Chapter 16

Killian Savage

Every word of that sentence rubbed me the wrong way, and by the look on Tori's face, she had heard it. This guy knows nothing about me, yet he has it out for me. I didn't hear what he and Tori were talking about because their voices were too low, but I do know that whatever was said didn't make Tori particularly happy.

Growling under my breath, because not only did he piss off Tori, but he pissed off me, I stride after him. I don't give a shit if he has the law behind him. We have a few things to set straight.

He's almost to his car when I catch up to him. The other cops are already driving away, so the noise of their cars masked the sound of my feet on the gravel driveway.

The hinges squeal when Pierce opens the car's door, and he turns to face me with raised eyebrows. With the door between us, he leans his forearms against the rim of the top and waits for me to come to a full stop on the opposite side.

"What do you mean this isn't over?" I ask deeply, using the question as more of a threat. I don't like it when people put their noses in my business, and that seems to be exactly what he's doing. He can fuck right off with that shit. I've done nothing to deserve it.

"It means that I don't believe you aren't involved in this somehow. Not for one second." His tone is calm and even because he knows that I can't do shit to him, no matter what he says. That doesn't mean I'm not fantasizing about it while I grind my teeth together.

"You found nothing," I remind him. "I don't even own a car."

He cocks his head to the side, and it matches his cocky attitude. "And why is that?"

I narrow my gaze to slits. "Because I don't need one."

The roll of his eyes only serves to irritate me more. "You know what I think, Savage? I think you don't own a car so that you can't be tracked."

With a flare of my nostrils, I continue to stare at him. I don't deny it, however, because it is a logical assumption. And the right assumption.

He continues, "I think that you don't want to be found by the people you worked for, and I think you don't want whoever or whatever it is you're chasing to know that you're coming."

"It's none of your concern."

"It is if you're kidnapping people to get what you want. You had to have picked up a few things from those who employed you. I can think of three people you worked for with that M.O. The question is: Are you doing it for someone, or is this a personal mission? "

My jaw flexes as he continues to contemplate. I won't give him shit, even though he's guessing correctly.

His face relaxes. "I think it's personal. I think you're on a mission to destroy whoever took your family from you."

"Don't act like you know everything," I growl dangerously.

He only shrugs. "Their obituaries weren't hard to find. Neither was the police report."

"Stay out of my business."

"Or what, Savage? You brought your business here as soon as you arrived, and shit started to get crazy. It's not a coincidence, and I'll prove exactly that."

I take a step toward him, hands balled into fists at my side. I never lose my cool. Never. But when the people I loved are brought up . . . "I don't care what you believe about me, but leave my family out of your mouth and out of your assumptions."

He flicks his gaze at Tori, who is still in the shadows of her house. "Does she know about them? About how they died and why? Does she even know they existed?"

"No," I answer honestly. "And you're not going to tell her."

He chuckles. "And why wouldn't I do that?"

I lift an eyebrow. "You know the people I worked for; you assume that I was involved in dirty work." I leave the threat open. Open enough that he grips the rim of the car tightly.

"Why do you care what she thinks of you?" I remain silent, and I can tell when it dawns on him. "You care about her."

"That's none of your business."

"It is if you break her heart."

I smirk a little, knowing I now have the upper hand because, by his tone, he doesn't like that I've grown close to Tori. That I might share something with her that he doesn't. I know a smitten fool when I see one. "I mean nothing to Tori."

"You're an idiot if you truly believe that." He leans into his forearms, and the door widens from his weight as he does. His eyes zoom in on the bracelet around my wrist. "She's fragile right now, and the last thing she needs is a drifter with a dead family and a past he's running from, trying to destroy her."

I have the urge to look back at her but refrain from doing so. His words struck something in me, something that would have caused me fear as soon as I stepped into this town. I hadn't meant for someone to gain feelings for me, and truth be told, I hadn't expected to gain anything for her either. Not enough so that I actually care if I'd hurt her by leaving like I plan to eventually.

Everything here has brought me nothing but trouble, so the logical choice would be to not stick around for much longer. I hadn't found what I needed here, except . . . Maybe I might have found something in Tori, and that's the reason why the very idea of leaving doesn't settle well with me. A friendship maybe, but anything more as he's implying? I don't think I'm capable of that anymore.

I hide my inner turmoil well by wiggling my fingers to remind myself that now isn't the time to think about this.

"Didn't even consider that, did you?" he grumbles. He leans back and makes to move into the driver's seat. "Watch yourself, Savage, or the town won't be the only thing you'll leave in ruins."

And with the last words, because I'm too speechless and lost in thought to rebut, he climbs into his car, starts it, and pulls out of the driveway. Once he's gone, I turn back around to look for Tori, but she's already gone.

With a quick glance, I see the kitchen light on in her house, and I sigh out a pent-up breath before I make my way back to the B&B.