Page 29 of Mad About Her Cowboys

An arm slid around her, sidetracking her thought and drawing a startled yelp. Half a moment later, she realized it was Franklin. She leaned into him, his safety, and he kissed her temple. Tension vibrated through him. He might act calm, but he wasn’t. Not at all. From the corner of her eye, she saw his three brothers stood at his side, arms crossed as they all glared at Martin.

“Babe, you okay?” Franklin asked her.

“I am now.”

“Is this the gullible sucker you’re planning to convince is your baby daddy?” Martin snorted. “Dude, you’re—”

“Dude, you better shut the fuck up,” Connor interrupted.

“I’m a paying guest. I’ll have—”

“Not anymore,” Connor interrupted again. “Pack your shit and get out.”

“You can’t—”

“Can’t I? You’re trespassing in my home, and you came in here and started verbally assaulting my woman. This is my land; I can do whatever the hell I want—including burying you where no one will find you.”

Martin’s eyes widened, but apparently, he was too stupid to shut up. “So now it’s your baby?” he scoffed.

“No, it’s mine,” Franklin said. “We had one of those amnio-whatsits things to confirm DNA.” He looked at Madison.

“Amniocentesis,” she provided.

He looked at Martin. “Yes, that. It’s my kid.”

Martin’s eyes narrowed, and he looked from Connor to Franklin then to Eds and Neal before leering at her again. “I knew you were a slut.”

“That’s it,” Eds exploded as Franklin and Connor seemed to double in size, obviously ready to plow down the stupid asshole invading their kitchen. Tears filled Mads eyes, but not at her men’s anger or the nastiness spewed from Martin. Her chest tightened at Franklin’s claim on her baby, and if she couldn’t breathe before, she definitely couldn’t now. She turned her face into his chest, burrowing into him as Eds and Neal advanced on Martin. Each grabbed an upper arm. Martin bellowed as they pulled him toward the front door to evict him from the house—and she suspected from Daly altogether. Martin spewed nasty epitaphs the entire journey to the porch, and probably beyond, but the slamming door muffled him.

Franklin’s arms tightened around her, and Connor moved in to enclose her in his protection, too. She trembled, wishing she could shake off Martin’s words. Fear shook her, let loose now that she didn’t need to be strong before the man who’d assaulted her. She’d been in the same room alone with him again… Oh God. He could have…

And now, he knew where she was. She hadn’t told anyone where she was moving, but here he was. What were the chances of that?

“Shh,” Connor murmured and kissed the top of her head. “It’s okay. We won’t let him touch you.”

“Why was he here?” she asked, her face still pressed into Franklin. She was stronger than this, but right now, she didn’t have to be. Not with her men’s strength supporting her.

“Apparently, he’s with the group of doctors who are here for team building or personal development or some shit,” Connor answered.

“Obviously, it doesn’t work on him,” Franklin grunted.

Mads couldn’t help the snort that escaped her, though it sounded a little on the hysterical side when coupled with her hitching breath.

“I’m gonna have to go out there and have a chat with the leaders,” Connor grumbled. “You got this?”

“Yeah,” Franklin replied. “I’ll take care of her.”

“I’m fine,” she protested, trying to gather herself together.

“Darlin’, you’re still shaking like a leaf,” Connor said. He stroked his knuckles along the curve of her cheek. “Let Franklin take care of you. I’ll be back soon, and we can do something.”

“I still need to take a shower.”

“Sounds good,” Franklin said. “I’ll come with you.”

“Fuck, you get all the fun,” Connor complained.

Franklin shrugged. “That’s why you’re the boss.”

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