“Smart,” Viper murmurs.
“Brave,” I add.
“I wasn’t brave. I was terrified.” Kira scrapes a hand over her forehead, through her hair. “And I stole her car, and I wrecked it.”
“You did what you had to do,” Atlas says. “That was a hell of a storm. The important thing is that you’re safe.”
“Is the car …?”
“We’d have recovered it if we could,” Viper says. “There was a heavy rain when temperatures rose, and a landslide took it over the cliff.”
“Damn.” She shakes her head, dismayed. Still not defeated.
“Do you know anything else about the senator’s dealings?” Viper asks.
Kira shakes her head. “Maybe I’m an idiot, but everything I heard on my wedding day came as a complete shock.”
I try, and fail, to keep the fury from my voice. “You’re not an idiot. Preston Vaughn is, if he thinks he can get away with what he did to you.”
To counter my outburst, Atlas is gentle. “You said earlier you don’t have family?”
She sits taller. “My mother died when I was little. My father left. An aunt took me in, but made it clear she didn’t want me there. I left as soon as I could.”
I get it.God, do I get it.
“Family isn’t always about blood.” My voice comes out rougher than I expect. “It’s also about people who show up.”
There are a million things hiding behind her weary eyes when she looks at me. It seems like she has memories she’d rather forget, just like I do.
I look away before she can see whatever damned expression is on my face. I spent my childhood trying to protect kids I couldn’t save, and something about Kira’s bravery is cracking me wide open.
I want to protect her. Not because she needs it, but because she deserves it.
She could be someone I’dfight for.
Atlas leads the dinner conversation back to lighter topics, and Kira manages to eat a healthy amount of the pot roast.
She offers to help do the dishes, but there’s no way that’s happening.
When she goes back to her room to rest, the three of us regroup, our battlefield-briefing instincts kicking in.
Viper gets right to it. “We’re not just helping an abuse victim. We’re harboring a witness to federal crimes.”
Atlas nods once. “What’s the chatter?”
“Nothing. No mention of the wedding being canceled.”
“Missing persons report?”
Viper shakes his head. “Not a damn thing.”
The implication lands like a bomb, and my hands curl into fists. “Motherfucker wants to find her without anyone knowing.”
Atlas’s expression is grim. “After what she heard, there’s no way he’s going to let it drop.”
I glance toward the hall, cracking my knuckles. “Then we get ready for company.”
CHAPTER 8
