Page 15 of Butch

She would rather go back with Edmund for another seven years than see Butch get hurt. Rae would protect him with her life if it meant nothing happened to him.

We can keep ourselves and you safe, but we need to know who we are dealing with. We need to be prepared, so can you tell us who he is?

“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Okay. But when you’re ready to tell us, let me know. Right now, I’m going to tell him the little you’ve told me.

Butch looked over at Reaper, and they started talking. Jealousy coursed through her as she watched them interact, wanting everything in the world for it to be her and Butch.

Why couldn’t life be easy?

Reaper nodded and turned toward her, giving her a small smile. He picked up the whiteboard and started writing, making her eyebrows pinch together in confusion.

I’m going to find him, and we’re going to make him pay ten times for what he did to you. You’re Butch’s woman, and now you have over fifteen men behind you, ready to defend and protect you. You’re our family now.

She re-read the sentences several times when he got up and left the room.

“Did he really mean that?” she asked Butch.

He was holding the bowl as he nodded.

“Why?” she asked. “Why do they keep saying that we are together? Why do they keep saying I’m family and that they are going to protect me? They don’t know who is after me and how powerful he is. They don’t know anything about me at all. They’ve just met me. None of this is making any sense!”

Rae gripped her hair and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. This was all becoming too hard for her, and she didn’t know how to respond to any of them.

Butch gently took her hands and pulled them away from her hair. Tapping her nose, she looked at him. Butch made hand movements, pointing at her, then him, and then putting his hands together.

They were together.

“Back in high school. We haven’t seen each other in over eight years,” she pointed out.

He nodded before grabbing the whiteboard once again. Rae clenched her jaw as she waited for him to finish writing.

We are a family. When someone finds the person they love and want to spend the rest of their lives with, that person becomes part of the family. They don’t need to know you long to make you part of the family.

“They don’t know me at all.”

They don’t, but they know that I’ve been searching for you. They know I had to leave you behind and that I went looking for you. They know that I’ve been searching for you every single day, not giving up. Everyone knows you’re important to me, and they are going to make sure you’re safe.

Tears pooled in her eyes, and Butch wiped them away before kissing her forehead.

Let me feed you, and then we can do whatever you want.

CHAPTER 7

RAELYNN

It had been several days since Butch had found Raelynn. She had been in the same room the whole time. He would bring her food three times a day and stay with her, only to disappear for a couple of hours in the afternoon. He had told her he was talking to Deccan, the president of the Springfield Sinners, and some of the other members, to figure out who was after her since she still wouldn’t tell him.

Doc’s friend had just been to look at her ears and determine the damage to them. Rae still didn’t know whether she should get anything to help them when Edmund was still after her. She didn’t want to waste Butch’s money if Edmund wasn’t going to let her keep anything.

How are you feeling? Butch wrote.

He had stayed with her the whole time the doctor was here. Not that she would let his hand go to allow him to leave. She was in a new place with people she didn’t know, besides Butch.

Rae knew he would keep her safe, no matter what. He always would.

She shrugged. “Hungry?”