His eyes were not.
“Rylie,” he said, voice quiet and absolute. “You’re in Eagle River now.”
His thumb brushed once against my jaw like a promise.
“You’re not facing this alone.”
And for one terrifying second, I believed him.
5
Trigger
We moved fast.
Havoc checked the upstairs. Ace checked the windows. Beast locked the side door and killed the lights in the back stairwell. Saint got the patrons out through the kitchen and into the alley, as if it were part of the show.
No panic.
No screaming.
Just Rangers doing what we did.
Rylie sat on the edge of the bed in one of the upstairs bedrooms, like she’d been dropped into someone else’s life. Her dress was bunched in her lap. Her bare feet were red and scraped.
I crouched, taking a clean cloth from the bathroom.
“Let me,” I said.
She flinched when I touched her ankle.
Not because it hurt.
Because she wasn’t used to being cared for. Her mother died when she was little, and it's just Riley and her dad, Sheriff Tate.
It made rage bloom in my chest, thinking about her all alone with no woman to talk to.
I wrapped her foot carefully. “You should’ve called me.”
Her laugh was thin. “How? He took my phone whenever he wanted. He… watches everything. Plus, you’ve been out of town.”
I kept my head down, my voice steady. “Then you should’ve told your dad.”
“I tried,” she whispered. “Thomas is smart. He made it look like I was stressed. Like I was… unstable. My Dad was so excited that I was getting married, he believed him.
I froze.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze.
“What did he say?”
Her lips trembled. “That I was overwhelmed. That I was having panic attacks. That I needed him to take care of me.”
Saint was in the doorway, arms crossed. “That’s a control tactic.”
“I know,” she said quickly, defensive, like she had to prove she wasn’t weak. “I know what it is. I prosecute men like him.”
That snapped something in me—admiration, anger, and heartbreak all at once.
