn’t exactly the chatty type. Maybe he was different with these people, though?

Hollyn swallowed, unsure what to say as she followed Rio behind one of the larger metal buildings. Barking from inside grew louder along with the voices of a couple men. Rio slid open a door and motioned Hollyn inside.

When she saw Davis, her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. There he was. Dressed in black tactical pants and a long sleeve T-shirt that hugged his biceps and broad shoulders in a mind-scrambling way. His back was to her, and he was speaking to another guy who held a lead attached to Fury.

“All right, that was decent, but don’t let him get away with giving you attitude. Run through it again.”

“Ledger!” Rio called out.

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