Ryder drops beside Zane, running his hand through her hair. “What’s going on with her?” he asks softly, lost.
“I don’t know but she did it before, years ago,” Zane answers, still rocking.
“She’s not breathing, Zane!” Dex says, pacing behind them.
“Yes, she is,” Zane says evenly. “Come on, Beautiful. You can do this. You’re stronger than him. Don’t let him win.” Zane leans down, pressing his lips to hers.
She jerks back, sucks in a huge breath, then dissolves into tears again.
“Fuck,” Zane crushes her to his chest. “You scared the hell out of me.” He pulls back. “Don’t let him win,” he repeats; she nods weakly, then latches onto his neck. He stands up with her in his arms. “Ryder in the back with me, Dex; you drive.”
They get her bundled back in the car, tucked between them. I slide into the passenger side seat, a massive lump in my throat. I don’t know how much more she can handle. She’s already been through so much already. She’s always so damn strong, taking things in stride, but everyone has their breaking point. I’m afraid this is Les’.
“Go to the cabin,” Zane instructs.
“No!” Les said loudly. “We have to get Jay.”
“Il mio sole, you can’t go like this. Let us take you to the cabin and take care of you.”
“No,” she groans, “We might not ever get the chance again.” She roughly wipes the tears from her cheeks. “Go to that address.” We all start looking at each other. “Now!” Dex jerks back onto the road. “I can fall apart later. He dies today.”
“Okay, Baby,” Leo mutters, reaching back to grab her hand. “We got this.”
“For sure, Pretty girl. I need to make good on my awesome threats,” Gage grins.
Zane pushes his face away. “That’s what started this in the first place.”
Les shakes her head with a quiet laugh. “It wasn’t his fault.” I can see the color returning to her cheeks, her eyes losing that haunted look.
“For once,Il mio sole,” Ryder grumbles. “Let us blame Gage.”
She runs her hand over Gage’s face. “Never.”
Gage grins wider, causing Ryder to roll his eyes. She seems okay now, but I don’t like what I saw.
“Holden, look up that address and see what we’re walking into,” Dex says.
They pass my laptop to me, and I plug in the address. “It looks like an office building,” I look around it. “It’s vacant.”
“He’s not going to stay in one place,” Les sighs. “But we need to make sure.”
I see Zane and Ryder exchange a look over her head, something passing between them. They tuck her into their sides without a word, and I know all hell will break loose when we pull up.
We hit downtown Abbs Valley and drive further into the more vacant part of town. This part used to be overrun with gangs pushing people out of business until Les ran them off to Concrete Row. It’s just a matter of time before she buys this place.
Dex parks a building down from the address and nods at Zane in the rearview mirror; something is passing between them too.
Here we go.
Dex looks behind him, Leo and Gage nod, and they start sliding out of the car.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Les asks.
“I’m sorry, Beautiful. You aren’t going,” Zane says, he and Ryder closing ranks on her.
“What?!”
I pop my door open. “I’m sorry, Bright eyes,” I say and slide out with Gage, Leo, and Dex.
