"I know you do." She met his eyes. "I said yes."
He looked at her for a long moment. Like he was checking something.
"Good girl."
It hit her exactly the same way it had the first time. Right in the center of her chest, warm and solid, a thing she felt rather than heard.
She did not say anything about that.
“I need to know something, Rampage. Tyler explained to me that The Watchmen weren’t a lawless club. He explained that you all raise money for charities and watch out for the community. You don’t run weapons or sell drugs or anything like that. Even in the short time I’ve been here, I can see he was telling the truth.”
“But?”
“But, all of you have a hardness underneath. Like when Irish was talking to the two men at the gas station. There’s an edge…”
“Yeah. We are all operators. Special forces. That comes with a certain edge.”
She didn’t say anything else, wasn’t sure how to ask what she was thinking.
“You have something else to ask me, I can tell.” Rampage said, taking a step towards her. He placed his thumb under her chin and tilted her head up until she met his gaze. “I won’t lie to you, baby girl. What else do you want to know?”
“I guess… are you guys… like vigilantes? Are you violent?”
He didn’t release her chin but also didn’t answer right away. Finally, he spoke again. “Society provides a safety net in the form of good men and women who protect the rest of the citizens. Law enforcement, military and sheepdogs who step in to keep everything moving forward. They try to hide as much of the dark underbelly of lawlessness and violence from view as they can. There are evil people who don’t think twice before destroying lives and causing pain. To stop evil men without moral compasses, good men must embrace violence and rid them from the world. We can’t hesitate to shine a light on the darkness and eliminate the threat whenever we get a chance.”
“So, that’s a, yes?”
“Are we violent? Only when absolutely necessary as a form of self-defense or to protect what is ours. We try to apprehend without violence and let the law take care of it. But yes, if the situation demands it, we are violent. We aren’t vigilantes in that we don’t go looking for evil men. If evil finds us, or messes with what’s ours? Then yes, we get involved.”
“What’s yours?”
“Our brothers and sisters in The Watchmen and on Valhalla, all their loved ones, the entire town of Grand Ridge…” He let go of her chin. “And you. You are under my protection. You’re mine and that means you are protected by all of us. Any other questions?”
“No,” the word came out as a whisper.
She went back to the common room, sat down next to Savannah, and accepted the chip bag she wordlessly held out to her.
"Well?" Savannah asked.
"There's a network of bad guys," Emily said. "And I'm staying until he thinks I’m no longer a threat to them."
Savannah nodded. Didn't push. Then, after a moment: "He called you a good girl, didn't he."
Emily stared straight ahead. "Eat your chips."
CHAPTER 8
RAMPAGE
He found her at the kitchen table at nine that night with her laptop open, spreadsheet on the screen, reading glasses on, which were cute as hell, doing what appeared to be her actual job.
He stopped in the doorway.
"What?" she said, without looking up.
"Nothing."
"You're doing the doorway thing."
