Page 37 of Sabre’s Guard

I nod. “Yeah, Dylan and everyone else in my family used to say this. My dad thought I was his because God gave him dominion over his wife and kids. Later they thought I belonged to Dylan because I was foolish to have premarital sex with him. And he got me pregnant, to boot. They saw us as married in the eyes of God.”

“Do you recognize the handwriting?”

Staring down at the sentence, I shake my head. “No, Dylan’s handwriting was more of a scribble. It was so messy, I started to think maybe he wasn’t literate.”

Our phones buzz at the same time while we’re still sitting there at the table. It’s the regular report we get from Zen on Dylan.

Sabre reads it out loud. “Zen says Dylan Everett checked in with his parole officer in Billings on Friday afternoon, on schedule. Which means one of two things. He checked in and then drove fourteen hours straight, or someone came in his place tonight to deliver that shitty little message.”

We listen in silence.

“Either way,” Sabre continues, “we need to step up our security.”

“You already loaded Aunt Carol’s house up with cameras and security alarms on all the doors and windows. What else can we do?” I ask.

“For starters, no one sleeps in that house until we neutralize this. Not you, Noah, or your aunt. You can all stay here from now on.”

I swallow thickly as worry twists in my gut. “He found us. After spending ten years in prison, the first thing he did when he got out was come and break into my house.”

Sabre sighs. “That’s how assholes are, darlin’. You already learned that hard lesson about how you can’t fuckin’ love him all better. All you can really do at this point is protect yourself and your family from him.”

“Yeah, I already know that. I’ve spent the last ten years thinking about what to do when Dylan got out of prison. I just thought I had more time.”

Sabre links his fingers through mine and brings my hand to his lips for a quick kiss. “Look, darlin’, somebody found your aunt’s house,” he says. “Things could have gone really bad tonight. But the three of you have a badass protector in me, a safe haven at my place, and the Savage Legion providing whatever backup we need. Carol’s safe. The system we set up did its job, the brothers responded, and thankfully, no one got hurt. Any way you cut it, I call that a win.”

Chapter 11

Sabre

Iwake early and lie still for a minute, enjoying the feeling of Linsey’s warm body resting against mine. Her hand is resting flat on my chest. I outfitted this place for one man and his knives. Now I have a full house, and it leaves me feeling less alone.

I slide away carefully, trying not to wake her. She stirs but doesn’t wake. I don’t like the dark circles blooming under her eyes.

I get dressed and head down to the kitchen. While my coffee is brewing, I study the note that asshole left for her.

I take the first drink of coffee and then make a start on breakfast. I’ve got eggs on the counter and bacon in my skillet when Noah comes creeping into the kitchen. He’s quiet as a little mouse in the morning. He’s already dressed but looks only half awake. His boots are laced, but his hair is clearly finger combed.

I give him a chin-jerk acknowledgment. “Mornin’, Noah.”

“Good morning, sir.” He climbs onto a stool at the counter and watches me lay bacon in the pan.

“You realize it’s six on a non-school morning, right?”

“Yeah,” he says, yawning. “I thought I should get up, stay alert, and patrol the area.”

“That’s a bit of overkill, don’t ya think, buddy?”

“I don’t know. Is your house safe?”

I nod. “Yeah, even if someone were out to get ya, nobody knows you’re here. We wired electronic security to cover every angle of the exterior. If any of the alarms go off around this property, a full team of security experts gets notified.”

He gestures towards his clipboard, resting on top of his backpack. “We should probably do checks on all the windows and doors like we did at our place, right?”

“Yeah, you can continue doin’ that job here if you like.”

He asks, “How many throws am I allowed today?”

“Same as it was at your house. It depends on whether you get your homework and chores done.”