Page 88 of Saving Her

Whiplash brings me to a stop, making Decker almost walk straight through me. “When?”

“As soon as the jet returns, she’s got a one-way ticket to Portland.” He shoves me forward. “Without the kid.”

No, not without Tobias. That will fucking kill her.

I storm for the exercise room, needing to extinguish this fucking blaze before it builds. “Stay with her. Let me handle this.”

“Me? What the hell am I going to do? She won’t let me near her.”

“Just watch her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.” I shove open the frosted glass door, make my way through the gym, and pull open the sauna.

Cole stands before the unconscious fucker in the chair, his hands bloodied.

“Is he still alive?” I ask.

“Does it matter? He’s past regaining consciousness.” Torian glares at me. “He’s useless to me now.”

I clamp my mouth shut, well aware that the look in his eyes is born from rage. There’s no reasoning with him when he’s like this. There’s no hope in hell.

“As soon as the jet returns, she’s gone,” he seethes. “Not a second longer.”

Fuck me, but I nod.

I agree because I want her away from all this.

I fucking comply because the sooner she’s safe back in the States, the sooner she can heal. “Let her take the kid.”

His lip curls as he straightens. “No. She gets no favors from me.”

“The kid isn’t a favor. It’s a safety concern. Let him go with her.”

“No,” he snarls. “He stays with me.”

“You’re going to risk his life by keeping him here?”

“I’m not risking anything.” He takes a threatening step toward me. “I protect my family. Always have. Always will. Reinforcements are on the way. Our asses will be covered soon enough.”

“That’s helpful, but—”

“We’re done discussing this. I’m not negotiating for her. She’s too much of a fucking complication. Her ass is leaving and that’s final.” He bumps by me to shove from the sauna, the quick nudge to my shoulder a burning poker to my brain.

Fuck.

I stumble into the gym after him, then stop to hang my head and massage my temples, hoping the movement will help me figure out where to go from here. How to fight for her.

“Is he dead?” Keira asks.

I glance up, finding her and Decker holding open the frosted door to the hall.

“He might as well be.”

“What happens now?” Decker continues forward, looking to me for guidance I don’t fucking have.

“She’s leaving.”

He winces. “With the kid?”

“No. But maybe it’s for the best. For Tobiasandher. She’s not stable enough to be his main caregiver.”

---