“I want him to know,” I whisper. “I want him to be afraid to ever touch another woman again.”
The room goes very, very still. Blade exhales slowly. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
Bella looks like she wants to argue, but then she looks at me and sees I’m not changing my mind.
Switch nods once. “We handle it clean. Quiet. No loose ends.”
Rev’s voice is low and rough when he speaks. “He doesn’t get to hurt you and walk away from it.”
My stomach flips, fear and something darker mixing together. “Just… please,” I whisper. “Don’t do anything that gets you hurt. Or arrested. I couldn’t… I couldn’t handle that.”
Rev finally pulls back just enough to look at me, his eyes serious and steady. “Princess, I’d tear the world apart for you,” he says softly. “But I’m not going to do anything that leaves you without me. You understand?”
My throat closes. I nod.
Blade straightens. “Then here’s what happens next. We figure out where Whitaker is, and we pay him a visit. Tonight.”
Bella gasps. “Tonight?”
“Yes,” Switch says. “Before he’s got time to spin a story or disappear.”
Rev’s arms tighten around me again, protective and unyielding.
“And you,” Blade says to me, gentler now, “are staying right here, surrounded by people who love you, and you’re not thinking about him for one more damn second tonight. That’s our job now.”
I don’t know whether to feel relieved or terrified. Probably both. And somewhere deep in my chest, beneath all the fear and shock and shaking, something else flickers too. Because Grant Whitaker thought he found a woman he could control. What he really found was the Iron Reapers. And they’re not known for mercy.
SIX
REV
I finally shift,easing Brooke out of my lap and onto the couch, and the second I do, her hands clutch at my shirt like she’s afraid I’m going to disappear if she lets go.
“Hey,” I murmur, leaning in close so she can see me. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Her fingers tighten anyway, knuckles pale against the dark fabric, and it hits me hard, the way her body still hasn’t caught up to the fact that she’s safe. Her eyes are wide and glossy, tracking every movement in the room like she’s braced for something else to go wrong.
I sit down right beside her and pull her back against my side, one arm wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her tucked in close.
“You good right here?” I ask softly.
She nods, but she still doesn’t let go of me.
Blade clears his throat from across the room, and I feel the shift coming. I know what’s next. We all do.
I lean in and press a kiss to the top of her head, slow and gentle, breathing her in for half a second like I need to remind myself she’s really here and not still alone in the woods.
“I’ve got to talk to the guys for a minute,” I tell her quietly. “But I’ll be right there.” I nod toward the doorway. “Where you can see me the whole time.”
Her breath catches, and she swallows hard before she looks up at me.
“You’re going to,” she says softly. Not asking. “To teach him his lesson.”
I don’t dodge it.
I nod once. “Yeah.”
Her hand slides up my arm, fingers curling around my sleeve like she’s trying to anchor herself to me.
