Page 90 of When He Fights
Agenda items…
Track down Logan Catalano.
Destroy him.
Love Ana forever.
Done.
“You’re doingthe right thing, Ana.”Tyler sat beside her in the back of the SUV.All focused and certain and, well, typical Tyler.
Tyler Barrett had always struck her as a very grown-up, very intense Boy Scout type.The good guy.A good guy with a spine of steel.
“You’ll be safe.Kane and Gray can apprehend Logan, and soon, the danger will be over.”
He was clearly trying to be reassuring.Only she didn’t feel reassured.She felt sick to her stomach.“Why does it feel like I’m abandoning him?”
“You’re not.”Immediate.
It still felt as if she was.She got it—she wasn’t a professional.Or semi-professional oranythingclose to the super fighters all around her.“You were a Marine, too?”
“Yes.”Just that.No more.
Her head turned toward him even as she continued to clutch the letter Kane had given to her.“You served with Kane.”
A nod.“You’re right about him.He’s a good man.Has a heart as big as the rest of him.That ‘Heartless’ nickname?I’ve always thought it was pure bullshit.He can pretend to be cold, but if know him well, you get that ice never flows through his veins.”
A lump threatened to choke her.She swallowed it down.After three attempts.“For two years, I thought he’d forgotten all about me.”Then he’d come roaring back into her life on that big, black motorcycle of his.
“There are some people that you just can’t ever forget.”
She looked down at the letter in her hand.
Tyler leaned forward.He tapped the driver’s shoulder.“Hey, Wayne.Hurry up and get us to the airport.”
Ana unfurled the letter.Her fingers pressed over the creases.Had Kane really written her a note two years ago?
Dear Ana,
I’m sorry that I am not there with you right now.But at my core, I’m a cold-blooded bastard, and you need more than me in your life.I’ll drag you into the dark, and you belong in the light.Hell, you are the light.At least, you are to me.
You told me that you were falling in love with me.When you said those words, all I wanted to do was grab onto you and never, ever let go?—
A motorcycle raced past their vehicle, the engine growling.Her head whipped up.She looked to the left and caught a fast glimpse of Kane as he rushed by the SUV.
And all she wanted to do was chase after him.
Instead, she swallowed, and her gaze dropped back to the note.
When you said those words, all I wanted to do was grab onto you and never, ever let go, but I couldn’t do that.You’ve been with a monster.You’ve been running.You’ve been scared.You need peace, and you need a normal life.Or as close to normal as you can get.
So I didn’t grab tight to you.I didn’t tell you that I loved you from the first moment you smiled at me.That I loved you when you curled up with me on the couch and watched all the old horror movies that made you shudder but kept you distracted from the real nightmare that was stalking you.
I walked away, fled the damn motel room, and because of that, you were hurt.I’m sorry, Ana.So sorry that you were hurt.I will do everything in my power to make sure that you never hurt again.When you hurt, I hurt.
I wanted to kill Logan.When I saw your blood, the world stopped.The only thing that pulled me back from the brink was you.
But in that moment, I understood how dangerous I truly was.You don’t need more danger.You don’t need to be dragged into the dark.
