“You think it’s the right thing?” I ask.

“Give her a chance. You don’t like what she has to say, you can always tell her to leave.”

Okay…okay. I nod to Mr. Santini. “Make the call.” He leaves the room and I turn to Gage nervously. “Do you think she’ll like me?”

“Of course she will. She’s going to love you.”

“I don’t know…all these years…what if I can’t forgive her? She didn’t have to give me up. Daddy would have taken care of us.”

“Stop thinking about it. Just keep an open mind. Listen to what she has to say and then make a decision.”

Again, he’s right. I know he is, but…eighteen years’ worth of pain and abandonment issues can’t be erased in a few minutes. I can’t even begin to imagine what will be going through my mind when she shows up.

“Will you stay with me? When she’s here?”

“If you want me to, of course.”

“I want you.”

“Okay then. That’s settled.”

I give him a small smile, but something beyond his shoulder catches my attention. “Where did those come from?”

He picks up the vase of beautiful lavender roses and brings it closer. How did I miss it until now?

“I brought them.”

“You?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yeah. Is that so hard to believe?”

“You picked them out?”

“Yeah. Closest to blue I could find.”

I can’t believe he bought me flowers. Roses. Mr. I-Don’t-Do-Romance bought me roses. Granted, this isn’t really a romantic situation, but the fact that he would even think of getting them might mean a crack in that hard exterior. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The door opens and Mr. Santini walks back in, followed by Sheriff Renley and one of his deputies. I squeeze Gage’s fingers. Have they come to arrest him again? Could they have found my attacker? Is it too soon? Renley glances down at our joined hands and raises a questioning brow. Gage moves closer to my bed and gives him a ‘yeah, so what?’ look. Renley clears his throat and removes a pen and notepad from his pocket.

“Miss Alvarez, we won’t take up much of your time. We just need to ask you some questions.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s start with what you did yesterday. From the beginning.”

“Not much. Gage and I had a late breakfast at Jenny’s, then he dropped me off at the salon on Main Street. Ellen picked me up around three. We had lunch at Millie’s and then she took me home.”

He scribbles on his notepad then asks, “What time was that?”

“Around five-thirty, I think.”

“And then what?”

“She left and I got into the shower to get ready for my party.”

“Did you notice anyone watching or following you? Yesterday or before?”

“No.” I shake my head. “No one.”

He taps the point of the pen on the pad, deep in thought. “Take us through everything you did after Ellen dropped you off.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, going through everything in my mind.

“We talked for a while. I was going on and on about how much I loved the dress she got me. After she left, I went to my room…then the bathroom. No…I went to the kitchen and got a bottle of water. I drank maybe half, left the bottle in my room and then got in the shower.”

Slowly, I re-trace my steps, hoping to remember anything that would help. But for the life of me, nothing’s coming back. “That’s it.”

“The water…did it taste funny to you?”

“No, not really. Wait…do you think that’s how I was drugged?”

“Could be.” He nods to his partner, who acknowledges him with a nod of his own, then leaves the room.

“Oh, God. That means –”

“He was already there,” Gage says, squeezing my fingers.

“Exactly,” Renley agrees. “Do you remember anything…anything that could help us find him?”

“No. I didn’t see him. The last thing I remember is getting into the shower.”

“Didn’t you find any prints? DNA?” Gage asks.

“We’re working on the prints we lifted from the house, but so far, nothing. Whoever did this was very careful.”

I can’t remember shit, and they can’t find shit. They’re never going to catch this guy. He’s going to be out there…watching, waiting. What if he thinks I remember him? He’ll come back and finish the job. Oh, God. I can’t breathe.

“I got you, doll. I won’t let him near you. I’ll find him if it’s the last thing I do.”

***Gage***

I watch Renley leave as Raven clutches to me. Her nails are digging into my back, but I feel nothing. My thoughts are consumed with what I’m going to do to this fucker when I find him. I’m going to come up with something special just for him. I am going to put him through so much pain, he’s going to wish he was never born let alone put his hands on my woman.

“Gage...who would do this?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll find him. I promise I’ll find him.”

“Uh, Raven,” Santini interjects. “If you want to do this some other time, I can call your mother back –”

“No. I want to get this over with.”

“Of course. I’ll come back once she’s arrived.”

“Thank you.”

I give him my number and tell him to call when they’re on the way. He programs it into his phone, nods at me, and then leaves. Raven settles back into her pillows and stares up at me.

“How are you going to find him?” she asks.

“I’ve got all the guys chasing down information. If there’s anyone who knows something, we’ll find them.”

“And then what?”

“Let me worry about that,” I say as I stroke her hair. She nods, accepting my words without argument. Yawning, she moves over and taps the bed for me to get in. As I climb in carefully, I watch her fight to keep her eyes open. “Tired?”

She doesn’t even answer. She’s out like a light by the time her head hits my chest. I stare up at the ceiling, my mind going in a million directions. I need to put a list of suspects together. Shit. It could be anybody with a grudge against me. It’s going be a long fucking list. I better talk to Tek, make sure Glenn really is out of town. It could be the guys from The Muscle. Maybe I didn’t get all of them. Then there were those scum bags from the Snakes.

I should give Ace a call. I haven’t had any problems with the Mexicans since I helped with their shipment, but it wouldn’t hurt to reach out to Jefe. Oh, shit. It could have been the fuckers who were jacking the guns from the Mexicans. Then again, it could be some random motherfucker who just couldn’t keep his hands off her. No. This was me. She was hurt because some idiot thought it was the best way to get to me. Well, now they have my full attention. I’m going to rain down the wrath of Lucifer himself on these fools.

Raven shifts, trying to get comfortable and I think about her bound to her bed, helpless and screaming. My poor bird. I told her I’d protect her and I failed. I promised to keep her safe and I fucking failed. I knew this would happen. I should have stayed away from her. Instead, I pursued her for my own selfish needs and ended up getting her hurt. This is on me and once she realizes it, I know I’ll lose her. Forever.

Fuck that. She’s mine. There’s no way I’m losing her. No fucking way.

E sticks his head through the door and I wave him inside.

“How is she?” he asks in a quiet voice.

“Not good, E. I need to find this motherfucker. Fast.”

“I know. The guys haven’t dug up anything yet, but they’re not giving up.”

I fill him in on all the ideas I have, and he promises to take care of everything so I can stay with Raven. I also tell him to get with Chad, our guy at the lab, and about Rambo’s visit.

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

“It was the only way to get Renley off my back,” I reply.

“And you trust him? You think he’ll back off?”

“No, but we’ll see.”

He nods and jerks his chin toward Raven. “How long has she been out?”

“A while,” I answer.

“Her meds must have kicked in.” He pulls up a chair and stares at the wall in quiet contemplation. “I don’t understand, Gage. Who could have done this? If it’s a message, as you say, why haven’t we heard anything? Why didn’t they leave any clues?”