Page 31 of Rekindled Heart

“What’s next?”

Jace points at me. “Keep your nose out of this, Margot!”

The alley clears out and even Baker Tate shoots me a glare as he stomps out of the alley.

I look over at Louise and grin widely. “Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?”

She laughs and arm in arm we step out of the alley and head back into town.

I know that Ricky needs Caro, so if I need to help find the scumbag senator that’s in trouble all over the place for what he’s been doing to naive little girls, then I’ll gladly get my hands dirty.

Caro is going to be safe and so is her son. And then my Ricky is going to make her his queen finally. I knew they were meant to be and dammit, no asshole with a gun is gonna mess this up!

Fuck him!

SIXTEEN

Caro

“Where’s Christopher?”I ask when I open my eyes, the bright light hitting me square in the face.

Ricky whirls and grins at me. “There you are, sleepyhead! I thought you were never going to wake up!”

I sit up, pushing my hair out of my face, staring at the heat in Ricky’s dark gaze. “And?”

“Oh. He’s out in the barn talking to Harold. He’s pretty damn excited about that horse.”

Snorting, I reach out my hand to the coffee he’s holding out for me. I take a sip and groan. “God, that’s good!”

Ricky grins and my gut clenches. The coffee isn’t the only thing that’s good. This man looks damn good first thing in the morning. I run my hands over my hair and grimace.

I probably look like I’ve been dragged backwards through a hurricane.

“I need to get up and get moving. I’m sure Doc is wondering where the hell I am.”

Ricky shakes his dark head. “No. I already called him and told him you wouldn’t be back to work until we get this guy sorted out.”

I freeze and glare at him. “I didn’t agree to anything like that, Ricky. I need my job.”

“He understands, baby girl. He wanted me to tell you that it’s all okay. Your job is waiting for you when this is all over and you’re feeling better. He didn’t realize that you’d been shot either.”

I jerk upright. “I didn’t tell him because it’s private and I didn’t want him to know about it! I also didn’t want him to think I was a crazy woman with some asshole chasing after me. I intended to go back to work! Today!”

“No way! Dammit, this guy is on the way here and he’s tailing your flaky-ass sister straight to you! You need to lie low.”

I shove to my feet, putting the coffee cup down with a click and wrapping the sheet around me. His dark gaze follows me and there’s that little clench in my core. But for once, I ignore the hunger I always feel around this man.

“I’ll decided what’s right for me and Christopher. I’ve been taking care of both of us for a long time with no help at all.”

“And you’re doing so well,” he snarls. “He shot you.”

I know what else he’s thinking and I shove that pain right the hell down.

“I’ve got to get out of here.” My breath huffs out of me and I surge to the door, my bare feet slapping against the wood like a hammer on a nail. “Christopher needs to go to school today. He’s got a massive test and he needs normalcy. Structure.”

He grabs my arm and glares at me. “Stop being so damn stubborn. Admit that you need help! You’re gonna get hurt!”

I shake his hand off. “Really? I think I know that. But I’ve never been a big one for handouts, Ricky! You seem to think that you’re gonna take over and make all my decisions for me and that’s not happening.”

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