Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(61)

I moved on instinct, not caring that we were in her brother’s office. I lifted Shiloh into my arms and deposited her back on my lap. I needed to hold her and make sure she was okay. I thought she’d give me hell for the move, but instead, she curled herself around me, pressing her face into the crook of my neck.

I held her tightly against me. “You’re okay.”

“I know.”

I’d said the words more to reassure myself than her. I rubbed a hand up and down her back, the ridges in her spine pressing against my palm. I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrating on the feel of Shiloh breathing, the rise and fall of her chest against mine. She was here and whole.

When I opened my eyes, Hayes stared back at me, assessing. I didn’t look away. I let him read whatever he needed to. I wouldn’t hide what I felt for Shiloh. Even if I hadn’t given it a name, I knew the burn it left in its wake would change me forever.

After another minute, Shiloh squirmed. I didn’t want to let her go, and it took everything in me to loosen my hold and let her slide into the chair next to me. I framed her face in my hands. “You’re really okay?”

She dropped her forehead to mine. “It rattled me.”

Those three words cracked something deep inside me. Typically, Shiloh wouldn’t share something like that, but she was trying—with her brother and me.

I swept my thumbs across her cheeks. “Of course, it did. You’re human.”

Shiloh straightened, and as my hands fell away from her cheeks, she linked her fingers with mine and squeezed.

Hayes cleared his throat. “Can you walk me through it? I need to get it down for the report.”

I bit back the curse I wanted to hurl at him, reminding myself that Hayes was only doing his job.

Shiloh nodded and started talking, slowly at first and then picking up speed. Each revelation had fury burning brighter inside me. I gripped the arm of the chair with my free hand as Shiloh described Ian grabbing her.

Hayes looked up from his notepad, his mask firmly in place. “It could’ve been him who grabbed you last night. Could you tell if it was the same person?”

Shiloh shook her head, frustration lighting her features. “It could’ve been him, but I can’t say for sure.”

Hayes nodded. “And you didn’t recognize the other man?”

“I’ve never seen him before. He was older. Maybe in his forties or fifties. Dead eyes.”

A chill ran down my spine.

Hayes’ eyes flared. “Hold on.” He searched a stack on his desk, pulling out a folder. He thumbed through it and plucked a photo from the pages, turning it around to face Shiloh.

She sucked in air. “That’s the guy. How do you have a photo of him?”

Shiloh was right. The man did have dead eyes, the kind of hollow that made you wonder if a person had a soul.

Hayes’ silence had me glancing up. A look of worry passed over his features before he covered it with the mask again.

“That’s August Ernst. Howard Kemper’s old cellmate.”





“Are you sure about this?” Shiloh asked, worrying that spot on the inside of her cheek.

I couldn’t deny the twitchiness that had taken up residency in my muscles, but that didn’t change my resolve. “I’m sure.”

She glanced in the direction of the front gate. “It’s not like you don’t already have security in place.”

And that security was decent, but it wasn’t the best. Beckett’s friend, Holt, had assured him that he worked with someone who could give us the best. “I’ve been wanting to beef up my system, and I looked up Holt’s security company. He’s the real deal. And he said he’d bring a friend who knows the technical pieces of security systems, inside and out.”

Shiloh was quiet as her gaze traveled around the ranch, landing on Onyx. After her run-in with Ian and August yesterday, she hadn’t wanted to talk about it anymore. She’d lost herself in working with the mare, deepening their bond and giving the horse the gift of understanding and the knowledge that she wasn’t alone.

I hadn’t pushed to talk more last night. I’d simply held her on the couch as we watched the fire dance in the fireplace. I did my best to keep any evidence of worry from my face.

But the fact that I’d agreed to let strangers onto my property was evidence enough that fear had ground its way deep into my gut—terror that someone could get to Shiloh when I wasn’t around. She didn’t leave my ranch much. And, usually, it was to go and see her family or run to the store. She wouldn’t be making those trips alone anymore. And if I could make my property a fortress, whoever was responsible wouldn’t have an opportunity to get to Shiloh. Because, after two attacks in twenty-four hours, I wasn’t taking any chances.

I moved towards her. The pull to wrap my arms around her was too strong, and I had to give in to it. Shiloh felt so damn small in my hold. Fragile. But I knew that was only an illusion. She was fire and steel, and I had to remind myself of that.

My lips ghosted over her hair. “I’d do anything for you.”

She swallowed hard. “But you shouldn’t have to. I can go back to my family’s place if that’s easier—”

My arms tightened around her, cutting off her words. I forced myself to loosen my hold, tipping my head down to take in her face. “Do you want to go back?” I couldn’t bring myself to say home because, in my mind, this was her home. With me.