The guy scratched at his hands while the others all yelled.
“Cash! Man, you don’t want to do this. You don’t want to kill him,” Ralen said.
Cash ignored him. He very much did want to kill this asshole. No one touched his Addie.
Not without feeling his wrath.
And then a cool, small hand touched his. Immediately, his body started to relax, and some of the anger faded. Cash had always been a bit of a hothead. But never around Addie.
“Cash, let him go,” Addie said in a husky voice. “I don’t want you to kill him. Then you’ll be in trouble. I don’t want you to have his death on your hands. Plus, he needs to give us some answers.”
She was making sense, even though he knew that he could easily get rid of the body without any ramifications to him. But still, the last thing he ever wanted was for her to be scared of him, which she might be if she saw him kill somebody.
She didn’t know the full extent of his dark past. She didn’t know who Dante was, or the things he’d had to do over the years.
The things he’d just done recently for Ortega would probably make her turn away from him. That’s why she’d never know. Cash would take those secrets to the grave if it meant that he got to keep her.
So he forced himself to let go of the asshole and step back. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. To his shock, rather than looking at him in fear or horror, Addie moved closer and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing the side of her face against his chest.
“You’re all right,” she told him. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
Was she trying to soothe him? Was she trying to do what he had often done for her? A wave of gratitude filled him. He knew he didn’t deserve Addie.
He’d lived a rather checkered life, and there was more of that to come. The things he sometimes had to do weren’t within the law. And that wasn’t going to change.
But there was no mistaking the way he felt about her, and the lengths he would go to in order to keep her.
Ralen took hold of the guy he’d been choking and spoke quietly to Monroe, who rushed off. Probably to grab something to tie him up with.
Addie’s hand cupped his cheek and he glanced down at his girl. When he stared into her eyes, he felt even better, more calm, more relaxed.
Shit. Had he scared her?
She didn’t look worried, but she might be hiding it from him. She might be concerned that he was going to turn on her.
“I’m so sorry, Addie. Are you?—”
“Are you okay?” she asked, interrupting him.
Then she blushed. “Shoot, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“No, no, baby. You didn’t. I want to know if you’re all right, though. Did he hurt you?”
“He just grabbed me, shoved me around a little bit. I don’t know about Monroe, though.”
Turning, she glanced at her sister, who had returned with a belt which Ralen used to secure the intruder’s hands behind his back. Ralen sat him up, leaning him against the wall. “Stay the fuck there.”
Then Ralen turned to Monroe. “Are you all right? Did he harm you?”
Monroe shook her head. “No, he just slammed me into the wall and tried to strangle me. It really wasn’t that bad.”
“Not that bad?” Ralen snapped. “We need to have a talk about what you consider to be bad!”
“It was bad,” Addie whispered. “It was really bad. I was so scared.”
Cash could feel her trembling against him.
Screw this. He lifted her into his arms and held her against his chest. If she acted scared or wanted him to let her go, he would, or at least that’s what he told himself. But she didn’t doeither of those things. Instead, she just slumped against him, as though she was glad that he now had her in his arms.
