Page 72 of Swerve (Boosted Hearts 1)

“If I had, he wouldn’t have died so easy.”

“Both his legs are broken,” Hunter said. “And he was shot in the head.”

“Like I said, easy.”

Hunter shrugged. “Can you blame me for asking?”

“No.” I stared back down at the fucker that had hurt Ruby in too many fucking ways. “Wish I’d found him first.”

“I know what you’re feeling,” Hunter muttered.

Hunter’s road back to Lulu hadn’t been easy, not by a long shot. My friend knew exactly how I felt and then some. “I would have made this fucker scream.”

His lips curled, his smile dark as fuck. “You scare the shit out of me sometimes.”

“Ditto,” I fired back at him.

He snorted and we headed back out, then Hunter called it in to Jude’s contact in the NYPD.

He hung up and turned to me. “Someone wanted him to make sure he kept his mouth shut.”

After the way Scott had attacked Ruby, allowing his laptop to be found by the cops, then coming after her again in broad daylight—he’d been far from discreet. Didn’t take a genius to work out the assholes behind the site had done this, but I wouldn’t be satisfied until I shut them down myself.

“At least Scott isn’t a danger any longer. You can both rest easy.”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t dropping my guard. Not yet. “Doesn’t mean she’s out of danger,” I said.

“No. But I’m assuming this was his employer cleaning up a mess. Scott being the biggest one. The cops know about the site now, they want these guys as bad as us. My guess, they’ll be closing down their operation as we speak.”

What Hunter said made sense. And deep down, I knew he was right. But I still didn’t know what Scott’s motivation had been for beating and attempting to abduct her. And now we’d never know for sure. So no, I wasn’t dropping my guard. Jesus, I just wanted Ruby safe, where nothing and no one could ever touch her again. It was fucked up; I knew this. It was my issue. I knew that, too. I just didn’t know how to get around the way I felt, how to keep her close and let her go her own way at the same time. How to get past the ugly, dark thing inside me that whispered to me every time she walked out the door, reminding me of how I’d let her down and she’d been hurt because of it.

“You love her, don’t you?” Hunter said, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yes.” The answer to Hunter’s question was easy. I didn’t have to think about it. I realized I’d never said the words to her, had never thought I needed to.

“I don’t know shit about relationships. I only know Lulu, what she needs. But I do know Ruby’s independent. She worked hard for that. It’s important to her.”

I crossed my arms. “Your point?”

Hunter shrugged. “You’ve made good headway with her, don’t turn around and fuck everything up.”

It was like the asshole could read my dammed mind. Because right then, keeping her where I knew she’d always be safe, where no one could hurt her again, was exactly what I wanted to do. “Thanks for the advice. But I know what Ruby needs.” And I’d give it to her, even if it killed me.

Hunter smirked. “I’ll shut up then.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and headed to the van he’d driven over instead of his usual ride, the reason for that still lying in that abandoned house.

“Thanks,” I said after him.

He glanced back at me. “I’m here for you, brother. Like you’ve always been for me.”

“I know.”

He pulled the van door open. “Right, I’m going home to my girl.”

I intended to do the same. I watched Hunter drive off and walked to the driver’s side of my car.

The sound of boots on the pavement had me looking up. Ruby stood a few feet away, watching me warily.

“What are you doing here?” It took every bit of my self-control not to flip the fuck out.