Taking an unsure breath, I squeeze his arm. “Can I ask you something?”
He nods as his eyes volley between mine.
Clearing my throat, I steal myself for asking a personal question that I might not have any right to ask. “You can tell me if it’s none of my business, but what happened to your mom and sister?”
All tenderness falls from his face and he straightens, making me tip my head back to look up at him, and I curse my need to ask. “I-I’m sorry. I thought about what you said the other night, and Mason told me how much you hate men like that, so I wondered what happened.” I try to take a respectful step back, but his hands tighten on my arms, keeping me close.
His chest lifts with a sigh and his head tilts to the side again. “Because I don’t want to keep anything from you, I will tell you I lost my mother and my little sister, Niki, to the same type of men who hurt you.”
My heart breaks for him, and the lump is back in my throat. “I’m so sorry, Brana, I…”
An explosion stops me from finishing my thought, and I yelp as I instinctively duck. Jax curls his body around me, pushing me into a squat, and walks me into the stables. I hear my horses whinny and my gelding that I just got calm in the past few days kick his stall.
Holding me against his side furthest away from the door, he keeps his back against the wall. “Are you okay?”
I still have my hands over my ears and nod.
“Words, Lepa.”
“Yeah, yes, I’m okay.”
He moves to the edge of the opening and peeks around the door. I can hear yelling at the house, and I’m worried about my family. “Brana, we have to see if everyone is okay.”
Looking around the stables, his eyes scan the area before he walks me to the nearest one and pushes me inside. “Stay here.” When he sees I’m about to argue, his eyes bore into mine. “Do not come out until I tell you to. I am going to find out what is happening, and I can’t focus if I’m worried about your safety.”
Still wanting to argue, but knowing he’s right, I nod my head.
It feels like an eternity goes by as I’m sweating in the stall, worrying about my family. The horses are starting to settle, I tried to soothe them the best I can from where I’m at. But at the same time, my body won’t stop shaking.
I slid down the wall after Brana left the stable and pulled my knees up to my chest, but even in the tightest ball I can get into, my body is vibrating like a motor, and I keep counting to ten. Closing my eyes, I orient myself to time and place. There is a wall behind my back, my horses are in their stalls, I can smell the hay under me, and the late afternoon sun is shining on the walls over my head.
Each real thing I can focus on is supposed to help, but it’s not right now. I’m too worried about my family.
The longer I wait, the more my teeth start to chatter, and breathing is becoming harder. What if someone is hurt? Spots start to dance in my peripheral, and I feel like I may pass out.
“Lepa.” Brana comes into the stall with Mason right behind him. When he sees that I’m about to lose consciousness, he sits almost on my toes, caging me in with his long legs, his feet against the wall behind me, and his knees on each side of me. “Look at me,” he orders and my eyes snap to met his icy blues, “breathe with me.” He breathes in his nose and out of his mouth.
I follow his lead, but I can’t stop shaking.
He grabs my hands and links our fingers together as he smiles. “Hey, everyone is fine, the explosion was at the gate. No one got hurt.”
Tears of relief fill my eyes, and I keep taking deep breaths.
Anger bubbles in my chest, and I choke on a small sob. “You left me.”
He shakes his head and his smile gets bigger. Keeping our fingers linked and pressed against the outside of my knees. “I would never leave you, you know that, Lepa. I made sure it was safe for you.” He’s wrapped himself around me,cocooning me to the wall I’ve been leaning against. “I will always make sure you are safe. Uvek c´u doc´i po tebe. I will always come for you.” [I will always come for you]
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
JAX
“I DON’Tgive a fuck about the gate, the gate can be fixed. What I do give a fuck about is that this is happening at my home, and I don’t even know who I’m fighting. Is it the one guy or a group?” Mr. Harlow’s gravely voice booms across the room at the phone sitting on his desk.
We sent Callum and Scott, our explosives guy on the team, a picture of what was left of the device we found at the gate. Scott confirmed it is an improvised explosive device (IED) that was detonated by a timer. The whole device was crudely put together and was probably attached to the wooden post the night before it was set to detonate.
“Spits” Callum says.
A brief pause and some typing echo over the line. “Right. I’ve been able to pinpoint an attachment between the Mancuso family out of New York and your guy there, they have an outfit in Chicago and an even smaller one in Tulsa. Because of the death of the DA they usually use for their guys in the Tulsaarea, there is a little more activity within the ranks that this ‘D’ guy is part of. However, ‘D’ is not high enough in the ranks to warrant an attack on the ranch.
