Page 64 of Hidden Desires

“And if you left her the fuck alone, you wouldn’t have that broken nose either.” Jackson fisted his hands to his side, knowing the gun at the small of his back was there for his utilization.

“Such a cocky bastard. I don’t see how you and that bitch ever got along. It’s not like she’s good at anything but running her damn mouth and being Little Miss Perfect all the time. Hell, she couldn’t even get sex right.”

Davis gripped Jackson’s arm. “He’s not worth it.”

Jackson jerked away from his friends grip. “Funny. She said the same thing about you.”

Anger rolled off Gallagher in waves. He pointed the gun at Jackson, poised to pull the trigger. Although when the gunshot came, it wasn’t from Gallagher’s gun. Jeffery stood behind him in official police mode.

“Get the hell out of here,” he said shifting the gun to the man who held the dog.

Jackson didn’t have to be told twice. He, Davis, and Nick headed for higher ground, away from the madness of the night.

* * * *

Autumn was flooded with relief when she saw Jackson running toward her. Davis and Nick were nowhere to be found. He wrapped her in his arms and glanced over at the Major.

“Jeff said we need to get out of here. I’ll take Autumn in your car and meet you at her house.”

He nodded and made his way to Davis’ truck. Jackson helped Autumn in the passenger seat of the Lexus and hurried to the drivers side. After they were on the road, he reached for her hand and brought it to his thigh.

“What happened?” Autumn squeezed his hand.

“Don’t worry about it.” He glanced over at her. “Why didn’t you stay at home?”

“You know why, Jackson.”

“No, I don’t. Do you deliberately try to raise my temper or is it spontaneity that drives you?” He blew out a breath. “I nearly lost it when he put that gun to your side, and I saw red when he trapped you in the cage with the dog.”

Autumn glanced out the side window. “I’m sorry.”

“Autumn, I love you. Please believe me when I say I’ll take care of you.”

“I was scared. After all that’s happen, all you’ve told me, and all I’ve seen, I was scared you’d do something stupid and go to jail for it.” She pulled away from him and folded her arms across her chest. “Or worse, die trying to avenge my name. Jackson, I can handle the bad reputation, the going nowhere career and all the other shit—even the pictures. I can’t handle losing you again. I’ve done it once and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do and I don’t want to do it again. If you can’t understand that then there’s nothing else I can say to make you see my point of view.”

They rode in silence the rest of the way home, stopping only to pick up some fast food. Autumn didn’t bother waiting for Jackson. He carried her food to her bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She relocked the window and spread the food out on the floor beside her bed. It’d been a long day and an even longer night.

“Jeff just called. It seems Gallagher wasn’t licensed to practice. The board revoked his license for a previous dog-fighting allegation and never renewed it. They investigated and found dried blood on the ground but no animals. He wasn’t charged, but the board saw him unfit to practice and pulled his licensure.” Jackson came in and grabbed a box of French fries. “That was three years ago.”

Autumn nodded and bit into her burger.

Jackson stopped eating and set the box down. “I understand where you’re coming from, sweetheart, I do. But you got to have a little faith that I know what the hell I’m doing and that I can take care of myself.”

“Why can’t you have that same faith?”

“Why should I? Let me take care of you. You’ve spent most of your life fighting your own battles whereas it’s my job. Depend on me to win your wars for you, Autumn.”

“I don’t depend on anyone to do anything for me.”

“Why is that?” He tilted his head to the side. “You told me you wanted Prince Charming to rescue you from distress. I know you don’t believe in fairy tales anymore, but I want to be your Prince Charming. I want to be the one who makes you feel safe and secure because you know no matter what the world throws at you, I’m there. All you have to do is wake up in the morning and I’ll take it from there.”

Jackson lifted a hand to her cheek and brushed away the tears. “I love you, Autumn. I’ve waited so long for my life to finally mean something and I thought I’d found meaning in my work but I didn’t. You gave me a new meaning and I want to give you the same. You’re the one I want to be with, the only person in this world that I love and care about. I want you to be my wife.”

Autumn wrapped her arms around his neck, the food forgotten. “I want to be your wife.”

* * * *

Three weeks after the raid, all the Callahans pitched in to clean up the old clinic. Autumn and Jackson adopted a brand new six-week-old puppy from Gallagher’s puppy mill and named it Roscoe.

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