Page 32 of When He Hunts

“That’s not an answer to whether or not it’s safe.” She crawled toward the side of the couch. “Is it safe?”

“Yes.” But the answer didn’t come from Ronan. It was Kane who responded.

She inched off the couch. Turned toward the men. Drew up short as she sucked in a sharp breath.

One man was on the floor. Blood covered his chest. A gun rested in his outstretched hand, and his head was angled toward her.

So much blood.

It was just like another scene. Another time. And Luna found that she was reacting the same way. Freezing.

I walked into Marcus’s office. He had a gun in his hand and a dead man in front of him. So silly. So ridiculous. I was supposed to surprise him with a song and a delivery. Stupid singing telegram business that I thought would be a fun side hustle. Only…

Only it hadn’t been fun.

Her lips pressed tightly together to hold back the cry that wanted to come from her. Just as she’d done in Marcus’s office. Just as she’d stifled her terrified cries even as tears streamed down her face because…

She’d known the dead man in Marcus’s office. He’d been her friend. Noah. He’d been the one who hired her to come and sing for the boss on Marcus’s birthday.

And he’d been dead. And there’d been so much blood. Marcus had walked toward him and kicked Noah’s body even as she’d stood in the doorway with the bright balloons and flowers and…

Ronan walked toward the body in the cabin. He had his gun gripped in his hand. He knelt. Reached out a hand and touched the other man’s throat. Ronan’s jaw clenched. “Why the hell did you have to follow me out here?” Ronan snarled to the fallen figure. “I left you alive in New Orleans.”

Alive in New Orleans.Her gaze was on the dead man’s face. Yes, yes, she knew him. He’d been one of the three attackers who came at her on the street. The one who’d worn the mask. After Ronan had fought him in the street, the man had lost the mask. She’d seen his face so very briefly. Briefly, but the memory was burned in her mind. Thin face, an off-center nose. Not nearly as scary as she’d imagined when he still had on the mask. “He wanted to slice me up,” she managed.

Ronan rose but kept staring at the body. “Told him to stay out of my way.” A disgusted shake of his head. “Told him if he didn’t, he’d be the dead one. Bastard should have listened to me.”

Ronan had just killed a man.

To save his friend…to save himself…or to save…me?

Kane advanced to Ronan’s side. A Kane who had blood streaming down his left shoulder but didn’t even seem to notice his own wound. “It was you or him, Ronan. He was the one who came in with guns blazing.” A grimace. “And if you hadn’t killed him, what do you think would have happened to her?” He jerked his right thumb in Luna’s direction.

Ronan’s gaze instantly flew to Luna.

And she remembered another time…

I didn’t make a sound. I had my mouth pressed closed as tightly as I could to hold back any cries. I was going to back away. To get out of that office. To run as far and as fast as I could.

But a balloon had popped. A silly balloon. A silly job. A silly dream. In an instant, Marcus had yanked his gun up and aimed it at her and there had been so much rage in his eyes. She’d known that he was going to fire that weapon at her. She’d let go of the balloons and they’d flown in front of her, and he’d shot his gun, and the balloons had all erupted and there had been confetti and latex everywhere and she’d run as fast as she could.

She hadn’t stopped running.

Not until Ronan had killed her.

But as she stared at Ronan, as she looked into his eyes, there was no rage staring back at her. Instead?—

Pain. Sadness.

She crept toward him. “Ronan?”

All emotion vanished with his blink. “We have to get you the hell out of here.”

But she shook her head. “We have to get help!” They needed to call nine-one-one. She’d done that in Atlanta. Just in case Noah had still been alive. There had been so much blood, but maybe…maybe—or at least, that had been her desperate thought.Maybe Noah is still alive.She’d fled and called for help as soon as she made it to the shelter of an alley. Only there had been no body for the EMTs to find when they arrived. Marcus had already cleaned up the scene.

Just the first step in covering his tracks.

Ronan reached out for her. “You can’t help a dead man.”

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