Sheltered(51)

As silently as possible, I open the door and slip inside. I feel John close behind me as we move around the room. I look over at him and he goes to the left and I go to the right. I get down low and creep around the stack of crates until I spot Fritz. He’s right in front of Blair, and I watch as he raises his gun. She closes her eyes, and I know I might be too late.

Anger and adrenaline pump through my veins as I see her cowering in fear. My brother stands over her, ready to end her life, and I unleash all the rage I have inside me. I lunge for him and I knock the gun up and out of his hand. He still manages to fire it, but the bullet hits the ceiling as we come crashing to the ground. I wrestle with him for a second before I’ve got him under me. I’ve always been bigger than him, but now I’m fueled with the need to hurt him for daring to touch what belongs to me.

With one hand I hold his chest down and with the other I ball up a fist and punch him across the face. Blood spills from his nose, but I punch him again, needing him to feel the pain he caused me.

“How could you?” I say as I grab his shirt with both hands and shake him. “How could you do this?”

“You took everything I had. I wanted to destroy everything you cared about,” he spits at me, and there is nothing left to be said.

Whatever there was between us as brothers is now gone forever. I know my parents will love him no matter what, but they’ve been the ones to cut him off and keep their distance. He created a toxic relationship and they had to do what was right to protect themselves. In this moment, I can see that they were right. I was the one who pushed for them to let him back into the family and make it work. But I don’t think I truly saw what he was capable of until now.

I feel arms pull me off of him. There’s a team of people in FBI jackets swarming in to get him off the ground and put him in cuffs.

I glance around looking for Blair, but I don’t have to because she leaps into my arms. The feeling of her warmth against me is a relief like I’ve never felt, not even when I pulled her from the river.

“I love you,” she says, wrapping her arms and legs around my body. “I love you so much, Ryker.”

“I love you, too, Cricket,” I say, burying my face in her neck. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to hurt you. I tried to tell you—”

“Shh,” she says, cutting me off. “Later.”

I glance over to see Blair’s old boss being taken out on a stretcher and put into an ambulance. There are dozens of people in here and I know we’re going to have to talk to the police before they let us leave. I don’t care as long as I can hold on to Blair while we do it. Right now I just need her in my arms.

“Are you okay?” I ask, pulling back a little to look at the cut on her forehead. It might need stitches.

“I’m fine,” she says, looking at me like she hasn’t seen me in years. Tears stream down her face, and I know they’re a mix of relief and fear. “Are they taking him to jail?”

I look over at where Fritz is being put in the back of a car. The case against him is huge, and now with attempted murder, he’ll probably be in for life. He tried to defraud the government, which is a federal crime, but he’ll probably be safer there. After all the black-market criminals he owes money to, he’ll need a place to lay low. They’ll probably go after Lilith for some of the charges, but he’s the one who will face most of it.

I nod and hold her close as John comes over to where we are.

“Johnny!” Blair says, turning in my arms. “How’s my Diamond?”

He tells her what happened while the emergency responder comes over and checks out her head. She needs a few stitches, and they tell her they should dissolve in a few days. Overall, I’m thankful she’s alive, so I try not to panic over a couple of stitches. When we’re finished we give the FBI a short account before they let us go, telling us they’ll be in touch.

“So, Roxy called you and told you where to find me?” Blair asks, a little stunned.

I help her into the car and buckle her up as I nod. “Yeah, I had him watching you. Then I told him to watch out for Fritz. I knew he’d try to find you, and your old apartment was the first place he’d check.”

“I’m just surprised,” she says and shrugs her shoulder. After I gave Roxy a small beating that first time, we’d come to an agreement. “I guess he wasn’t so bad after all.” I pull back and look at her as jealousy streaks through me. “Calm down, cowboy. I love you,” she says, placing a kiss on my lips.

It’s amazing what those three little words can do to soothe my soul.

“I love you, too,” I say. “Now let’s get you home.”





Chapter 27





Blair





One week later…





Ryker kisses the spot on my head where I took the blow from Fritz. He does this at least twenty times a day. I’m not sure if he’s trying to comfort himself or me. Oddly, I’ve had the easiest recovery from all of this. Where Ryker doesn't want to hear Fritz’s name, I’m a little thankful to him. He brought me to Ryker.

I look up at Ryker, who is standing next to my chair in the kitchen. His bright green eyes are on the spot that still shows a small bruise. I know he’s deep in thought about what could have happened. I still catch a haunted look in his eyes from time to time, and I know he’s slipped back into remembering that day.