Page 106 of Shephard

Almost two decades before I’d had a sergeant in the Marines who’d drilled into his recruits that the one thing you never did was turn your back on your enemy under any circumstances.

I’d made a mistake.

The electricity skirting through the air told me it could be my last one.

As Boris reared up from the ground and the dead, his actions were immediate, the man securing his weapon. There was no time to dive for mine.

It would seem fate had decided the rest of my life for me.

Just when I knew I could finally be happy.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

CHAPTER 27

Denise

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Maggie exclaimed from behind me as soon as I headed for her front door.

I’d been relegated to staying with her the last few days. Not that she wasn’t an amazing host and a damn good cook, but I couldn’t stand not doing anything. I’d worked today, even ignoring the rules and going by my cabin just to make certain it hadn’t been blown up or there were dead bodies strewn all over the lawn.

Pepper sensed my tension even now, whining from a couple of feet away.

“I can’t stand it any longer, Mags. I should never have allowed him to do this alone.” A rumble of thunder forced me further onto the edge of what sanity I had left. The rain had already started. I could hear it pinging against the windows. I was wringing my hands, glancing at the door every few seconds in some crazy hope he would ring the doorbell. I couldn’t face thefact I was terribly worried, my gut telling me something horrible had happened to him.

Yes, he had his two brothers with him and all three were trained, but against a wacko like Boris the Butcher and whatever assholes he’d brought with him?

Maggie snorted. “We both need another drink. He is well trained. He was a mercenary after serving in the Marines. You do remember that?”

“Of course I do, but you haven’t read the limited information I found on Boris. He’s a nutcase. He’ll stop at anything to get his revenge on all those who went against him.”

“He’s also sixty-three years old and spent several brutal years behind Russian prison walls. From what I know, their prisons are nothing like some of the posh hotels we have here. He’s not the butcher he once was.”

“You don’t understand men like that. Nothing can stop them. They feed off abusing people.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to make you think about Jameson,” Maggie said softly.

“Jameson is a baby in comparison to the Butcher.” Maybe so but pain came from many sides.

I threw her a look and folded my arms across my stomach. Everything inside of me ached. She was already pouring us another drink. At this point, I wasn’t certain I could stomach anything, the nausea was so bad.

“What if he doesn’t make it out of there alive?” I asked, which was the same question that had run through my mind at least a hundred times. I’d asked it out loud at least twice.

She slowly turned her head, her hands already wrapped around the two glasses. “Why didn’t I notice before? My God.”

“What?”

“You’re in love with the man.”

“It’s not love at all. It’s…” Heat instantly rose on my face and I laughed nervously.

“Yes, it is. Admit it.” Maggie was happy, excited for me, and I was certain the man was lying dead in a pool of blood.

“I don’t know.”

“Liar. You love him. That’s fabulous. Now you can finally be rid of that asshole.”

I hadn’t told her too much about the jerk’s visit. At least Jameson had followed Shephard’s advice by getting the hell out of town. That meant nothing. I knew he would still try to destroy me any way he could. His fiancée was the daughter of the state’s governor. It was a situation that he needed to advance his disgraced career. I knew it instinctively.