Page 195 of At the Edge of Surrender

“We’d heard about this club that didn’t always card, so we got dressed up and went. There were these guys there?—”

Old fear cracked on her tongue, and she squeezed her eyes closed tight.

“It’s okay, Emery.”

“No, Kane, it’s not. It wasn’t okay. We were never the same, and Jana didn’t make it through it.”

Her words pierced me.

An arrow staked straight through.

What the fuck had happened to these poor girls?

Sickness roiled at the possibilities.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”

I knew firsthand how sick and twisted these monsters could be.

I tried to keep it contained. The rage that burned a path through my insides. But it was impossible when Emery began to sob. Her cries burrowed in the thunder that sieged my chest.

“What happened?” I issued it at the top of her head as she clung to me.

Those walls trembled around us. Bricks fracturing. Close to caving.

“I…I can’t, Kane. I can’t.” She croaked it.

“Let me destroy the bastards who hurt you. All I need is a little information, and I’ll see that it’s done.”

By my own hands.

It would be my greatest honor to take these motherfuckers’ last breaths.

Emery froze, and in that instant, both of us became distinctly aware of what I’d said.

I’d hinted at it before. Given her undercut warnings.

But this was a blatant admission.

I could feel the force of her gulp where she was still pinned against me.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” The question was ragged. Frayed and torn apart.

“Means I will go to any length to see to it that you feel safe. That youaresafe. Warned you before that I’m not a good man…”

Maybe she’d understood on some level, but she hadn’t allowed herself to fully grasp the brutality of who I was.

I couldn’t do anything but admit to being that person right then.

“And I will gladly use that fact to protect what is mine.”

A shiver rocked through her. This one different than the chills that had been flashing through her body when I’d sent her soaring.

This was a flash of fear that was followed by what felt like a wave of acceptance. Her fingertips tapping across the spot where my heartpounded out of control, my own fear slashing through my insides. Dread that she was going to haul herself out of my bed and skip town.

Take Maci with her.

“Should I be afraid of you?” She whispered it into my flesh, those eyes concealed where she had her face completely pressed into my chest.

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