Nodding my head, I whisper back, “I know, hun. Anything I can do?”
She sniffles and shakes her head. “No, I just don’t want to be by myself right now.”
A soft knock pushes the door open a little, and Mason sticks his head in the room. “Gray, we need you in the barn.” His voice is low as he looks at Lainey Rai’s head on my lap. He pushes the door the rest of the way open and steps in. “She okay?”
“She will be.” I say and then look at Kinley. “Do you mind staying in here with her in case she wakes up?”
Mason jerks his head toward the corner Kinley is in, just realizing she is there, and walks toward her. “Come here.”
She pushes the throw off and practically jumps into Mason’s arms. Her sniffles come faster as he pulls his hand down the back of her head that’s buried in his shoulder. He takes a few minutes to let her get it out of her system, his chin resting on top of her head.
Kinley has never been fond of affection, Marley says it’s because mom died during a time in Kinley’s life when she needed emotional security and guidance, and she lacked the maternal understanding and love every girl needs from her mother. I tend to agree, Kinley was a warm and affectionate child and I think mom’s death after she had Breanna scarred her more than we realized.
After a few minutes, she untangles herself from Mason’s hold and pulls her sleeve over the back of her hand, and swipes it across her nose. I smile inwardly because, right before my eyes, that action transforms her into the little girl who cried over burned pancakes when she was eight.
“Better?” Mason asks, his hands cupping her head. He kisses her forehead before he lets her go.
She nods and turns to me. “I’ll stay in here with her.” Shelies on the bed behind Lainey Rai and we slowly replace my leg with her arm under Lainey Rai’s head.
Before I leave the room, I bend over and kiss both of their heads. Kinley smiles up at me and Mason tosses me the throw from the floor and I spread it over them.
As we trot down the stairs side by side, I ask, “What’s in the barn?”
He takes a deep breath and clucks his tongue with a shake of his head. “You’re just going to have to see this shit to believe it.”
We slide the barn door open after the silent walk from the house, my mind turning with possible explanations. I almost trip over nothing when I see the fucker from Elly’s hotel room.
He’s on his knees, sitting on his heels in the middle of the barn, his hands behind his back and his arms tied to his body. The blood running down the side of his face from his split eyebrow and the busted lip tells me that Jax found him in the treeline.
The man himself is standing behind him, his fingers tucked under his arms as he stands in the similar at-ease stance that Mason does often. Since he doesn’t have any marks on his face, I think the little beat-down was one sided.
Looking around the barn, I ensure Marley’s not in here, I don’t see her. Dad is not here either, so he must have taken her to the house.
The anger I thought I got ahold of earlier is boiling under the surface as I look at the man who squashed the hope I had let myself feel with Elly. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask, my voice practically a growl.
“You know this guy?” Mason asks.
I grunt at Mason before I say, “Yeah, names Harris, he works with Elly. I met him at the hotel.”
In my peripheral, I see Mason’s head jerk and I can feel his eyes on me, but I keep my gaze on the fucker on the floor. Thesmug, slimy asshole has the audacity to smile at me.
Closing the space between us, I punch him square in the nose. The satisfying crunch has me stepping back and taking a deep breath as I roll my head from one shoulder to the other.
His head jerks back with a cry of pain and he starts to fall backward, but Jax catches him and rights him.
“Did you set fire to the stable?” I ask.
Blood is running down his face and neck and he spits on the floor. His skin is ashen and sweat is beading on his forehead, his eyes moving between me and Mason. He squares his shoulders but stays silent.
Mason takes the same stance as Jax, letting me take point. I start to step toward him to pop him again and that gets his attention.
“Stop!” He shouts and spits a wad of blood on the ground.
Jax shoves the toe of his boot into his shoulder and pushes just enough to knock his balance, but not push him over. “Answer the fucking question, asshole.”
“I’m just doing my job, I was told to shake you up a bit.” His breaths are coming fast, each one forming a cloud of smoke in front of him that evaporates in the cold air quickly.
“By who?” I bark. Deep down, my chest constricts as I hope Elly has nothing to do with this. I could never forgive myself if I let my guard down to a snake in the fucking grass.
