Mallory slept peacefully on her side as I watched her. Making love to her had been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I hadn’t wanted to stop. My dream was to spend every minute in this bed with her in my arms. And to both of our surprise, Mallory was indeed a virgin. She’d been every bit the loner everyone claimed, in every way…which broke my heart, despite how honored I felt to be her first.
And knowing the monster who took her hadn’t touched her? That left me feelingunbelievablerelief. He hadn’t hurt her in the worst way possible. Thank God.
My phone buzzed in the pocket of my jeans, and I internally groaned, knowing I needed to get out of this bed and get a move on with things. Billy would be expecting me anytime now. And I needed to call Randy about coming over.
Slipping out of bed, I walked into the bathroom and grabbed a towel before making my way back to the pile of clothes Mallory and I had left on the floor. Smiling, I reached down and grabbed my jeans, searching for my cell.
I had a text from Chad.
Chad: Are you home or out on the ranch somewhere?
Frowning, I wondered what was so important that my brother couldn’t wait for me to call him like I said I would.
Instead of replying, I gathered up my clothes, called Billy’s number, and headed into the bathroom to change. I didn’t want to wake up Mallory; she was sleeping too peacefully.
“Hey, Boss. I was waiting for you to get settled back in but was just about to call you.”
I was thankful Billy hadn’t started texting and calling me the second we landed. I knew he, MaryAnne, and Bubba would be interested in what we’d found out in Illinois, so I appreciated that they gave us some privacy first.
“Hey, thanks for that. Mallory and I needed to…decompress after our last few days.”
“Find out anything about her?”
“A few things, but nothing that told us about how she might have gotten to Montana. We did find her storage unit, so I think that might be able to help her fill in the pieces of her life. At least, I hope it does. I’ll fill in you and Bubba later. How’s everything going? Did you rotate the west pasture?”
“I did.”
“And the old barn?”
“In the process of being torn down as we speak. Howdy is over there, keeping an eye on things.”
“Good. And what about that mare we got last week? How is she settling in?”
Billy laughed. “Jimmy’s been working with her. Dude, you were only gone a few days; the ranch didn’t fall apart while you were away.”
I rubbed at the back of my neck. “I know. I completely trust you; you know that.”
He laughed. “I do. What’s going on? You sound worried.”
“Mallory’s decided to file a police report.”
“She has? That’s good, though, right?”
“Yes, it is, but I’m worried for her. I know in the beginning I thought she was making a mistake, not filing, but now I’m not sure she should. I feel like we can’t trust anyone right now and I don’t know why I feel that way.”
“Nothing is going to happen to her on this ranch. You know we’ll protect her.”
I sighed. “It’s a big ranch, Billy. What if we can’t? What ifIcan’t?”
He remained silent for a few moments. “You and I both know you’re not going to let anything happen to her. I know you want to make up for Emily, but Mallory isn’t her.”
“I know that. Trust me.”
“Right. Well, anyway, I was calling to tell you that Chad’s here. He’s at the main barn with Bubba. Don’t worry, we haven’t said a thing to him. He asked where you’d gone, and I just told him it was a personal trip, and you didn’t tell me where.”
“What?” I asked, pulling on my boots. “Chad is here right now?”
“Yeah, he just showed up earlier and wanted to know if you were still coming back today. I told him you were out on theranch taking care of some things, since you’d only just gotten home, and I knew you wouldn’t want him stopping by. Did you even tell him you were coming back today?”
