One night of spectacular sex and he was mentally waxing on about picket fences and blood bonds? If that wasn’t evidence enough that he needed to get a grip on the situation—rein things in hard and fast with Leni—then he didn’t know what was.
Impatient now, he yanked on his dark T-shirt and stalked out of the bathroom on bare feet.
Clamping a lid on what he was starting to feel toward Leni was imperative, but that wasn’t going to solve the other issue he hadn’t yet addressed.
She’d made it clear she wasn’t willing to leave town if things turned any more dangerous with the Parrishes, so that left the problem in Knox’s hands. He had to ensure he had somewhere to take her and Riley if their safety depended on it—even if that meant taking them there against her will.
She would despise him for it, he was sure. But her life was more important than how she felt about him, and he wasn’t willing to leave it to chance.
He had been putting off making the call for long enough.
Walking over to the small closet near the bed, Knox reached inside the zippered chest pocket of his black parka for the burner phone he’d been carrying with him all these months on the road.
How many times had he been tempted to toss the damn thing and really disappear? Too many to count. Now, he was glad to have it. The battery was long dead, but he willed it back to life with a mental command.
He didn’t know how any of his brothers would respond to hearing from him after all this time, but he’d deal with that as it came. There was only one male he trusted to help.
As the Florida Darkhaven’s resident surveillance and tech expert, Razor had both the skills and the connections to put a plan in motion on little to zero notice.
He would have questions, of course. Razor dissected every problem with the acuity of his chosen name. It was simply his brother’s nature, just as Knox’s nature was to keep all of his shit locked up tight.
His involvement with Leni being no exception.
Before he could change his mind, he started tapping the digits that would connect him to the Darkhaven’s secured line.
It hadn’t even begun to ring when Leni’s scream ripped through the morning quiet of the house downstairs.
CHAPTER 15
“Riley!” Leni raced into the kitchen, her heart slamming against her ribs. “Rye, this isn’t funny. Where are you?”
Moving at a dead run, she nearly crashed into Knox. He came off the last step of the back stairwell as if he’d materialized rather than moved. He approached her looking grim with concern, dressed only in jeans and a dark T-shirt.
“What’s wrong?”
“Riley. He’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“I mean he’s not anywhere in the house.” She gestured wildly, panic clawing up the back of her throat. “I should’ve checked on him as soon as I woke up. I should’ve made sure I saw him before I got in the shower.” The words tumbled out of her, her voice choked with guilt. The only thing heavier was the terror churning in her stomach. “Oh, God. Today of all days, I shouldn’t have let down my guard for a second.”
Saturday. Travis Parrish’s release day.
The day she’d been dreading for years was finally here and she’d lost Riley the instant her back was turned.
“Hey.” Knox’s strong hands settled on her shoulders, his stormy blue eyes trying to reach her through her rising alarm. “It’s going to be okay. Slow down, Leni. Tell me what happened.”
She withdrew from his touch, bristling at the tenderness no matter how much she wanted comforting and reassurance.
“I overslept.” It came out like an accusation, sharp with anger. She didn’t blame Knox for her distraction as much as she blamed herself, but worry for Riley made every word grate over her tongue. “I just went in to get him up for breakfast after my shower, but he’s not in his room. The blanket is missing off the bed. Fred’s gone too.”
Knox gave a measured nod as he listened. “He can’t have gone far, Leni. He must be around here somewhere.”
“What if he’s not?” she snapped. “What if they took him while I was sleeping? Or last night, while we were—”
Sick with guilt, she could hardly finish the thought. Her morning had started off like a dream. She had awakened with a smile that she couldn’t seem to erase from her lips, her body aching in all the right places after the incredible night she’d spent in Knox’s arms.
All of that giddy joy and blissful fatigue evaporated in an instant. Ice-cold fear replaced it when she found Riley missing a minute ago. Her veins were still freezing with worry. Her throat was still raw from her scream, her heart still on the verge of exploding.
