I heard my name hollered through the chaos. I caught sight of Rowdy’s tall frame and blond hair as he made his way through the throng of law enforcement, intent on getting to me. As soon as his arms closed around me I shattered into a million pieces. I collapsed and let him hold me up as I cried and cursed and swore vengeance on everyone. I had never had anyone I cared about taken from me before. Sure, I had left, walked away because I felt like I had to, but having someone I loved ripped from me in a brutal and vile way left me torn open and aching. It gave me an entirely new appreciation for those wounds Rowdy had suffered with his entire life. I curled my arms around his waist and swore to God, the universe, and whoever else happened to be listening to me that I would never let him go again.

I felt him kiss the top of my head as he squeezed me back. “I’ve got you.” He did. He absolutely did and I had him.

“I know you do. I’ve got you, too.”

Now we just had to stay strong and hold on to one another while Denver’s finest went after the lunatic that had kidnapped my little sister.

CHAPTER 19

Rowdy

IT WAS A MISERABLE NIGHT. The police weren’t being very helpful, and if it wasn’t for Royal showing up and being the unofficial liaison between Salem and the detectives working the case, I felt like there was a pretty good chance my girl would have ended up in lockup herself.

She was understandably frantic, but more than that, she was furious. She was mad at herself for leaving the shop unescorted even though I kept telling her it wouldn’t have mattered. Oliver had a gun and he was determined to haul Poppy off. Regardless if I had been with them or not, a bullet was a bullet and chances are he would have seen me as a threat and shot first just to get me out of the way. I should’ve kept quiet because that just made her angrier and more distraught. I knew the feeling. The idea of a crazed gunman pointing a weapon at her and firing it off anywhere near her made me want to hurt everyone.

She was angry at Poppy for going with Oliver, but she was absolutely livid that the reason Poppy had tied herself to a man like her husband in the first place was because of their father and his damaged way of parenting. I could see a storm lurking there and figured I would just do my best when it finally crested. For now all I could do was hold her, tell her everything would be all right, and give Royal silent pleading looks over the top of Salem’s head as she held on to me and alternately cried and cussed out the world.

I was scared for Poppy as well. I had seen how unhinged her husband was up close and personal. The fact he had pulled a gun on two innocent women in broad daylight showed he didn’t care about repercussions or getting caught. He was zealously focused on claiming what he determined was his and that made Poppy less than human in his eyes. She was trapped in a car with an armed assailant that viewed her as nothing more than property. To him she was just a possession and people broke and destroyed their possessions all the time. I couldn’t think about it too hard or it made everything on the inside of me want to shut down and I couldn’t do that and take care of Salem like she needed me to.

I might not love Poppy the way I loved Salem, but she was still important to me. She still held a place in my history and in my heart and she was undoubtedly part of my ramshackle family. I had lost enough people I cared about in this lifetime. There was no way I was going to lose another.

I was sitting on the couch in Salem’s living room. It was early the next morning and she had just fallen asleep after pacing the floor for what seemed like endless hours. Even in her slumber she was whimpering and restless. I was rubbing my thumb absently around her temple in circles and staring sightlessly at the television. Across the bottom the ticker was running with the information to be on the lookout for Oliver and the sedan. It was absolutely surreal to see Poppy’s description there. It made it feel like she was a stranger, just one more unknown face that ended up in a bad situation. I hated that and hated that this was happening to her and to those that loved her.

Jimbo was curled up on the other side of me. He was getting too big to be allowed on the furniture but he hadn’t left Salem’s side since the police had cleared out and I think the poor guy was feeling bad he hadn’t been able to help. The dog’s big, golden eyes were locked on Salem as she murmured in her sleep and twitched. I reached out with my other hand and petted him on the top of his wide head.

“It’s okay, fella. It’s hard to keep your lady safe.” He blew out noise through his nose like he knew exactly what I was talking about and the tip of his tail flipped back and forth.

I looked down at Salem and saw that her brows were furrowed and that she had deep lines etched between the raven arches. I used my fingertip to smooth them out and sighed.

“It’s probably the worst time ever to tell you this, but I . .” She suddenly turned so that she was lying on her back and looking directly up at me. That endlessly black gaze had my past, my future, all my secrets, and every dream I had ever had in them. It was like looking into forever and knowing that she was always going to be there right at the center of it. “ . . . love you. I will love you unendingly and forever.”

Her long lashes swept down for just a moment and then lifted back up. Like stars in the night sky I could see her feelings for me twinkling up at me from the midnight depths.

“I love you, too. I couldn’t do this without you. You always made me stronger than I ever was alone. I’ve always needed a reason to stay; with you that has never been the case. With you staying is the only option I have because the only place I want to be is wherever you are at.”

That was the only thing I had ever wanted her to say to me. I bent down so I could kiss her softly. “It might have taken me a long-ass time to figure out the difference between first love and real love, but, Salem, there is nothing more real than what I feel for you.”

She was going to respond but her cell phone went off and we both went stiff and stared at each other with big, nervous eyes. I reached for the phone and winced a little when I saw that Royal’s was the number on the screen. I couldn’t believe my hands were actually shaking as I swiped across the screen to answer the call.

“Hello.”

“Rowdy?” Her voice was low and I could hear a lot of commotion in the background of wherever she was calling me from.

“Yeah, I’m with Salem. Do you have any news?”

Salem pulled herself up and clutched my free hand with both of her own. She was pale and her dark eyes looked like they were swallowing up her entire face. The fear shining out of them settled like a rock in my gut and made my chest twist with the need to be able to do something for her.