Taming the Lone Wolff(81)

                Winnie turned her head to stare at him. Light streamed from the bathroom, illuminating the bed. She was pale, too pale, and every freckle stood out in relief against her colorless skin. “The mothers and children aren’t prisoners,” she said huskily. “We have nothing or no one to tell them they can’t leave. They are given extensive counseling and cautioned again and again never to meet alone with an abusive husband or boyfriend. But they want so badly to believe a man can change, their man in particular, that they’ll sometimes do anything he asks.”

                He tried to wrap his brain around the story she was telling. But he felt sick and guilty. “How did he find her?”

                Winnie slung an arm over her face, covering her eyes. “He broke out of jail. Tortured the grandmother until she gave him a cell number. After killing the grandmother, he called Esteban’s mom. Begged for forgiveness. Asked to talk, just talk. She told him where to meet her…thank God, not at the actual address. Then she left my property and walked two miles down the road. A car pulled up. He got out. Gunned her down. Put the gun in his mouth. There were witnesses.”

                Winnie rolled to her belly as a fresh wave of sobs threatened to tear her in half. Larkin sat like stone, his mind barely functioning as he remembered Esteban’s oddly adult eyes but unquenchable cheer.

                Suddenly Larkin was back in his childhood. He heard Devlyn cry out once. It was never more than once. She would take him by surprise and get that one shout of pain. After that, silence. Larkin huddled in a closet, Annalise in his arms. Her young voice was high-pitched, too loud. Hush, sis. We don’t have to stay here long. Let me braid your hair. Lean on me and fall asleep….

                “I have to go.”

                He snapped back to the present at the sound of Winnie’s voice, his senses befuddled. “Go where?”

                “Home.” She climbed out of bed and started dressing. “Esteban is asking for me. They were going to take him into protective custody, but he begged to stay at the safe house. He has a support system there, so they allowed it. For the moment.”

                He rolled to the edge of the mattress and stood up, struggling for composure. Winnie had weathered the storm and was visibly pulling herself together with a strength of will Larkin admired deeply. “We’ll take the jet,” he said gruffly. “Once you’re ready, we can be at the airstrip in forty-five minutes.”

                Winnie whirled to look at him. Her hair was a mess. Dark smudges underscored her eyes. “You are not going,” she said flatly. “Your family needs you here today. They deserve that.”

                Fury rushed over him with the heat of a thousand suns. “And what do you deserve, Winnie? You hired me to keep your little enclave safe.”

                “And you did. Admirably. But one of my women broke the rules and paid for it with her life. Any way you slice it, it’s not your battle.”

                “This isn’t up for discussion.” He reached around her and turned on the lamp. He was still nude, but he didn’t care.

                Winnie glared at him. “Your entire family, every one of them, is gathered here to celebrate your brother-in-law’s birthday. It would be unforgivable of you to disappoint them.”

                His fists clenched to keep from pulling her into his arms. “You need someone, Winnie. Someone to stand beside you during all of this.”

                She froze, her arms holding a stack of clothes to be tucked into her suitcase. “Don’t say that. This is my problem, my responsibility. I can handle it.”

                “I know you can handle it, damn it. But you’re not going to. We’re in this together.”