Page 91 of Heathen

"Why are you protecting him?" I growl.

"How do you know this isn't connected to your marriage-for-sale scheme?" she snaps at me, making me wonder just what Kaylee has told her about me. It doesn't sound like the woman knows the full truth of the situation.

"He's not the bad guy," Kaylee says, a sob in her voice.

It's enough to make Morgan take a long, hard look at her, and I see when she realizes just how much danger her friend was in.

"Sweetheart," the woman says, coming around to the other side of the bed to sit beside Kaylee and pull her into her arms.

Screams from downstairs put me right back on edge, and I pull my gun for a second time, positioning myself in front of both women so whoever it might be will have to go through me to get to them.

Twisted comes into view. I recognize him, despite having his commando mask in place, from the anarchy patch on his vest.

I lower the gun and open my mouth to speak, but I realize in my haste to make sure Kaylee was alright, I really haven't gotten much information from either of these two women. My mind is spinning, and it proves to me why people shouldn't work jobs where their loved ones could be in danger. It complicates everything and threatens to leave people hurt or worse.

"She was attacked and tied up," I begin, pointing to Kaylee just as Bandera comes into the room, also in full camo gear. "The suspect climbed out of the window before I could get to her."

Bandera repeats the information into a mic on his chest, but I don't have time to ask who else they have with them as the Cerberus team in Vegas consists of the three of us in this room and Rooster back at base. At this moment, Kaylee is my only concern, and I feel a little left out when I crouch close to her only to meet Morgan’s eyes. I can tell the woman hasn't decided if she believes what she's being told yet.

"We need medical," I bark at Bandera once he's done mobilizing whoever else may be outside.

I knew they were watching the house. I figured they were out there partly because Kincaid urged Twisted to watch over Morgan, but also because they wanted to bear witness to me walking into the fucking house, dressed like a giant piece of fruit that is synonymous with a penis.

No matter their reason for being here, I'm glad they are.

"Have you been hurt, sweetheart?" Bandera asks Kaylee, making me snarl like a territorial caged animal. He looks at me and points. "Not the time for that shit, man."

"I'm not hurt," she says.

"Your ankle," I say, pointing to the mark on her left leg.

"Can't be healed by a paramedic," she mutters.

"Did he—"

"No!" Kaylee snaps, already knowing what her friend is going to ask, and I swear my vision sheets white with rage.

I'll kill him just for tying her up, but the fact that he could've done more, even in the limited time he had her alone up here, makes me want to track down every person in his entire family to make sure that they're incapable of creating another monster.

"What happened?" I ask, needing to know what she went through but unsure if I'll be able to be caged once I find out.

She shakes her head, tears still streaming down her flushed cheeks.

"Kaylee?" I plead, watching as she darts her eyes around the room.

"I don't want to talk about it," she says. I know she can see the pain in my eyes, so she throws me a bone. "Later."

I dip my head, fully intending to make her keep her promise. I don't want her bottling all of this shit up, and I have no idea what long-lasting effects it will have on her.

"This is all my fault," Morgan sobs, tears now streaking down her face.

Thankfully, Kaylee doesn't tell her that it isn't. I'm not exactly impressed with my girl getting hurt because of something going on in her friend's life, but, honestly, it could've easily been the other way around. This situation could've been reversed with Morgan in trouble because of the recent choices that Kaylee has made.

If I dig deep enough, I know it's still possible this is related to Dima and his band of bastards. We have intel that the organization was considering going after Morgan and turning her out, so it isn't too far-fetched of an idea.

"We need to get you out of here," I say, holding my hand out to Kaylee.

Morgan looks completely terrified.

---