Page 31 of Recurve Ridge

“Then treat her better,” he countered, refusing to back down, the damn brat.

“She’s been abused!” I roared. Clenching my teeth, I shot a glance at her door, where Will stood guard. He watched our interaction quietly, and knowing his history with his father, I didn’t want to play his personal trauma out in front of him. “I’ll… think of something. Give her a job. Maybe you could train her to make cocktails.” I glanced at the doorway again.

“It’s not enough. She needs intimacy. That girl needs to know she’s loved.” Alan stopped shy of grabbing at me.

That single word stopped me cold.

“She has no fucking family left and no one who can claim her,” I snapped, stepping into his space, ready to shake sense into the kid. He knew that; he was the one who cyberstalked her on my damn orders.

“She has you.”

My gut sank even as my head wanted to accept what he suggested. But a few random touches and support while I interrogated her nicely to get what I wanted shouldn’t count as a claim. Still, no matter how I disparaged the idea, the possessive monster in my chest approved.

I stared at him. “You’re out of your mind. She’s hurt. She doesn’t want me pushing into her life and making her feel invaded. Now?—”

“Have you asked her?” Alan popped his hip out like a bratty teen and threw me afuck you, daddysmile to match.

“Watch the attitude,” I retorted, brushing him off. “I’ll be back whenever this is done. Fucking behave.” I shook my head and turned my back to him, ready to rant my way out the door.

“She needs you.” The plea in his voice struck home, but we were out of time.

“Robe.” Jon canted his head toward Miller, who was still waiting for me.

I blew out a breath. “We can talk later.” I dismissed my bartender and pushed the whole encounter out of my mind the moment I set foot over the threshold.

The stocky man stood at the house’s entrance, his expression dark—well, darker, considering his usual demeanor tended toward watchful and angry. He snarled, and I guessed he’d called my name more than once in the past few minutes. His shoulders sat in a hard line as he shifted his weight to one side, then disappeared around the doorway and into the forest below.

Jon raised his eyebrows as if to say,What now?I shook my head and followed Miller’s silent exodus.

Crisp snow crunched beneath my heavy steps. A frigid wind left winter’s late calling card. If Mari had traversed the forest a few weeks later than when she arrived in my arms, she would have died of exposure before I got her inside the house. Hell, thanks to unseasonal weather, that very nearly happened any damn way.

It annoyed the shit out of me that I still didn’t know how long she ran for, or how far. Regardless of the fact that she still wouldn’t tell me what I craved, I harbored my suspicions.

I found him in the shadows at the bottom of the cabin’s stairs.

“What’s up?”

“We have visitors.” Miller snapped off that short sentence like it had offended him, omittingsirat the end along with his customary sharp salute, though his fingers stiffened at his side as if the habit refused to be repressed.

Even four years after leaving military service together, he struggled to complete the transformation into his new version of normality.

I opened my mouth, on the verge of saying,“I’m not your commanding officer any longer,”but it didn’t matter. The words wouldn’t have any effect, leaving us at a silent impasse. We’d had this conversation time and again. Miller wouldn’t change his ways any more than I would. Perhaps that made us the perfect pair, coupled in a mountain-scenery version of purgatory, blocked away from everything we loved—and everyone.

Except for the three people back in the cabin.

Four, counting Mari, if I included her in the emotional sliding scale of our lives.

Miller insisted on holding to the tradition that had disowned us both, no matter what I said or how raucous the house became with every new member initiated into our patchwork family. It didn’t matter that I no longer deserved his loyalty or his respect for letting so many down when I couldn’t save them.

And yet he offered the balance of his life to my sad cause when he remained the one free man among a bunch of broken outlaws.

“Brandon? I know he’s organizing a local community gathering.” I shrugged when Miller glared at me.Now I know how Mari feels.

“Blackthorne’s here.”

I slipped my hands into my pockets and stared Miller down. “What does he want?”

He tilted his chin up. “He didn’t come alone.”

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