Page 97 of Unguarded

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call an ambulance? I can cover the cost if?—”

She shakes her head, closing her eyes. “It’s not that. If they catch him, we can’t have the cops here. We’re not exactly well liked by the authorities in this town.”

I stare at her. “If they catch him, what’s going to happen?”

She opens her eyes, turning her face to me. “If they’re able to find him, Cash won’t hold back. He cares a lot about your safety.”

I chew my bottom lip.

Rosie brings in a sandwich on a plate with a glass of ice water. Her face is pinched with concern, her phone pressed up to her cheek with her shoulder. She leaves us the food and water before turning around to go back into the kitchen.

I hand the plate to Dolly, who takes a bite, chewing slowly.

“You mean, Cash would, like, hurt him?”

“Would you want my brother to let him go?”

I shake my head. I never really thought that far. I assumed that if we ever caught the stalker, we’d let the authorities handle it.

“Well, if you just call the cops, they’re going to want evidence of a crime before they can make an arrest. If we could prove he was the man who’d been stalking you, we might have something to go on. But that’s not likely, based on what Cash told me. To get a criminal conviction, you have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt in criminal court that he broke a law. Did he? I’m more likely to get in trouble for assault at this point.”

“What? Are you kidding?”

She scoffs. “You’d be shocked at how the law works with these things. I bet he has a gash on his forehead. He’s the one with an injury, so it will automatically make me the bad guy. We have a good lawyer, but …” She shakes her head before slowly sipping on the water.

Rosie walks into the living room, a pistol tucked into her waistband. “I know the mood has been thoroughly killed, but is anyone up for ice cream?”

Dolly laughs, shaking her head. “Monroe probably thinks we’re the craziest people she’s ever met.”

I don’t want to say it out loud, but she’s right.

“I’m just glad I have friends who know how to use a frying pan.”

The girls both laugh.

Dolly reaches over to grab the half-drunk bottle of white wine. “She can’t drink it, so it’s up to us to knock this one out.”

She takes a swig right from the bottle before handing it to me. I do the same, a tiny burst of belonging sprouting up inside my chest.

It’sseveral hours later before the guys get home. When Cash walks through the door, I gape at his wet, mud-covered clothes. Blood trails down his side, and he’s leaning to the left, like he’s injured somehow.

His hands are damp, like he just washed them outside. His brothers and their friend Sam file in one by one, faces somber. They’re all filthy and soaked. Holden immediately goes to Rosie, sighing deeply as he crushes her against his chest in an embrace.

Cash approaches me on the sofa. He reaches out, brushing my hair behind my shoulder. His eyes are creased as he studies me from head to toe. I can see the question in his eyes that he doesn’t voice.

“I’m okay,” I whisper. “Why are you bleeding? Are you okay?”

He exhales, cupping my cheek in his big hand, calluses scraping my skin. My heart melts like a marshmallow over a fire. The look in his eyes is a mix of rage, desire, and relief. He thumbs over the bruise forming on my cheek and fusses over the red mark on my wrist.

He bends down, dropping to one knee in front of me. “You’re safe now,” he whispers, pressing his forehead to mine. “He can’t hurt you again.”

“What did you do?” I ask, afraid of the answer.

My body sinks into him. I look down at the blood still seeping through his soiled shirt.

He pulls back, flexing his jaw and dropping his hand from my face. “I’ll tell you, if you really want me to, but I’m not sure you want to know.”

“Is he gone … for good?”

---