9. Leo

9

Leo

W e’re on our way to town about two hours later, and it starts to rain. I glance over at my precious cargo. Truth is, I’d rather her not be anywhere but my house, specifically in my bed, beneath me moaning my name.

I shift in my seat, trying to ease the pressure in my pants. I’m in my thirties and shouldn’t have a problem controlling my needs, but this woman just gets to me.

She sighs beside me, and it’s as if she brushed her hand over my dick. Everything she does just makes me hornier.

“Something wrong, Angel?”

She shrugs. “I usually like rain, but for some reason, this makes me nervous.”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah. It feels like something is waiting around every curve we go around. I’ve dealt with anxiety since my mother died.”

“You have?” I ask, trying my best to keep my voice normal. I know scant information about her, not that it matters. But I realize what a greedy bastard I am for details of her life before I met her.

She nods. “Destiny is the cool-headed one. The protector.”

“And that’s why she snuck you out?”

“Yeah.” She looks down at her fingers, tangled together. I’ve noticed that she does that when she’s nervous.

“We’ll find her, Angel. I promise.”

I reach out and pat her leg and glance over at her. She’s wearing the sweats Mirabelle brought her and a pair of my shoes. They were gigantic on her, so she stuffed socks into the toe and is wearing two socks.

I glance back up in the mirror and notice a sedan behind us. The road we’re on is a small country road that usually only has locals on it. I don’t recognize the car.

“What?” She looks behind us. “That car is going too fast.”

“Turn around, Angel, and make sure your seatbelt is on tight.”

She does as I order. “Why?”

I don’t answer her. I’m trying to keep my cool. If I was the only one in the truck, I wouldn’t hesitate to do a 180 and confront him. But I have my angel beside me, so I need to be extra careful.

The guy comes at us in a rush, smacking my bumper. I really don’t know what the hell he’s doing. His car is small compared to my Ford 150. The pelting rain makes visibility crappy. Still, we are almost to a two-lane highway that will make avoiding him easier.

The asshole has other plans.

He hits us again, bumping us, causing the truck to fishtail.

“Are you okay, Angel?”

“Yes,” she grits out, pulling a small smile from me. She’s small, but she’s mighty.

He hits us again, harder, but I was ready for it, turning into the spin and evening us out. He’s not that lucky.

The sedan he’s driving starts to spin, and the driver loses control. He spins out and into a ditch. I park the truck on the small shoulder.

“You stay here, with the doors locked. And here, call this into Frank. I want to make sure that we get this bastard in for questioning.”

She takes my phone, and I leave her. I hear the locks engage, and I make my way over to the car. Damn, he fucked up the car. The horn is blaring as I approach. The front end took the brunt of the damage, as the vehicle's rear is pointed to the road. I have my gun out trained on him.

He’s passed out, slumped over the wheel. I’m careful as I approach him, making sure he doesn’t pull a gun on me. I reach in and feel for a pulse. It’s steady and strong. He has a cut on his forehead, and a little blood is dribbling out, but other than that, he looks fine. I see a gun on the seat beside him, so I reach over and grab it. I step back and keep my weapon trained on him.

“Hey, asshole, wake up.”

He stirs, and it takes him a second to orient himself. He reaches for his gun.

“I have it.”

He looks at me, his eyes widening.

“You done fucked up, man. You went after a cop.”

He sneers at me. “It’s not like I haven’t taken care of a cop before.”

“Maybe, but you threatened Fable, and that I won’t tolerate. Get out, hands up.”

He hesitates. “Do it, or I’ll shoot you in the kneecap.”

He glowers at me, but the moment he hears the siren, he apparently realized there is no way to escape.

A short time later, a tow truck has his car, and the bastard is being hauled into the jail. We get him to lockup, and the tow truck is taking care of the sedan. Fable knows the man.

“You remember him?”

She nods and shivers beneath my coat as she sits in my office. “He’s Gregor’s partner, I guess that’s the word.”

I nod. “You remembered what happened to you, though?”

Her eyes are glassy, as if she’s in shock. Mirabelle comes in with a cup of coffee for her.

“I wasn’t sure how you liked it, so I brought stuff.”

She tosses me a worried look, then looks back at Fable. “Hun, how do you like your coffee?”

“Two sugars and lots of cream.” Fable’s voice is barely above a whisper.

Mirabelle does as Fable directed, then hands her the cup. “Do you want me to leave, Fable?”

She shakes her head, then sips the coffee. “They ran me off the road, and they wanted to get me back to my father. Why didn’t I remember the second guy?”

We still don’t have a real name for him. His ID says Viktor, but I know that’s a lie. It’s a good forgery. He refuses to talk to us.

“Maybe it was easier for you to handle. Just remembering one guy,” Mirabelle offers.

“So, I got away from them. I was running through the woods. They were busy trying to figure out how to get me back to New York. Papa had apparently threatened their lives. Nothing new for him.”

I have to fight the anger brewing in my gut. If her father was here, I would definitely kill the bastard. From the look on Mirabelle’s usually smiling face, I might have to get in line.

“And you hit your head?” I ask.

“That’s still a little fuzzy, but I stole their car and took off, but with the snow—I only just learned to drive a few weeks ago—I lost control. I remember getting out of the car and just running. Then nothing.”

“That’s probably when you passed out. My brother got a slight concussion when he was playing football. He doesn’t remember the entire fourth quarter,” Mirabelle says.

Fable seems to relax at that. “Oh, good. I was worried… well, you know.”

Mirabelle nods. I want to order my dispatcher out of my office because I want to be the one to console her. Still, Mirabelle has gotten more information from Fable than I have. I’m too angry right now to help, and I know that.

There’s a knock at the door, and Frank pokes his head in.

“Hey, boss, did you want me to bring that dude in?”

Fable looks up at me, worry etching her beautiful face.

“We’ll go to see him,” I say. I want him behind bars since her father’s men tend to have violent tendencies.

I walk over to her chair and wait for her to rise up. She looks up at me, her mouth trembling.

“Hey, it’s normal to be shaken up like this.”

She nods, but the tears spill down her cheeks. Mirabelle leaves us, backing quietly out of the room.

“I’m so sorry. My family is so toxic, and you could have been hurt.”

I wrap my arms around her. “Everything will be okay.”

She shivers against me, then wraps her arms around me, squeezing me tight. “Thank you.”

I want to take her home, give her a bath, and spoil her, but first, we have to figure out who this guy we’ve detained is.

We walk out, my arm still draped over her shoulders.

Frank comes up to us.

“Tell me about the guy.”

He shrugs. “Seems that his background is real, former NYPD. And the weird thing is, he said he had no problem waiting in the jail cell until Fable got here.”

I look down at her. “Are you ready?”

She squares her shoulders and nods. That’s my angel.

When we step into the small jail area, we only have two actual cells. The man in question studies us. When his gaze lands on Fable, a relieved smile curves his lips. He stands and approaches us.

“You’re Fable.”

She nods, even though it wasn’t a question. “Do I know you? I don’t think you work for my father.”

He shakes his head. “No. And no offense, but there is no way I would work for a man like that, no matter how much money he offered.”

“So, why are you looking for me?”

He glances at Frank, then me, then back to Fable. Something close to chagrin fills his expression.

“It might seem odd.”

“Believe me, it will just seem normal,” she says with humor.

He nods. “Grimm.”

Fable gasps. “Let him out. Let him out!”

“Angel, what is going on?”

“That’s the code word. Grimm is Destiny’s code word for me.”

Tears are streaming down her face again, and she’s smiling at me.

Frank hesitates, and even though I don’t want any men near her, I allow it. As soon as the cell door swings wide, Fable moves out of my arms before I can react. She wraps her arms around the older man, and I growl. The man looks a little surprised by it. When she pulls back, they smile at each other.

“She’s okay?”

He nods. “She’s at the house you two bought.”

She claps her hands, happiness shining from her eyes. “Destiny is fine. We need to go to her.”

“Now, wait, I need to know what’s going on.”

The other man shrugs, but Fable starts explaining.

“We had code words for each other. You’ve seen how devious my father is. So, only we knew the code words. Mine is Grimm.” I frown at her, not getting it. “Like in fairy tales, fables?”

“And Destiny’s?”

“Manifest.” She claps. “Like Manifest Destiny.”

These two girls have been through so much. The fact that she is smiling and clapping like she won a prize just because her sister sent a man to find her speaks volumes. A woman like Fable needs to be protected. Loved.

“How far is the house?”

“Less than two hours.” He gives the location of the house, and I know the area. Lots of wealthy people live in the area. Hell, there’s a rumor that Dwayne Johnson lives in that vicinity.

I glace over at Fable and realize what this means. She will go to her sister, and that will be the end of us. Of everything. I know she said differently, but the look on her face says otherwise.

I think my time is done.