Ours (Blood Ties Book 3)

Kit glanced toward the hallway…for the fourth time in as many minutes. Her brother’s voice droned in the background as he talked to Caleb about the hospital where he worked. My brother listened intently, but while he was focused on the doctor, I was watching Lucas’s stepsister become a little too intrigued with Tobias.

A scowl creased her brow, and there was a blush before she muttered under her breath. “Maybe someone should check on them.” And she moved…a little too damn fast.

Shit.

The moment she made for the hallway, so did I, striding around her to block her way. A shake of my head and I murmured, “You don’t want to do that.”

Lucas snapped his gaze my way. There was a flicker of annoyance as he looked from me to her. Jealousy burned in the doc’s stare for an instant before he leashed it. Yeah, the guy could be dangerous if he wanted. “Kit?” He muttered. “Everything okay?”

She glanced at the entrance to the hall. “Just thought someone should check on them is all.”

Lucas cleared his throat as he followed her stare, lingering on the spot behind me. A highly strung asshole like T and someone like our little stepsister alone in a room together? Wounded or not, the doc knew what they were doing. He also knew his sister was too damn inquisitive for her own good.

“Maybe you could check our supplies?” There was a huskiness in his tone as he shifted his attention back to his own stepsister. “Nick and I are going into town. We want to be well stocked.”

There was a crinkling of her nose and a pout that reminded me of Ryth when she’d landed on our doorstep and it was hard to believe that was mere months ago.

She’d been so damn young.

So damn naive.

But she wasn’t anymore.

No.

They’d made sure of that.

“Fine.” Kit glared up at me, knowing I wasn’t about to move out of her way. “I’ll make the damn list.”

“And when they’re gone, I might see if you can show me around the place.’ Caleb drew her attention. “I bet you know this place like the back of your hand.”

She smiled at that, her eyes lighting up. “Yeah, I know it really well. There’s a creek and a swimming hole not far from here and the biggest boulder I’ve ever seen, I call it the lookout.”

“Sounds good,” C muttered, glancing my way.

He would keep her busy, making sure she didn’t wander. Although the doc didn’t seem to like that idea at all. I slowly stepped away, keeping the firecracker in my line of view, and crossed the kitchen. “She’ll be safe with him,” I murmured, meeting Lucas’s stare. “Don’t worry about that.”

He was…

And there wasn’t a thing I could do about that.

Caleb had an air of darkness about him now, a savagery that was the ice to T’s fire. I glanced left and saw him now as he crossed the room. “I can give you a hand with that list too, if you want?”

She looked at her brother, and he gave a slow nod. Go, the motion said. You’re okay. She did, glancing back one last time before heading for the kitchen.

“He’s dangerous.”

The words were so quiet I almost missed them. But I didn’t miss the look the doc gave me, a look that said far too much. It was my turn to look away, my turn to try to ignore the howling in my head. One that said even though Caleb was the quietest of all of us, he was also the most dangerous.

Dangerous to us…

And to Ryth.

“I’ll meet you outside,” I muttered, and headed after them.

The place was nice, but damn quiet. The chirping of birds in the trees was all I could hear as I stepped out and headed back along the veranda, kicking leaves as I went. I stepped down and strode to the sedan Jack Castlemaine had left for us in a stranger’s barn in the middle of nowhere.

No. Not for us…for himself.

I opened the driver’s door and yanked the latch for the trunk. Guns were fixed under the lid. I wedged my fingers under the carpet and yanked up the flooring, staring at the weapons stowed in the spare tire well. This wasn’t fitted out to last, just to get them to the next one hidden away on a map Ryth’s father had in his head.

A map for them to use to run.

And leave us behind.

I braced my hand against the side of the trunk and felt the world sway. They’d leave us…he’d make her leave us. Even the idea of that was too much for me to think about. An ache filled my chest. The kind of ache that was crushing. Spears ripped along my arm…I couldn’t breathe…I couldn’t breathe. I—

“You ready to go?”

Lucas stepped up out of nowhere and took a look at the guns visible in the sedan, then at me. He scowled, his gaze moving to my fist pressed against my sternum. “You okay?”

“Think I’m having a damn heart attack,” I groaned.

He moved close and pressed his fingertips against my neck, his gaze unfocused for a moment before he dropped his hand. “You’re fine.”

Still that ache pounded, shredding my damn chest. He looked at the open trunk once more, his brows rising. “Impressive haul. Looks like you’re equipped to run.”

“Not us,” I forced the words, and the moment I did, that ache grew real, tearing words from my mouth. “Ryth’s dad.”

“And Ryth, I take it?”

I nodded, unable to say the words out loud.

“How about we drive?”

I lifted my gaze, then nodded and slammed the trunk closed. “Sounds good.”

Before I climbed into the passenger’s seat, I glanced at the cabin once more. T and Ryth were busy, probably asleep by now. C and Kit were off getting the layout of this place. They were safe for now. We were safe for now. That’s all I cared about as I climbed into the Range Rover and closed the door.

The engine throbbed as he gunned it, switched the dial to reverse, and backed out, swinging sharply. The road tires weren’t meant for the loose terrain, but they caught alright as he nosed the four-wheel drive forward along the dirt road.

“This your place?”

“Grandfather’s,” he answered as the vehicle slipped into a rut. “Not by blood, and we keep it in his name so it’s safe and fairly untraceable.”

“Fairly,” I forced the word through clenched teeth, holding on.

He cut me a look. “Nothing is one hundred percent safe.”

He was right. I fixed my focus on the road as we straightened out and picked up speed, tearing past the mailbox that had a name printed on the side. I guessed if anyone was going to track him this far, then a damn name amounted to nothing.

If they wanted us bad enough, they’d come.

Because nowhere was really safe. Not on our own, at least.

As we drove, my thoughts turned to Jack Castlemaine, where he’d been hiding and how the hell he’d gotten out of prison. I had too many questions…the most nagging one dragged me to that damn notebook I’d found in Elle’s closet. Watching her with her friends, I could almost forget how she came to be, what she represents, and her purpose in all this.

What purpose?

That’s the thing that kept me panicking, it was like living with a ticking time bomb. The only problem was, Ryth didn’t even know she was dangerous herself.

“—you haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?”

I jerked my gaze to the doc behind the wheel. “Sorry.”

He gave a nod. “I was telling you that we’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.”

“You’re leaving?”

He gave a nod and focused on the road. “You’re calling Benjamin Rossi, right?”

I scowled. “Yeah, we don’t really have much of an option here.”

“I understand that, but I have to look out for my own.”

There was that remark again, and the fear where the Rossis where concerned. I knew Ben, knew he could be a hardass and a ruthless motherfucker, and I also knew Lazarus was the kind of guy you didn’t want to mess with. So what the fuck did the doc actually do?

My thoughts returned to money. “If you’re in some kind of money trouble,” I started.

He glanced my way and scowled for a second before shaking his head. “I wish. No…it’s…” he sighed. “It’s Kit.”

“Your sister?”

“She gets defensive, especially when it comes to people she thinks of as friends.”

Now I was intrigued. “Go on.”

He didn’t want to, growing red in the face as he scowled. The guy had pulled a bullet out of my brother’s thigh and hauled the dead body of my father into the back of his car, and yet his stepsister being defensive made him flinch?

There had to be more. But I said nothing while he wrestled with the words.

“Let’s just say my stepsister is the one standing in the way of Benjamin Rossi and love.”

“And love?”

He looked my way. “Literally. Love Hartman is a trauma nurse Mr. Rossi met through an acquaintance.” He winced at the word.

A friend of a friend. “I take it that acquaintance is you?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

I dragged my fingers through my hair. Now that made sense.

Not the part about Benjamin Rossi falling in love. That I struggled with. I’d never seen him so much as look at a woman, let alone a damn trauma nurse. But I did understand how the fiery young woman we’d left behind at the cabin could make the doc’s life difficult indeed. Especially when there were other women even remotely near the guy.

Because he was a good-looking guy…and the way she looked at him…

Damn…

“Here we are,” he muttered, drawing my focus to the quiet country town. “There’s a payphone in Meg’s Diner, you can use that while I load the car with everything you might need.”

He signaled and pulled the four-wheel drive over, nosing into a parking spot in front of a large sporting goods store. I still had no idea why he was helping us, but right now I was damn thankful. I’d make it up to the guy, that was for sure.

Right now, I’d take everything he offered. I climbed out of the car and headed for the corner, stepping into the small diner. The place was empty, except for an elderly couple enjoying milkshakes, who eyed me as I searched the room and saw the payphone at the back of the store. I headed over to the thing, put my money in, and the number I’d memorized.

“Yes?” Benjamin Rossi answered cautiously.

“It’s me.”

Silence, then carefully. “I take it you’re safe?”

“For now. But we need to meet.”

The sound of a jet’s engine roared in the background and the heavy thud of boots rang out on a steel platform. “Unfortunately, that is going to have to wait. I’m dealing with a situation here.”

Concern filled me. “What kind of situation?”

“Nothing I can get into over the phone. Give me three days and I’ll be back in the country. Until then, hang tight.”

Hang tight? I didn’t like it. But the man wasn’t giving me an option. “Will do,” I answered. “I’ll see you then.”

“See you then, and Nick…”

“Yeah?”

“Head down, son. Stay safe.”

With those words in my ear, I hung up. The old couple were still watching me when I turned around and headed back toward the door.

“Get everything you need?” the waitress behind the counter asked.

“Yeah…well, actually.” I stopped, my eyes drawn to three fresh pies under the counter, and nodded toward them. “I’ll take those.”

“A piece?” she asked, wiping her hands on a white towel and reaching for a knife.

“No, all three of them.”

One was decadent, chocolate and whipped cream, the second was caramel, and the last was the best-looking homemade apple pie I’d ever seen.

“Okay, sure.” She smiled and grabbed boxes from behind the counter.

By the time I walked out, I felt at least worthy. Now all we had to do was stay alive and careful for three more days…and plan our run for good.