Page 146 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

Relief surged through her body as she found herself slowly exhaling before she asked, “Where’s Logan?” knowing exactly how her family felt about him, which was why she needed to find him before it was too late.

“He’s somewhere safe,” her father drawled, which of course, was followed up by another kiss and-

Was he smiling against her hair?

“What happened?” Jill asked, deciding that was the best place to start.

“I saved you singlehandedly, of course,” Chris said with a heartfelt sigh.

“And Logan?” Jill asked, watching as Chris struggled to bite back a smile.

“He’s hanging around here somewhere,” Chris said, clearing his throat as he was forced to look away.

“Where is he?” Jill demanded as she narrowed her eyes on the large bastard as a surge of frustration tore through her, letting her know that Logan was alive.

“That depends on how this conversation goes,” Chris said conversationally as he made a show of examining his nails.

Jill opened her mouth only to have her father kiss the top of her head again, making her sigh heavily as she glanced back at him and-

Ended up grumbling when he began pressing baby kisses against her forehead.

“Are you going to let me go?” Jill asked, watching as her father seemed to think that over for a moment before he pressed another kiss against her forehead.

“No,” Ephraim said, making her lips twitch as he went back to pressing baby kisses against her forehead.

“I’m gonna need you to focus,” Chris said, drawing her attention to find her brother still examining his damn nails.

“And I’m going to need you to stop annoying the hell out of me,” Jill said, moving to push her father’s arms away only to have the large man that she’d missed more than anything kiss the top of her head again.

“Is that why you didn’t let us know that you were alive?” Chris drawled as he glanced up to meet her gaze.

“You know why,” Jill said, biting back a sigh as she shoved her father’s arms away and forced herself to ignore just how badly she wanted to stay in his arms. She climbed off thestretcher and headed for the door only to go still at her father’s next words.

“We made a mistake, Jill,” he said hoarsely, making her shake her head in disbelief as she slowly turned around and faced the man that she prayed would save her every single minute that she spent in that cell.

“Is that what you call sending me to the Sentinels so that they could lock me up in a small cell and kept me in there for a year without a word from anyone? Or are you referring to the fact that you were going to let me spend the rest of my life on a Sentinel island?” Jill demanded as she watched him swallow hard.

“Both,” Ephraim said hoarsely as he climbed off the stretcher, his red eyes pleading with her to give him a chance.

“Is that why you didn’t visit me? Or call? Made sure that I knew that someone gave a damn about me?” Jill demanded, shaking her head in disgust as she moved to turn around and-

“We didn’t have a choice,” her father said, cutting her off.

Nodding, Jill said, “I do get it. Believe me, I get how dangerous it was to let me stay and I even understand why you had to hand me over to the Sentinels. What I don’t understand is how you turned your back on me so easily after I screwed up one time, but when Chris screwed up his life when he tried sending Izzy away, you stood by his side.”

“Because he’s not my little girl!” Ephraim bit out.

“You son of a bitch!” Chris gasped in outrage. “I’m fucking precious!”

“I never worried about him the way that I worried about you. When he fucked up, I knew that he could handle it. But you…God, you turned out to be too fucking kind for your own good, Jill. So, when I found out that he marked you, I lost it, knowing that you’d been dragged into this world before you were ready. I don’t think that I ever felt so fucking helpless as when I saw that mark on your neck and I just fucking lost it. You’ll never knowjust how sorry I am that I hurt you or just how much I’ve missed you,” Ephraim said as his red eyes flashed brighter.

“You never even gave me a chance to tell you why I was in that cell in the first place,” Jill pointed out as she moved to turn around and-

“Why?” her father asked softly, taking her by surprise.

“Because he was the one thing that made everything okay,” Jill said, not knowing how else to explain it. “And for what it’s worth. I didn’t keep my existence a secret to punish you. I knew that coming here would put everyone in danger and I couldn’t risk you handing Shane and the twins over to the Sentinels. They deserve better than to live their lives on an island in the middle of nowhere.”

“They’re not going anywhere,” he promised her. “None of you are.”

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