My blood startsto heat to a boiling point. I grip the letter, reading it over and over again. Several of the words are misspelled, and the grammar and punctuation are all off.
“Whoever wrote this is borderline illiterate,” I say.
I’m not a genius, but I know the difference betweenyou’reandyourandloseandloose.
“And clearly deranged. Who gave enough fucks about Cain Dixon to want revenge for his death?” Cash says, leaning back against his chair.
Holden’s cold glare studies the back of the letter I’m holding. He’s ruthless, and I can see in his eyes that whoever is threatening his family had better plan on taking him out, too, if they want to live to see another day.
“I don’t know, but I figured with the resources you have with being on Monroe’s protection detail, maybe you could help me figure out who this freak is.”
“What does Rosie think? He was her uncle. Does she know who it could be?” Duke asks.
I set the letter down. I know I’m not technically being threatened by it, but Dolly clearly is. She’s a Redford, and whoever this illiterate psychopath is could be targeting her for being the reason Holden killed Cain.
She’s also a woman, and she would be way easier to physically harm than any of her brothers. All the Redford boys are muscular and over six feet, with tanned skin and straight black hair that they inherited from their mother. Dolly probably weighs one hundred twenty pounds soaking wet. She’s tiny, only five foot two.
I have to force myself to inhale and exhale slowly at Duke’s next words.
“Whoever this fucker is, he’ll most likely come after Dolly before he tries to fuck with any of us boys. Sterling is stationed overseas right now, and all of us carry guns with us. She’s the only one he’d have a chance at overpowering.”
The table falls silent. I grit my teeth, trying to force myself not to speak and insist on becoming her full-time bodyguard and sleeping at the foot of her bed like a lap dog.
They can handle this. They’d never let her be exposed and vulnerable to an active threat. It’s not my fucking concern.
“What do you think, Cash? Dolly isn’t gonna be happy about the idea of a full-time security detail based on a letter. She already feels like we’re suffocating her,” Holden says.
And who fucking cares? It’s her life we’re talking about. She can get the fuck over it.
I manage to keep quiet.
Duke throws his hands up. “And? She’s gonna have to suck it up. We’ll find this motherfucker before too long and put an end to this shit.”
Cash and Holden exchange glances before Holden’s eyes settle on me.
He studies me for a few beats before speaking. “What do you think, Sam?”
I inhale slowly, trying to get my heart rate to calm back down. Rosie’s laughter floats to my ears from the kitchen, where she’s hanging out with Monroe. I don’t know where Dolly is tonight.
I lean forward, placing my elbows on the table. “Would you ever forgive yourselves if something did happen to her? She can have her freedom back when this bitch is dead.”
“Maybe it would be better if she weren’t at Redford Ranch for a while,” Holden says.
“How can we protect her if she’s not there? Where would she go?” Duke says.
Cash sips his bourbon. “Actually, I agree. When Monroe was being stalked, moving her around was the best way to keep her safe. But he will eventually find out if she’s gone and where she is. She’ll still need protection while we look for him.”
She can stay at Moonlight. Fuck, can she?
The chances of me keeping my hands off of her by pretending she doesn’t exist will drop to drastically low numbers if she’s living in my house and we’re alone all the time.
I can handle Dolly Redford under my roof, swaying those hips in her frilly dresses and infiltrating my curated bachelor pad. I have self-control.
Duke turns to me. “That’s true. She could stay at your place until we find him. If you’re with her, I can help Holden track him down. You’re the only man I trust to take care of her besides us.”
All three of the Redford brothers turn their eyes to me expectantly. They’re asking me if their baby sister can move into my house … to be protected.
Duke leans forward, misinterpreting my silence for reluctance to agree. “Look, I know she’s got the annoying-younger-sister thing going on, and you might have to make girls be quieter when they come over and put on a pair of pants when you leave your room, but it will be temporary. Maybe a week or two, while we track this guy down. Also, Dolly is a damn good cook. She bakes and reads, and that’s really about it. She’s not gonna try to throw a party or make a huge mess or anything. There’s no other man on the planet we can trust to keep his hands off our sister, not after what happened with Cain.”
