Page 95 of Moonlit Colorado

I had sworn to Ashford that I would keep his sister safe, andI hadn’t been there.

I was going to find that piece of shit named Vincent. And I was going to kill him with my bare hands.

* * *

I lifted Grace out of the wheelchair and laid her on my bed, making sure the pillows were nice and fluffy.

“How’s your pain?” I asked.

“You don’t have to ask me about it every five minutes. The pain will get a lot worse if I have to scream out my frustration.”

“I certainly don’t want that.”

“Want to help me work out my frustration in other ways?”

I sat beside her on the mattress as gently as possible. “I might have a tendency to defy authority figures, but you have a concussion. Sex is not on the agenda.”

She stuck out her lower lip. “At least kiss me. This is the first time since yesterday we’ve been alone together, and I’m sick of feeling like an invalid. It sucks.”

I stretched out beside Grace and brushed my lips over hers.

“A real kiss,” she insisted. “Please?”

“All right, gorgeous. I can’t deny you.”

Annoyance flashed in her eyes. “I’m hardly gorgeous right now.”

The lead weight that had been sitting on my chest since I had found her last night seemed to get even heavier. “Yes, you are.”

We had spent all night and much of the morning in the hospital getting her checked out. Grace had a concussion and some bruised ribs. She was lucky that her attacker hadn’t broken her nose. But there were bruises spreading out over her beautiful face beneath the bandage. He’d broken her glasses too, but she’d packed a spare set in her bag. Margot had brought them to the hospital.

Our mouths connected again, my lips and my tongue gliding more firmly against hers. But I stopped myself, pulling back sooner than I wanted to.

“The moment you’re better, I plan to show you just how irresistible I find you. But for now, I’m going to be gentle. For my sake as much as yours.” Because if I added even a little to the pain she’d already been through, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. “Now, you should get some rest. You’re barely keeping your eyes open.”

“It’s these pain meds. I hate them.”

“But your body needs sleep. I’ll be right here with you.”

She shifted around uncomfortably. “I was thinking about what you said last night. That it’s not my fault.”

“Because it’snot.”

“I know. I agree with you. After having more time to process what happened, I don’t regret trying to help Lexi. But I’m sure she’s still in danger. Nina too. That guy,Vincent, he was so…awful.”

In the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop repeating every word Grace had told me about what happened. A doom loop. It was going to haunt me. Knowing I had been just a few minutes away with no clue that she’d been in danger.

Grace had been sticking up for some woman she didn’t even know. I couldn’t get over that. How courageous she was. Vincent had taken her phone, most likely because of the pictures and video she had taken of him.

The same man who’d been in Silver Ridge. Who Grace had apparently seen at the rehearsal dinner, too. Then at Kip’s wedding. I mean, what the fuck?

“I know you’re worried about those women,” I said. “I doubt I’ve ever met someone with a heart as big as yours. But at the moment, there’s nothing that you or I can do.”

“Promise you won’t keep anything you learn from me. I want to know all of it. Anything you find out.”

“Grace—”

“Promiseme.”

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