Page 17 of Relentless

“She’s ours now,” a deep voice states, making Mav stumble back.

“We treat her right. Give her what she needs,” the other confirms.

My heart pounds and my head spins.

“No, don’t leave me. I need you. Please, Mav. Don’t leave—”

A scream rips from my throat as a loud bang bounces around the room. I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to deal with the noise, and when I open them again, I find the reason for it.

My husband is lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

“NOOOOO,” I scream.

I wake up sitting in the middle of Reid’s massive bed, my trembling body slick with sweat.

It was just a dream. Just a dream.

5

REID

Ilie in the guest room, staring up at the ceiling.

I should have passed out hours ago. But I can’t.

My mind is spinning with too many things I don’t want to be thinking about.

JD is my biggest concern. That haunted look in his eyes after Alana kicked us out is something I never want to see again in my life.

It takes me back to a time I would happily forget.

I thought I was going to lose him. I really did. I don’t think I’ve ever been more terrified than I was then. Every morning, the first thing I would do was message him, praying that he’d reply. I’m pretty sure I didn’t breathe until I saw that my message had been read and then the dots were bouncing to show he was replying. Looking back, those were the worst minutes of that time. I tried to convince him to stay with me as much as I could, but more often than not, he wanted his own space. And while I understood that, the fear of what he might do with that space was terrifying.

He made it through, and while he’s had his moments over the past few years, he’s found ways to deal with his issues and I’ve only ever seen hints of the darkness that lingers right beneath the surface.

But yesterday, it was darker, more dangerous.

I knew he was getting attached to her. But I assumed that was more to her pussy than anything else.

But that look in his eyes, it hinted toward his feelings for her being stronger than I anticipated.

And that is a really fucking bad thing.

She can’t be his.

She already belongs to someone else. And as fun as it might have been playing with her, at some point, we’re either going to have to kill her or give her back. And something tells me that the former isn’t going to be an option.

With a pained sigh, I throw the covers off and get to my feet.

I can’t lie here lost in my own head when our world is on the verge of imploding.

Her location has been compromised.

Who else knows?

I’ve had my boys scan the property's perimeter, but none of them came up with anything suspicious, and there haven’t been any more security alerts.

That would suggest he was working alone. Hell knows he’s acted desperate enough to be that stupid over the past week or so. But would he?

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