Logan Kade (Fallen Crest #5.5)(60)

“Look, they were there,” Mason said. “It doesn’t matter why.” He cast me a look. I got a feeling he knew exactly why I was there. “You drove out of the amusement park. That guy, whoever he is, could do some digging and make a guess who we are. I don’t think a lot of people have keys to an abandoned park unless they know the owner.”

“Shit,” Sam murmured. “Did he see your face?”

“It was dark,” I said. “I think I lit three cars on fire. He probably wasn’t seeing so well. He could’ve yanked Taylor out in a second, but he didn’t. He was pulling at her leg, not reaching in and getting a better hold on her. So maybe he couldn’t see.”

“Maybe.” Mason frowned. “What about the guy out there? Her friend. He’ll give up our names.”

Sam groaned. “These guys are involved with some bad stuff?”

“Yeah, someone was trying to collect a debt—the hard way, if necessary,” I explained. “Delray is Taylor’s friend, so I was trying to buy him some time. I was also trying to minimize the contact we had with him, but we couldn’t leave him there.”

“Delray...” Sam frowned. “Why does that sound familiar?”

“He’s the gambling guy I talked to Blaze about the other week.”

“Oh, yeah. He was connected to Sebastian last year.”

I nodded. “Blaze said this guy’s new connections are worse. He’s into some serious bad shit, and after tonight, we know that’s true.” Delray needed to stay away from Taylor. No matter what I should or shouldn’t do, I knew I was going to have a good, long one-on-one with him. The f*cker didn’t like me being around Taylor? He was the dipshit who could be bringing guys like this around her. His priorities needed to be corrected, and fast.

Mason straightened. “We can’t do much, but that guy needs to stay away from Taylor.”

“He will.” I’d make sure of that.

Mason nodded. “It’d be smart if he could leave town for a while. You think you could persuade him to do that?”

“Sure going to f*cking try.”

Sam snorted. “You don’t even know it.” She gestured to my face. “But you have this whole cocky, dark smirk on your face. You look dangerous, Logan.”

Dangerous was good. It was very, very good, and I planned to use it. I turned to Mason. “If we need to get at that Rankin guy somehow, we could—”

“I’ll reach out to that company I hired last year or if we have to, you know Dad will take care of this for us.” He glanced at Sam for a moment. “I’m sure we could figure something out to handle this guy if he becomes a problem.” His gaze came back to mine, and I had a feeling the dark and dangerous expression on my face was the one I saw on my brother’s. “We won’t let this guy become a danger to us.” He cast Sam one more look. “No way in hell.”

I couldn’t have agreed more. Delray had brought this Rankin guy into our world, a world Taylor was in, and one where she could be used against him. The guy had already tried to get her. If he did it once, he’d do it again. Delray was the bridge that led from Rankin to Taylor, and that was a bridge I needed to splinter.

I turned and left Mason and Sam in the room. As I returned to the living room, I felt Taylor’s eyes on me and looked over to see stark need on her face—need for me. I felt the same need rise up in me, and I reached for her. My hand tangled in her hair as she stood from her chair. Her head came to my chest. My arm wrapped around her, holding her in place, and I took a moment to breathe her in.

She was here.

She was safe.

She was mine.

I felt all of that on a primal level as I forced myself to look for Delray. I wanted to talk to him as soon as possible, but his chair was empty.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“He left.”

“What?”

I whipped around to where Nate had been, but he was gone, too. “Where’d Nate go?”

“He went to put the bats away.”

A guttural growl came from me, and I started for the door. Delray couldn’t get away with this shitstorm—not until I had a word with him.

“Logan, stop!” Taylor ran in front of me. Her hands came to my chest. “Stop!”

I kept going until her back was at the front door. Then I reached up and held on to her arms. I was two seconds from lifting her up and out of the way.

“I mean it, Logan. I know you’re worried about me.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.” She softened her voice. “But he won’t hurt you.”

“He already did.” I touched the cut on her face. Blood had seeped from it, and I showed her my finger.

Her hand went to her face and touched the cut. She hissed as soon as she made contact. “I have no idea when that happened.”

“I do. When his boss was trying to yank you out of my car.” I cupped the back of her neck and lowered my forehead to gaze right into her eyes. “Taylor, do you have any idea what the guy would’ve done? If he’d gotten you out?”

Her eyes widened. “I can’t think of it.” Her voice grew hoarse.

I closed my eyes. The deep need in me—the one that would only be quenched when I was moving inside of her—was transforming into a need to protect her.