Page 23 of Hendrix

Staring up at the heavens, I shook my head at his words. “Tell me everythin’.”

He went silent for a moment, then murmured, “Cash called you.”

“Yeah.”

“He shouldn’t have done that. He promised me he’d send B-Boy in to rescue her. My bestie needs you sniffing around right now like she needs a hole in the head?—”

“She’s mine,” I announced, effectively cutting him off.

“She’s not,” he argued. “She’smine. She’s Meredith’s, Farrah’s, Doe’s, and Wildcat’s. She stopped being yours the minute you moved across the country without bothering to let her know.” Tristan’s voice rose. “I claimed her when I had to stay at her apartment for a week because she was so heartbroken that she forgot to eat, sleep, and shower. Then again, when I held her at night because she was sobbing so fucking hard that I thought she’d burst apart at the seams. She was even mine a year later when I had to watch while she married a man who I knew wasn’t right, but I had no choice because my girl was so determined to move on from your sorry ass that she grasped at what she thought was the first half-decent prospect that came along.Thatwas when she became mine, and she’llalwaysbe mine because you’ll never have that part of her. It belongs to me and I’m not letting you have it back only to abuse it again.”

I closed my eyes, biting back my retort.

There was no hiding from it; Tristan was right. I did do that shit, and he did pick up the pieces after I left Wyoming.

I should have talked to Anna and explained where my head was at, but I was spooked. Shit with Acgavele was kicking off, and there was only so much I could give my energy to.

But I had learned something while we’d been apart. If I wanted a chance with Anna, I needed to open up and be more vulnerable, even if the thought of talking about my feelings made me want to slit my own wrists.

I’d always been a man’s man, probably because I hadn’t been around a lot of women. My relationship with Pop was tight, along with his close circle of buddies. My childhood was all about male bonding and navigating brotherly friendships, so it felt natural for me to join the military and continue to do the same. Even my wife was one of the boys. She could drink, fight, and shoot the shit with the best of them. It was the reason I felt so comfortable with her. Then, when I left the Army, I joined a biker club, where I suddenly gained more brothers and developed more male bonds that lasted to this day.

“I’m bringing her here,” I insisted.

“Her husband will follow her to Virginia,” Tristan warned me. “You think he doesn’t know your history?”

“He’ll look for her in Hambleton, too. At least here I can keep her safe,” I assured him, omitting the fact that Anna’s husband would be dead by morning. “She’ll have a wall of commandos surrounding her with FBI connections and government backing. Plus—and I mean this with respect, Tristan—you don’t have a goddamned choice.”

The line went quiet.

“I’ll take care of her,” I told him, my tone filled with the enormity of what I was promising. “He won’t get to her if he’s gotta go through me.”

“There’s something you don’t know.” He let out an audible sigh. “Things have gotten complicated for her. There’s a reason behind her determination to leave him—things have changed—she’s?—”

“I don’t care,” I stated, effectively cutting him off. “Complicated won’t scare me away this time. You think I haven’t learned my lesson? I’ve had three years to come to terms with everything I lost.”

“You mean everything you threw away,” he corrected angrily.

I kept my mouth shut because what could I say? He wasn’t wrong.

“I’ll be on the first flight out,” he announced. “Go get my girl. Hopefully, by the time you get her to safety, I’ll already be there.”

“Right,” I muttered, thinking how, in a perfect world, I would find a deserted island and keep Anna Bouchard’s sweet ass all to myself while I made her fall in love with me again.

“If there’s a scratch on her, I’ll hold you personally responsible.” His voice was filled with bravado before he gave himself away with his parting shot. “And you boys need to be careful, too. Her husband’s gone loony tunes.”

“Thanks, Tris,” I replied gently.

He hit me with a loudharrumph, and then, with a soft click, the line went dead.

Without any hesitation, I went onto my recent call log and clicked on a name. It rang once before Colt’s voice greeted, “Got Blade’s message. I’ll be there soon.”

“You speak to Cash?” I asked.

“Nah,” he replied. “Breaker.”

“So you know it’s time?”

Colt paused briefly, then said, “Got the Lis file loaded and ready to go. There’s nothin’ we don’t know about him or his operation.”

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