Page 69 of Bound by Vengeance
“I’d prefer it if you took one of my menwith you when you went,” Ronan said.
Vicky bit her lip to keep from blurting areply. She didn’t need a babysitter. However, fighting him wouldn’tdo her any good. Reason was the only thing that would work. She maynot accomplish anything by going through the sewers, but she wasalmost done, and she was determined to see it through to theend.
“Abby and Brian will be back tomorrow, andAiden is probably returning with them; I’ll take one of them withme,” she said.
“And today?” he asked.
“I’ll wait for them to return before Iresume what I’m doing,” she said.
She’d prefer to keep her family out of thispart of her life, but she’dreallyprefer not to have aDefender tromping through the sewers with her. She liked Declan,and Saxon wasn’t bad, but with her luck, she’d be stuck withKillean or Lucien. She could already hear Lucien bitching about itand imagine Killean’s stony, disapproval radiating off him.
“Fine,” Ronan said. “But if I find out youwent out alone again, I’ll make Brian help me for even longer.”
Vicky felt the blood drain from her face.Before Brian and Abby had gotten together, Ronan had called on, andpaid, Brian for his unique locator ability. When Vicky waskidnapped, and Abby and Brian were searching for her, Brian hadkept things from Ronan that he shouldn’t have. Because of that,Ronan no longer considered Brian a paid employee at will, but onewho was pretty much at Ronan’s beck and call.
Ronan didn’t abuse the situation, and Brianstill had freedom, but it upset Abby as she blamed herself for it,and Vicky blamedherselfwhen it was really asshole Duke’sfault. However, if Vicky went against Ronan now, itwouldbeher fault, and there was no telling how long Ronan would keep Brianleashed. No matter how much she chafed against restraints of anykind, Vicky would never do that to Abby.
“I won’t go anywhere without a member of myfamily,” she promised.
“Good,” Ronan said.
“She can go with me also,” Nathaninterjected. “I’m off from hunting tonight.”
“And with you,” Ronan said.
Vicky didn’t know if that excited orterrified her. She yearned for time alone with Nathan again, but itwould be better if she distanced herself. Already, Vicky cared forhim more than she’d ever intended. For her own best interests, sheshould tell him no, but she wasn’t going to make a scene in frontof everyone about it.
When he contacted her later to say he was onhis way, shewouldtell him their too-brief fling was over.She stepped away from the SUV when Declan opened the back door forher and climbed inside.
A weight settled on her shoulders, and tearsburned her eyes at the realization it was over already betweenthem, but she steadfastly held them back. She vowed not to look atNathan again, but she couldn’t stop herself as Killean got behindthe wheel and everyone else settled inside the vehicle. Killeanstarted the SUV and began to pull away.
Despite the heavily tinted windows, she feltNathan’s eyes on her.
CHAPTER 31
By the time Nathan returned to thestronghold, thunderclouds had rolled in to obscure the sun. Thoseclouds matched his increasingly foul mood. His eyes were grainyfrom lack of sleep, but he knew he wouldn’t find any for a while.In the rearview mirror, he watched as Asher parked behind him infront of the main house.
Nathan recalled watching Vicky climb intothe SUV as he bit his tongue against commanding her to return withRonan. But there was nothing he could have done or said. She wasn’ta hunter; she wasn’t his family or girlfriend. He had no claim overher, something she made repeatedly clear, but he wanted one.
Even if he did have some claim on her, shewasn’t a hunter female; she would never be docile and obedient.
For the first time, that trait in herirritated him. He wouldn’t change anything about her, but hewouldn’t mind putting her somewhere safe and keeping her there.
Leaning back in his seat, his hands clenchedon the steering wheel as he inhaled the lingering scent of her onhis clothes. He’d almost lost her last night, and it made himrealize one thing: Vicky was the only woman he’d ever truly wanted,and he could never have her.
He nearly tore the steering wheel from thetruck before forcing himself to release it. Opening the door, hestepped into the misty drizzle starting to fall. The chill of theday did nothing to ease the anger building over his inability tosteer the course of his life.
He didn’t have his door closed before Logancame around the corner of the main house and stalked toward himwith his head bowed and a haggard air about his slumped shoulders.Nathan braced himself; whatever this was about, it couldn’t begood.
“We have a problem,” Logan stated when hestopped before him.
He’d already prepared himself for what hewould do when someone reported Jordan hadn’t returned, but he’dhoped to have until the afternoon or tomorrow before ithappened.
“What is it?” he asked as Asher approachedthem.
“I think you should see it for yourself,”Logan said. His eyes, usually the color of a pine needle haddeepened in hue with his apprehension.
Nathan frowned over the odd statement andthe way Logan shifted restlessly back and forth. Logan could be abit of a hothead, but he was never antsy. And if this were aboutJordan, Logan would have said that.
