Page 70 of Selling Innocence

“I’ll kill any fucker who touches her,” Rune said without missing a beat.

And just like that, he soothed some of my anger. He reminded me why I loved these men, why we worked so well together. We were all twisted, all broken and dangerous and violent.

“Agreed,” Colton said. “A few bullets would do well.”

“A few? And here I thought you were good enough to put them down with one,” Dane said.

Colton stared back, not even a smile to soften his words. “If any man screws around with her, I have no plans to end things quickly.”

And what did it say about me that his threat made my body heat?

“So what? I’m supposed to just wait here and hope she’ll turn back up?”

“Give her a little time,” Bray said. “If you keep pushing her, she might run for real. You saved her so she could make her own choices, so she could lead the life she wanted. If we keep forcing her into this safe little box, are we any different than Kyler?”

The name of the man I had thought was my father for so long, Kenz’s real father, Kyler, made my stomach clench. It took me back to when he’d shot at Kenz, when he’d been willing to kill her just to hurt me.

I hope that bastard is burning in hell right now.

If there was any justice in the world, my mother was getting to spend her eternity torturing him.

Still, I couldn’t fully deny Bray’s words.

I knew Kenz wanted more freedom. She wanted to stand on her own, to make her own way in life. I’d been there, too, knew how that felt. “She’s just so young,” I whispered.

A hand wrapped around my wrist, and after a tug, I found myself in Dane’s lap, my knees pressed into the couch on either side of him. He was in an office chair that had no arms, and I could already imagine him explaining that this was the reason he preferred chairs like this.

“She’s young, but she’s smart and tough. She’ll be okay.”

“But how do we know she’s okay? How can I trust that she can handle everything on her own? I don’t want to control her—I just want to help.”

Dane brushed his thumb against my cheek, fondness in his expression. “I know it, Nem, but it’s like any kid. You have to let them go eventually, let them leave the nest. It’s not easy, but if anyone understands that, it’s you.”

And I did. I remembered how much I hated it when Jarrod had hovered over me at first, when he’d trained me and always looked over my shoulder. I’d wanted to prove myself on my own, and I’d resented his safety net.

My phone rang, making me jump. Without leaving his lap, I leaned back to take the phone from the desk. Jarrod’s name on the screen dashed my hopes.

“Any word?” I asked when I answered, not bothering to ease into the conversation. People like us didn’t need those niceties.

“Nothing yet. I’m getting on a plane, and I’ll be in Florida by the morning.”

“Maybe I should go, too.” The idea of letting Jarrod deal with it didn’t sit right. I wanted to go there myself, to find her myself, to not rely on others.

It was my job, after all. Kenz was my sister.

“You’re busy,” Jarrod reminded me, the garbled announcements of an airport behind him.

“All this stuff can go to hell. I don’t give a fuck about this bullshit, about running anything here. You know I’ll drop it all for her.”

“You can’t do that. Part of the reason she’s safe is because you keep things in order there. I’m sure everything is fine—she’s just hitting her rebellious stage a little later than most teenagers. I’ll find her, ensure she’s okay, and report back in.”

Dane plucked the phone from my hand. “Thanks, Daddy.”

Jarrod’s voice was muffled, since Dane had the phone, but I could still hear the annoyance in his voice when he answered. “I should have killed you.”

“Probably. Since you didn’t, though, you go find our wayward teenager and I’ll make sure Nem here is well taken care of.” Dane had a hell of a promise in his voice when he said that, and the look he gave me reminded me that my stress over Kenz had meant we hadn’t spent nearly as much time together as I would have liked.

Jarrod muttered a response, but I didn’t catch anything other than asshole before Dane ended the call and tossed the phone back to the desk.