Cass never looked away from her. “A bastard named Bayne Hendrix came up to me tonight. He’s the one who told me about the coming attack on you. Bayne said he’d picked up on rumors that I fucked a Fed.”
A curse from Gray.
“He told me to my damn face that you were going to be eliminated. Said I should send flowers to your funeral.”
And she had a flash of soggy flowers on a gravesite. But not her funeral. It had been Max’s funeral. Her boyfriend. Her fiancé. She’d stood in the rain and felt as if she were drowning.
“What did you do to Bayne?” Gray wanted to know.
“I…convinced him to call up the prick who was going after Agnes.”
Ah. That would be how she’d gotten the phone call. Or, rather, how Judas had gotten the call. “Where is this Bayne now?”
“Running.” A bit out response from Cass. “Running and getting the hell out of my town. He was told to spread the word that you were protected. He was also warned that if he ever tried to hurt you or come after you in any way…”
She waited. He needed to finish that sentence.
Cass shrugged. “If he ever tries to hurt you, death will seem like a blessing compared to the hell I’ll bring to him.”
Well, okay then.
“When Bayne announced to everyone that I’d fucked a Fed?—”
“How did he learn that,” she cut in to ask, “exactly?”
“He learned it because there are too many pricks wanting to take me down. Too many eyes on me.”
Did that mean that someone had been trailing them that night? Trailing him…her?
“It was either act like you meant nothing to me and let a line of attackers come after you…”
“That doesn’t seem like a fun plan,” she muttered.
“Or claim you,” he finished. “Tell the world that you did matter. That you mattered more than anything.”
Silence.
“I claimed you.” Cass extended his hand toward her. “Agnes Quinn, from here on out, you are mine.”
Chapter Eight
She’s not hurt. She’s not hurt. She’s not hurt.
More importantly, she’s not dead. She’s not dead. She’s not dead.
The two refrains had beat through his head as he hauled ass across town and tried to get to her. Agnes had stopped the attacker after her. She was safe. She was alive. And Cass was going to keep her that way.
His hand extended toward her. Agnes peered down at his hand. She didn’t take it. Just peered at it with a faint furrow between her delicate brows. “Yours as in…?” She bit her lower lip. “What, exactly?”
“Mine.” Wasn’t that clear enough? Rage still wanted to choke him. The idea that someone would hurt her, kill her…
“Ahem.” From Gray. Followed up with, “Agnes, I need a minute alone with Cass.”
Cass growled at Gray. Not like he was there for Gray.
I’m here for her.
“I’m the senior agent here. I’m the one in charge, so stop growling at me. Agnes, wait outside a minute. Now.” An order.
