Page 69 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
The kiss deepened, the world narrowing to nothing but the heat between them, the slow press of skin against skin.
Then both their phones vibrated.
At the same time.
Emma broke the kiss with a groan and dropped her forehead against his chest.
Ryker cursed under his breath, reaching toward the nightstand without much enthusiasm. His screen lit up with Hallie’s name, and he saw Emma grabbing hers, mirroring his frustration.
“It’s a group call,” Ryker muttered. “She’s got us both.”
Emma flopped onto her back, dragging a hand through her hair. Ryker hit answer and set it on speaker between them.
“You’re on speaker, Hallie. Emma’s here too,” Ryker said, his voice still rough and a little accusatory.
Hallie chuckled, a dry edge of humor threading her voice. “Yeah, I figured as much. Sorry to interrupt… whatever you two were doing.”
Emma shot Ryker a look that said she’d like to strangle whoever invented phones.
Hallie’s tone shifted, growing serious. “I’ll keep it short. Wanted to give you an update. Ethan’s condition was upgraded this morning. He’s stable.”
Ryker exhaled, tension knotting in his gut.
“That son of a bitch is going to live,” Hallie continued, her voice tight with satisfaction. “Which means he’ll get his day in court. And after that, he’s going to rot in a cage for the rest of his miserable life.”
He met Emma’s gaze across the pillow. It wasn’t justice in the full sense. But it was damn close.
Ryker lay back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling for a long moment after Hallie’s words sank in. The weight of everything they’d been through still clung to him like the stubborn winter chill outside.
Things could have been so much worse.
Veronica and her housekeeper had survived, battered but alive. Charlotte, too, though she would carry scars that went deeper than the physical. They all would.
And Janette… she was still breathing. Her gunshot wound hadn’t been life-threatening, and she’d already been arraigned on a laundry list of charges. Accessory to attempted murder. Assault with a deadly weapon. Conspiracy. The list went on.
She wasn’t going anywhere but prison.
Hallie’s voice came back over the line. “Now that Ethan’s stable, I’m headed over to the hospital to get his statement. He’s requested that you both be there.” She paused, letting that land. “Apparently, he’s got some things he wants to say to you.”
Ryker dragged a hand over his face and sighed.
“FYI,” Hallie added dryly, “according to what he’s been spewing to the medical staff, he wants to curse you both for ruining his life.”
Ryker’s mouth twisted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Of course he does.”
Because God forbid Ethan Ross take any responsibility for the hell he’d unleashed. God forbid he look in the mirror and see the real source of his destruction.
Ryker ended the call with Hallie, tossing the phone back onto the nightstand with a dull thud.
Emma pushed up onto one elbow, the sheets pooling at her waist. “You think it’s a good idea to go?” she asked, her voice low, cautious.
He didn’t answer right away. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about it. “No,” he said finally. “But it feels like the right idea.”
Closure. For her. For both of them.
Ryker stood, pulling on his jeans, feeling the shift in the air between them, no longer lazy and indulgent, but back to sharp focus. Back to duty.
He glanced over his shoulder at her, giving a faint, crooked smile. “Afterwards, you still owe me that shower.”
