Page 54 of Recurve Ridge

I flicked the lock open as I knocked. “Mari?”

They were right—all of them. I’d been an utter asshole. To her and everyone under my roof, though group apologies weren’t my thing. I could have explained the situation, but some part of me wanted to keep her from the darker side of our lives in the event that she ran and never came back.

Not that I blamed her, but I also didn’t want to be the reason she threw herself headlong into danger when my safety net didn’t include places where I couldn’t see her.

Keep lying to yourself.

I got no response. NoGo fuck yourself, Robe.NoLeave me alone. No sobbing.

Just silence.

Her sassing me usually offered relief, but that didn’t come either. If I’d broken her….

“Mari?” I pushed the door open and found her on the other side, the doorway an invisible barrier between us.

“Why make me stay if you won’t let me in?” Her thin whisper broke at the end, scoring my heart.

“It’s not safe. Anywhere. Here. You’re not safe.” My throat constricted, but I forced the words out anyway. “And I want to keep you.”

Mari waited, her brow lowered as she peered at me through her lashes. “Is there another word to go with that sentence? Like an apology?”

Breath expelled from my lips in a laugh I covered as a cough.What are you, thirteen?“No.”

“Mmm.” She sighed. “I’m sick of crying, and I’m sick of being afraid. I thought….”

I waited, but she didn’t finish her thoughts. “Will is your guide tomorrow. He’s nice, so don’t scare him.” That earned me a sweet smile I memorized for later. “He’ll protect you. As for the others… I’ve been trying to teach you ways to fight your fear.”

“Is that what this is?” Lifting her head, she stared me full in the face, daring me to lie to her.

My throat dried on the truth I hid from myself. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Good night, Robe.” She reached across the threshold.

I grabbed her wrist, clinging to her. Knowing I shouldn’t, unable to step forward or bring her to me. “I know I’m an asshole. Everything I do… I do it because I’m trying to keep you safe.”

Mari stood stock-still for a long moment and then twisted her wrist in my grip. I opened my fingers, letting her pull away from me.

“I know,” she replied, retreating into the darkness.

She crawled into my bed, and though my heart ached at the thought of not taking her into my arms for one more night, I stayed on my side of the doorway. When she settled, I drew the door shut but didn’t flick the lock I had Will install despite his soft protests.

By the time the boys returned with their whispered reports, sans Alan, I had formed the plan I wanted us to follow the next day. Gideon’s additional crossover bothered me at a deeper level than usual, and it had everything to do with the bundle of heartbreak burrowed in my bed.

While every man slept, I resumed my station by the door and waited for the sun to rise.

* * *

Every footstep echoedlouder than the last. I swore under my breath and tapped my throat mic out of habit. “Work in silence.” I waited until the sounds of movement faded before stepping forward, my gun raised.

Gideon’s compound was deserted.

My nose twitched every time the house settled or the mountain breathed, but after a full circuit of the place, checking room by room, I made it into his office undetected. I analyzed each vacant corner of the opulent room, though it became clear we were either very much in favor with luck herself or we’d missed one hellishly important boat.

“Call it in.”

“Clear.”

“Clear here.” I opened each drawer of the desk, sweeping my hand over the glossy wood, and swore again over the channel. “Everything’s been removed. He’s closed up house.”For now.

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