Page 59 of Talon
“Anywhere you like, or we can talk about it here, I just thought you might not want everyone around.”
She shook her head and let out a wry laugh.“They already know all the embarrassing secrets.I’m just a dumb girl who didn’t even know that my dad’s best friend was married, that he killed his wife, then he killed my dad.”She shook her head again.“I’ve got nothing left to hide, at least from you and all your friends.”
“Brothers, but okay.”He pushed himself to his feet, tugged her to hers then sat and pulled her down into his lap.He didn’t know how she would take this, but he wanted to be holding her while he told her.“We caught up with them about a quarter mile shy of the fence dividing this place from the Crawford ranch.No clue if Levi knows he was over there, but we’ll find that out later.”He glanced over at Ghost who nodded.“I’m sure you’ve seen Kerry by now.You know she wasn’t seriously hurt.Yes, it was Billy.We found enough evidence to at least make someone look into things a little more closely.We’ve got someone, a friend of a friend, on their way to pick him up.”There he’d said it all, but there was one more thing he felt like he should tell her.“If you really want to see him, I’ll take you down there.But it might be smarter, it might be better for you, if you don’t.”
“Why?”she asked, a frown creasing her brow.
“From what we know about him, he’ll likely try to convince you that we’ve made it all up, that you’re imagining things, that he’s only trying to look out for you, protecting you from the rest of the world that’s out to hurt you.”Talon shook his head.“Who knows what he will try to tell you.Try to convince you of, and I just don’t want you to have to go through that.”
She stared at him for a moment.“But what now?What happens now that they’ll be investigating him, now that they’re picking him up?Will they let him go again?Will I need to worry about him getting free and coming after me again?”
He held her tight for a moment, not sure how to reassure her, how to tell her he didn’t know exactly what would happen, but that he wanted to be there to make sure she was safe, either way.
Was she open to that?She hadn’t asked him to come to her, to protect her, she’d just told him she was scared.He was the one who’d taken on going to her, making sure that asshole in the animal barn didn’t hurt her.Would she be done with him if she thought she wouldn’t have to worry about Morgan any longer?At the same time, he couldn’t tell her that even if the authorities let him go, Talon was determined he’d never get a chance to hurt her or anyone else.
“Well, Mads, that’s hard to say for sure.”He sighed.He didn’t want to tell her but knew he had to.She had to know the truth, what part of it he could tell her.“I’d love to say that they’ll lock him up and throw away the key.But we both know that the courts don’t always serve justice.”He stared into the distance as he tried to find the right words so he didn’t scare her more than he had to, but didn’t lie to her either.“What I can say is that as long as I’m in your life, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you’re safe, whether from him or anyone else.”
A frown crossed her face but quickly cleared.Talon wasn’t sure what part had triggered the reaction but did his best to reassure her anyway.
“I mean I want to be there for a long time, but who knows?You might get sick of me.It’s not like we’ve even really dated.You helped me, I helped you and we kind of happened into more.”
He watched her face, trying to figure out what she was thinking and wishing they didn’t have an audience for this talk, but this was where she’d wanted to do it, so this was where he would say what he needed to say.He took a deep breath and started again.
“What I’m trying to say is that I know things started out a little different for us.I know that maybe this isn’t something you were looking for.I wasn’t looking for it, that I know.But I’m not foolish enough to throw away someone as amazing as you.Something as special as what we’ve got between us, just because I wasn’t looking for it.I’ll be around as long as you let me and like I said before, I’ll do anything I can to keep you safe as long as I’m around.”
Tears pooled in her eyes.He didn’t know if they were good or bad, but he did know enough about Madison to know she wouldn’t want the guys to see her cry.She would see it as them seeing her while she was at her weakest, so he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down into a hug.He had no doubt she had something she wanted to say, and he would let her say it, but he’d just told her he would protect her, and he was doing that now.He wasn’t holding her against her will, all she had to do was push him away and he’d release her.
But she didn’t push him away, instead she relaxed into him, her body almost melting into him as he rubbed one hand up and down her back in what he hoped was a soothing motion.As they sat there, most of his attention on her, he couldn’t help but notice as everyone motioned to him that they were leaving, then seemed to drift away.
42
“It’sokay,Mads.They’regone.It’s just us now.”Talon’s voice was soft as he murmured the words into her ear.
She didn’t know if she was ready to face the world yet.She was still reeling from finding out for sure that Billy was the one who’d kidnapped Kerry.That the man she’d thought for most of her life was nothing but kind and gentle, was anything but.She’d been learning for a while that he wasn’t what she’d thought, but the things she’d learned about him in the last forty-eight hours were overwhelming.She couldn’t decide if she wanted to give in to the urge to cry.To sit right here and sob out all her frustrations or if she wanted to confront the bastard.To tell him what she thought about his manipulations and give him a few good kicks while she was at it.
Finally, after she felt like she’d pulled herself together, though she still hadn’t decided what she wanted to do about Billy, she lifted her head and looked at Talon.
“Do you mean it?”She couldn’t help the way her voice shook.
“Mean what, Little Warrior?”
Her heart warmed at the name only he called her.It was just a shortened version of her name but no one but her dad had ever had a pet name for her, and he’d called her sweetheart.
“That this is something special between us and that you don’t want to throw it away.”She couldn’t help but search his face as her chest tightened the thought of him walking away.Still, they were so different.What did they have to keep them together?
“Of course I meant it.”His arms tightened around her as he laid his cheek on top of her head.“Like I said, it wasn’t something I was planning on, but somehow, you’ve worked your way into my heart.I love you.You’re my little warrior and I want to be there with you to fight whatever battle comes your way.”
Madison blinked.She stared at Talon, knowing she should say something.She should tell him how she felt, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.She had a hard time finding the words.She felt it.She knew what she was feeling.But at the moment, she couldn’t make the words form, either in her brain or with her mouth.
Tears pooled in her eyes.Her chest ached.She was letting him down.She should be telling Talon how she felt but she couldn’t.And she didn’t know why.
“Come on, let’s head back up to the house and see what’s going on.”He squeezed her again.“Unless you think you just have to go see Morgan.I’ll take you if you want to see him.I’d rather go with you than let you go alone.I don’t want to give him a chance to do or say anything that might hurt you in anyway.”
She took a deep breath and looked off into the distance for a moment, holding her breath while she did.By the time her lungs burned, and her body screamed at her that she was going to suffocate if she didn’t breathe soon, she’d come to a decision.
“No.I don’t want to see him.I have questions, but I’m not ready to face him yet.Let’s go up to the house.”She slid off his lap then waited while he stood.He reached down and took her hand.Madison stretched up and kissed his cheek then fell into step beside him as they made the short walk.
As they stepped in the door, Kerry spotted her and immediately moved in and engulfed Madison in a hug.
