Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Ajax

My body hums, every nerve ending awake and ready.

Ready to kill, ready to take.

Only once before have I felt this pull with another person, that feeling of family, of them belonging with me, to me. Mary. I knew the minute that I saw her mother, pregnant and begging for the life of her unborn child, that the infant she carried was meant to be my baby. No one would care for or protect it like I could.

Images of the past add to the thrill that the idea of growing our family gives me.

My muscles are locked. It took every ounce of control that I had not to react when he grabbed Lulu. The grimace and pain on her pretty face were enough to kill me. But yelling, fighting, or reacting would have only gained attention and made the moment memorable for those around us.

Not what we want . . . not when that asshole’s about to go missing.

“Daddy,” Mary mutters, bringing my attention back to her.

I hate the look of fear on her face.

“It’ll be okay, princess,” I say, kissing the side of her head.

I scoop her up and settle her on my hip. I dread the day that my little girl gets too big to carry, but maybe by then, Lulu will have given her a sibling . . . or five, if I have anything to say about it.

The thought of Lulu round and full with my child sets something off inside me like a switch being flicked.

Lulu will be pregnant by the time I get her to her new home in Wisconsin, whether she likes it or not.

Mary moves, leaning down to look at her knee, which is no longer bleeding.

“Daddy’ll fix it,” I reassure.

Mary frowns but doesn’t say anything. Maybe it’s not just her knee bothering her.

“You never have to be afraid while I’m here,” I remind her.

“He scared me,” she whispers, wrapping her small arm around my neck.

I shift her so she can cuddle in close but stay silent, giving her time to gather her feelings.

Finally, my sweet girl whispers, “He hurt Lulu. ”

“I know.” I nod. “Daddy’ll fix that too.”

She blinks at me, not quite understanding the meaning beneath my words, but that’s okay. She will when she wakes up, and Lulu is in the RV traveling on the road with us.

Still standing at the top of the stairs near the entrance, I watch Lulu and the asshole who manhandled her walk between the parked cars and stop near a shitty-looking Ford.

That motherfucker just hit her! Fuck going missing. Everyone’s going to see what I do to him. I’m going to display him like a fucking trophy!

Lulu is crying as she climbs into the back of the car. The man walks around to the driver’s side door, a smirk plastered on his face. My lips twitch. He has no idea what’s coming for him.

Something tickles at the back of my mind, an instinct that’s kept me alive and free until now. Trusting that part of my brain, I skim my gaze across the top of the cars.

That’s when I see him.

How the fuck had I forgotten?

I was so wrapped up in a woman for the first time in my life that everything else had melted away. Including the knowledge that another killer is in the same vicinity. Fuck!

I am better than that. A better hunter, a better killer, and a better dad.

My arm tightens around my baby.

She’s safe .

Scowling under my cap, I watch as the man from the store walks his cart back, his woman nowhere in sight. She’s probably tucked safely inside their car.

At least one of us isn’t acting like a complete fucking novice.

My eyes stay with him, unsure of what he has in mind. I’ve never met someone else with the same . . . proclivities as me, not that we go around announcing ourselves.

This is a day of firsts for me. Finding my woman and a fellow hunter in the same town, at the same place. What are the chances?

His eyes stay rooted on me, clearly just as cautious.

We need to get out of Cromwell quickly—with Lulu and without setting off any alarm bells. But most of all, we need to leave without pissing off the locals.

Fighting every instinct I have, I take my eyes off him for a fraction of a second, just long enough to look at Lulu, where she still sits crying in the back of the car, and then back to the man from the store.

He follows my gaze and frowns.

Without any other way of asking, I look toward the car again, pinning the two in the front with a look that hopefully shows my hatred. Not a second later, I watch as understanding washes over his face.

A slight, discreet nod gives me all the permission I need. But he’s not finished. He returns his gaze to the car, looks at Lulu, and shakes his head. It’s barely noticeable, but I see it. And it boils my blood. She’s not his to deny !

Does he think that he has a claim to her? Does he know her? Is she family? It doesn’t matter. None of it does. I was asking out of respect, a courtesy.

Lulu is mine. No matter who tries to get between us, I’m taking her with me. A smile spreads over my face.

She may not know it yet, but Lulu’s taken and coming home with us.