“You’re lying.” His face had turned a mottled red. His fists clenched at his sides. “You’re lying, Hope. You’re trying to punish me.”
She shook her head. The freedom of finally telling him the truth was almost overwhelming, but she concentrated on the knife’s hilt. The plastic edge was just at her fingertips. “I’m not trying to punish you, Christian. I thought you were dead. And I have gone through more men than I can count trying to wipe away the stain of being your wife. And I absolutely love my men. Men, as in more than one. It’s a way of life here in Bliss. I’m not ashamed, Christian. I love James and I love Noah, and you can’t touch them.”
“I’ll kill them.”
“No.” She was sure of it now. She felt it in her soul. James was resourceful, and Noah was smart as a whip. They wouldn’t wait blindly for some call to have them killed. They would fight, and they would win.
“I will,” Christian promised. “I’ll kill any man who touches my property.”
“Then I’ll have to make you a list. Be prepared. It might be long. I found a whole new world, Christian, and I will never be your girl again.”
His face turned ugly, and he started across the room. “Then you’ve made my decision easy. I won’t have a whore in my life.”
Hope started to back up. The knife was stuck in her jeans. Christian came close, and she had a moment’s breath before his hand came out to slap her viciously. The sound cracked, and the pain bloomed.
“You like that, Hope? You’re such a slut. You probably like a little pain. I’m going to kill you and your friend.” He bore down on her, his hand pulling at her hair. She felt the ache in her scalp as he forced her head back. His crystal eyes looked down at her, but she now saw that they were empty of humanity. He was nothing but a sociopath out for his own strange needs. “But I like a slut as well as the next man. Maybe you can show me what you’ve learned.”
His mouth started to come down on hers. Hope gagged. She tried to push him away with her left hand while her right desperately attempted to pull the knife free. Panic threatened to overtake her. His lips slammed against hers. Her scalp ached as he forced her into position.
And then a loud thwack filled the room. Christian screamed and let her go. Lucy stood behind him, the remnants of a chair in her hand. It had cracked across Christian’s skull, but he wasn’t out. He let Hope go, the sudden loss of balance causing her to fall back.
Christian roared and turned on Lucy. Petite, sweet little Lucy still had her hands tied and one eye had swollen shut, but she screamed as she wielded what was left of the chair. She brought it down on his head just before he drove a fist in her gut.
And it gave Hope just enough time to pull the knife free. Lucy fell back with a groan, and Christian fell on her, his fist rearing back. He would kill Lucy and then turn on Hope. Without a second’s hesitation, she got to her feet and prayed her aim was true. Christian’s neck was exposed. She could see his jugular. It stood out against the muscles of his neck, throbbing with exertion. She gripped the knife and plunged it in, forcing it through flesh. She pulled it out as Christian flailed and struck again. Christian tried to swat her away, but the blood was flowing now. He stood and tried to come at her even as his neck gushed. She kicked him away. He fell back, and she stood over the man who had been her first lover, her husband, the man who had almost ruined her life.
“That was for Elaine.”
He coughed, blood sputtering. “She was a whore.”
No. She’d been a woman who fell for the wrong man. “No. She was innocent.”
Innocence had nothing to do with the state of her virginity but with the state of her heart. A woman could screw a thousand men, and if she still was able to love, she could hold her innocence in her soul.
Christian’s eyes glazed over, and he was gone.
Hope turned to Lucy who was struggling to get up. Hope dropped the knife and held Lucy, balancing her. “Oh, sweetie. I am so sorry.”
Lucy shook her head. “No, Hope. I’m good. He couldn’t kill me. He couldn’t break me. He thought he could, but he couldn’t break me.”
Lucy’s words came out on a sob, and Hope held her close.
Lucy sniffled and turned her battered face up. “I want in on that club, though. It was a tag team, but it counts.”
“Club?” Hope asked.
“Rachel’s club. ‘I killed a son of a bitch.’ She was talking about making T-shirts. I want my T-shirt, Hope.”
Hope nodded. “I’ll make sure, sweetie.”
She hugged Lucy to her. They were alive. They were alive.
There was a ruckus outside. Hope could hear a vehicle pulling up. Her heart froze. Had Jay come back?
“Hope!”
“Goddamn it, Noah. Don’t you fucking let him know we’re here.”
She laughed though her tears. Her men were here, and they were fighting again.
All was right with the world.
Chapter Eighteen
“I am never working Woo Woo Fest again,” Cameron Briggs vowed. He put his head in his hands and breathed a deep sigh. “I swear to god, I am going to make sure no one impregnates Callie for the next year.”
“I will have to admit,” Rafe began, “the FBI might have been a quieter job.”
Cam frowned Hope’s way. “Goddamn it, Hope. You are not to do that again.”
Hope grinned from her perch on Noah’s lap. Since they had stormed into the cabin hours before, Noah and James had passed her between each other as though neither one was willing to let her go a single minute without one of their hands on her. Noah’s finger brushed against her cheek.
“I wish he could die again. I’d like a shot at him,” Noah said, staring at the bruises.
“Too bad,” she said, leaning over to kiss him. She couldn’t stop. She kissed them whenever she could. “Lucy and I took care of it.” Hope turned to look at Laura. “Has Doc said anything yet?”
Laura came out from behind her desk. “Caleb says all of her wounds are superficial. He’s cleaned her up and given her his best dose of Valium.” She sobered. “He’s going to watch over her. Cam will take her statement later. She needs to rest now. I think we have enough to call this self-defense.”
Cam ran a hand through his sandy hair. “I do. And I called Atlanta PD. They’re sending a rep tomorrow to see if they can close a couple of cases. And they’ll want to talk to Brad back there. We’re on the lookout for the other one.”
The cowboy who had tried to kill her men was safely in a jail cell.
Jesse McCann stepped forward. “Thank you. It would mean a lot to both me and Cade if we could get it on the record that Christian Grady was a criminal.”
Hope turned to him. The superhot mechanics had showed up with her men, guns in hand. “How did you know him?”
She felt Noah’s hands tighten around her waist, and suddenly James’s hand was on her knee, both of her men providing support as though they knew what she was thinking. If Christian had hurt Cade and Jesse, she might have inadvertently aided in some criminal acts against them.
Cade leaned against the wall, his whole body seemingly weary. “Sweetheart, nothing that man did was your fault. Jesse and I grew up in Florida.”
“Tallahassee. But we’re not related or anything,” Jesse admitted. “Not by blood.”
“Sometimes you don’t need blood to be brothers,” James said, his voice deep. He and Noah exchanged looks. Hope felt her heart swell.
Cade nodded, and his breath hitched slightly. “We met in foster care. I’d been in the system for a long time, but Jesse had just been placed.”