Savage stood on the gravel road that led to the mated cabins. There was a plot of land available for a cabin not far from Winter and Nova. He had no idea how he ended up standing there staring into the wooded lot, but something inside him demanded he start work on his own home. Could it be that it was just time to move out of the single Guardian’s dorm?
The renovated barn had been his home for the past several years. His parents lived with his baby sister at the end of the road he was currently standing on. She was fifteen and his only sibling. He was too old to be living at home, and as a Guardian, he was expected to bond with his brothers. The barn-turned-dorm was not only a place to sleep, it was the place they regularly trained together.
After one last look over his shoulder, Savage decided to tell Talon he wanted the little plot of land even if he wouldn’t need it for a while yet. Hell, he didn’t even have a mate. Why was he so interested in that spot? Savage snorted out a laugh as he pushed the long, dark hair out of his face. He had no idea why he was so interested in building his own place. It wasn’t like he was home much anyway. He worked a full week at the construction company, and then he usually found his way over to The Deuce to hang out so he could keep an eye on the alpha’s mate whenever Talon wasn’t available to be close to Liberty.
Several cubs ran past him on their way back to their homes, some of the older ones darting into the wooded lot where he had just been standing. There were paths all around the land leading to a maze of destinations. Most were nothing more than well-worn paths made by the panthers as they hunted and prowled after their shift. Others were graveled roads for cars to travel to each cabin.
As Savage crossed the yard behind the alpha’s home, he heard grunts and yelps coming from the single Guardians’ dorm. The furthest end of the barn had been made into a gym of sorts. Inside, there was equipment and a huge space with padded floors for sparring.
A mischievous smirk raised his lip into an odd version of a smile. He needed to work off some of this anxiety or whatever the hell it was that had been eating at him. As he entered the makeshift gym, Winter and Dane were circling each other. Neither man was wearing boxing gloves. That was evident by the blood dripping from each man’s lips and nose. Maybe he’d stand back and watch the shitstorm those two were brewing.
“What’s going on?” Savage asked, stepping up to Noah’s side. The alpha’s brother was leaning against the wall, looking bored.
“Dane’s mouth got him an ass kicking,” Noah chuckled. “Guess he still likes to tease Winter about the time he was able to touch his mate.”
“Dumbass,” Savage grunted.
“Exactly.” Noah nodded. “Want in on that?”
“Nah,” he replied, cringing when Winter’s fist made contact with Dane’s jaw. “I think Winter has it handled.”
“Winter Blue!” Nova snarled from the door. No one had heard her approach, not even her mate. The little female was full of fire and her sparking amber eyes narrowed as she took in the blood splattered on each man’s bare chest.
“Not now, Nova,” Winter growled, not taking his eyes off of his opponent. Dane took a swing and cursed when Winter ducked and caught him around the waist. Both men fell to the mat in a tangle of arms, legs, and flying fists.
“Would you stop them, please?” Nova yelled, eyeing Savage as if he was the answer to this mess.
“No,” Savage answered, raising a brow. “Not my problem.”
“It’s going to be your problem if you don’t stop them, Savage,” she warned, fisting her hands at her sides.
“Why me?” he groaned, rolling his eyes. “I don’t think they want me in on their…disagreement.”
“What the hell are they fighting about now?” she asked, propping a hand on her hip. The mate to the alpha’s second in command may be a little thing, but she was tough as nails.
“You,” Noah chuckled, but stood up straight when Nova’s hard stare pinned him in place.
“Fine!” she cursed. “I’ll stop them.”
“Fuck,” Savage said, pushing away from the wall. He slipped between Nova and the two fighting males. If Nova had been accidentally touched by Dane, Winter would kill him for sure. Savage had no doubt about that. It was one thing when Dane could touch her before she mated Winter, but now that they were, the fact that Dane’s touch would cause the female pain would send her mate over the edge if she cried out from a male’s touch that wasn’t Winter’s.
“Woman,” Winter snarled as he climbed to his feet. Thankfully, both men saw Nova attempt to move toward them and separated before Savage had to break them apart. Dane moved away the farthest to ensure that Nova was safe. “You do not step between two males when they are fighting.”
“It stopped you two once,” she smirked. “It’ll stop you…eep!”
Savage smiled when Winter’s shoulder hit Nova in the stomach and he flipped her over his shoulder. “Time to go home. We need to have a talk.”
“Put me down!”
Smack!
The door closed on any other words they exchanged. Savage laughed as the two of them left for their cabin and Winter was rubbing the spot on his mate’s ass he’d just spanked. Maybe it wasn’t a great idea to be living next door to those two because they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. He’d probably never get any sleep.
Slapping Noah on the shoulder, Savage shook his head and left the building, heading for his truck. He needed to get over to The Deuce to keep an eye on the alpha’s mate. He wouldn’t admit to himself that he was also showing up unexpected so he could watch over Mary Grace as she worked. The waitress was starting to take up just about every thought in his head and more than once had showed up in his dreams.
The sun was dropping lower on the horizon as he pulled out of the pride’s land, turning for the bar. Driving over didn’t take but a few minutes and he parked at the end of the building, backing his truck into the spot he frequently used. His boots crunched on the gravel parking lot as he approached the door; a steady thudding sound coming from inside the bar reached his ears. He tilted his head sideways, trying to make out exactly what that sound was. As he opened the door, Liberty Shaw was standing on a stepstool, hammering a sign into a thick, exposed wooden beam just inside the small foyer of the bar. His pregnant charge wasn’t letting her being with young stop her from getting around.
“What is that?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. He didn’t make a move to tell her to get down. He’d learned that the alpha’s mate got a little testy when told she wasn’t allowed to do something.
“It’s a sign,” she growled, hammering the last nail into the wall. “I’m tired of people coming in here and messing with my panthers.”
Savage laughed when he saw the round logo she’d had made. A silhouette of the head of a black panther sat in front of a hand of cards. The bar’s name was there, surrounding the logo. What made him smile was the warning…
Panthers Play Here
“Nice.” He nodded, waiting for Liberty to come down from her perch. “I’ll take this.”
“Thank you, Savage.” She smiled and allowed him to return the stepstool to the back room where she kept all of the extra supplies for the bar.
He stopped by the employee breakroom and was disappointed to see that Mary Grace was nowhere to be found. He only knew she was scheduled to work that night because he was guilty of taking a peek at her work schedule one night when he was in Liberty’s office talking to Talon about pride business.
He found his way back to the bar, taking a seat on a stool on the end. He ordered a beer and some food while he waited on Mary Grace to arrive. Liberty smiled warmly at him as she placed his steak in front of him. “She’ll be here soon.”
Savage just grunted and dug into his food, ignoring the alpha’s mate. When his beer was empty, another one was set in front of him. With his healing abilities, it took a lot to get a shifter drunk and he wasn’t going to test those limits tonight. He had a job to do keeping a watch over the bar.
The door swung open wide and Savage’s attention immediately zoned in on the local sheriff as he sauntered in, his eyes narrowing on Savage. The Guardian didn’t like the human, but he also didn’t hate him, either. There was something about Sheriff Garrett Lynch that made the hair on the back of his neck prickle with warning.
“You’re the only Guardian I could find,” Sheriff Lynch grunted, taking a seat to Savage’s right. The man was tall, his black hair cut to military precision. “Where the hell is Talon?”
“He’s busy,” Liberty said rather quickly as she wiped down the bar top. Savage could tell she was keeping something from the lawman, but he didn’t press her as to what his alpha was doing. Obviously, he was away from the phone for a good reason.
“Savage,” the sheriff began, but paused as he looked around the bar. Patrons were eating, some laughing and cutting up with each other, and a few were staring at them as if they were waiting on him to shift and rip out all of their throats. “Can we talk in private?”
“You can go back to my office,” Liberty offered. “I’m not using it right now.”
Savage kept his eye on the alpha’s mate as she sauntered into the kitchen. He led the sheriff down the hallway, past the bathrooms and small employee lounge, and stopped in front of the office door, pushing it open wide.
“What’s this about?” Savage asked, crossing his arms over his chest and resting his ass against the desk once the sheriff closed and locked the door.
“Had a weird encounter with a guy in a lab coat today,” he explained, his brows furrowed in thought.
“That’s not something I would be telling people,” Savage stated, just the corner of his lip lifted in a smirk.
“Let me finish,” Sheriff Lynch barked.
“Go ahead,” Savage replied, holding his hands up in defense.
“I pulled over an out-of-state vehicle,” he said. “The driver was a male and he wore a lab coat. He claimed he was lost.”
“What does this have to do with us?” Savage asked, hoping the lawman would hurry the hell up with whatever it was he had to say.
“He was driving slowly by the pride’s land, looking up toward the house.” Sheriff Lynch sighed. “Savage…I ran his information. He was a scientist with a lab out of Nashville.”
“Shit,” he growled, knowing their fears may have just come true. They’d been warned by others in their world that the humans might want to study them. Savage had a damn good feeling they weren’t going to ask nicely when that time came, and from the look on the sheriff’s face, that time may be coming sooner than they ever expected.
“I ran his information twice,” he answered. “No priors. No tickets. He was clean as a whistle, but I noticed the badge on his coat and made a mental note to look up the name of the place.”
“What’s the name of the place he works at?” Savage’s hands twitched at his side. His panther snarled in his head so loudly, he almost didn’t hear what the sheriff had to say.
“Rycon Institute,” Sheriff Lynch answered. “They are a medical research lab. There is no information on the internet about who is funding the place, either. I checked.”
“Son of a bitch,” Savage snarled.
“You do have that new fence monitored, don’t you?” The sheriff walked over to the window and looked out toward the back of the building. “I’ll do a patrol by your land a few times a night and have my other officers do the same on their shifts.”
“We can take care of our own, Sheriff,” Savage grunted. The last thing they needed was the law on their doorstep. It wouldn’t work well for the pride.
“Has anyone seen the guy who attacked Nova?” the sheriff asked, turning around as he lifted his eyebrow in question.
“Nope,” Savage replied, not showing any fear. As a predator, the panthers were very good at camouflaging their emotions. “He probably ran home to his mama.”
Little did the sheriff know that his brother and Nova’s mate, Winter Blue, had taken care of Perry the way shifters took care of a threat. The werewolf was no longer a concern.
“Call me if you have any suspicious activity around your property,” Sheriff Lynch stated as he walked over and unlocked the office door.
Savage wasn’t worried about anyone getting on the pride’s land. Ranger, Noah, and Booth were now in charge of security at home. Some of the pride’s males were tasked with keeping watch over the land as additional help to the Guardians since the wolves had easily found their females. “Will do, Sheriff.”
After the sheriff left the office, Savage made sure he was long gone before putting the phone to his ear and placing a call he didn’t want to make.
“Talon…we have a problem,” he snarled.
“What is it?” Talon asked. Savage replayed the conversation with the sheriff and growled along with his alpha.
“I honestly think things are about to get worse for us,” Savage stated.
“The fence is complete and the monitors are live,” Talon began. “I need you to keep an eye on my mate until I can get there.”
“No one will touch her,” he promised, leaving the office so he could get back to his perch at the end of the bar. Liberty was just as important as Talon, and the Guardians would forfeit their lives to save the alpha’s mate and their unborn child.
“I’ll be at the bar within the hour,” Talon said. “I’ll have all of the Guardians meet me there so you can inform everyone of what the sheriff told you.”
Liberty raised a questioning brow as he found his way back out to his seat. He didn’t want to worry the alpha’s mate, so he just shook his head, silently telling her it wasn’t all that important. He’d let Talon be the one to speak to his mate.
Savage’s head swung toward the door when the scent of wildflowers crossed his senses. Mary Grace walked through the door, the afternoon sun shining behind her like a spotlight. Her long, blonde hair fell in ringlets over her shoulders. She wore a pair of tight denim jeans and the work shirt that displayed the bar’s name. Her sapphire eyes sparkled when she smiled at Liberty, who was wiping down one of the tables by the door. Savage’s panther sat up in his mind, clawing its way to the surface. There was no doubt that they both had an interest in the waitress. Mary Grace was absolutely beautiful.
He frowned when she pulled at her shirt, covering her voluptuous hips. Jesus, how could she not realize how stunning she actually was? She was tall, but not even close to being as tall as Savage. Her waist was small, her breasts large, and her hips flared out to make the perfect hourglass shape. Savage had to swallow to keep from drooling all over himself when she was near.
“Hello, Savage,” she greeted as she came to stand next to him at the bar. Ever since Savage had kicked her ex’s ass, she’d been more open and less shy. The thought of that son of a bitch tearing her down so much that she was afraid to talk to anyone set him and his panther on edge.
“Good afternoon, sweetheart.” He winked, causing a beautiful blush to paint her cheeks. She didn’t say anything as she grabbed an order pad and made her way back to the employee breakroom.
The beast inside him demanded he follow her to see if he could catch her alone, but that would probably scare her. She’d been a little skittish around him over the past several months, but at least now she was opening up some and would speak to him before he spoke first. If he did go back to the breakroom and found her staring at herself in disgust again, Savage honestly thought he’d find ole Frank again and kill the son of a bitch for good this time.
It wasn’t but a few minutes before some of the Guardians started coming through the door. Savage took his whiskey and found his way to the large table in the back corner of the bar. It was their usual seat and he figured they could hang out there until Talon arrived. He had a feeling they’d need Liberty’s office for the announcement he had about the strange scientist in the area.
Storm and Ranger grabbed a beer at the bar and made their way over to the table. Winter came in shortly after with Nova and, after a claiming kiss, joined the rest of them. Savage caught sight of Mary Grace leaving the kitchen with a tray of food and she smiled warmly at them as she passed.
“Where’s the fire?” Booth asked as soon as he took a seat across from Savage.
“Wait until the boss is here,” Savage grumbled as he watched Mary Grace setting plates in front of a few construction workers two tables over.
One of them looked at Mary Grace with lust in his eyes and Savage didn’t even realize he’d started out of his seat to go kill the fucker until Noah clamped a hand on his forearm. “Whoa, Savage.”
“She’s fine,” Winter said, walking up to the table.
“If she were mine,” Savage growled, “she wouldn’t have to deal with these assholes.”
“But she’s not yours,” Ranger reminded, but raised an inquisitive brow. “Unless?”
“No,” Savage said, shaking his head. “I haven’t touched her.”
“Haven’t or won’t?” Winter asked. “I think I remember some of you giving me hell for not touching Nova.”
“Well, you were a dumbass,” Savage grunted.
Savage was saved by their alpha entering the building. Talon’s presence was a thick authority that clouded the air. Even the humans sat up straighter when he was near. It was the alpha’s power that made him such a force.
Liberty met him in front of the bar and after a few whispered words, she nodded and looked toward the table of Guardians. Talon tossed his head to the side, and that was all the panthers needed to see to know they were being summoned for the meeting that might just change the way they lived.
“What’s going on with them?” Mary Grace asked Liberty as she slid an empty tray into the window so Moe could fill it with the next order.
“Panther meeting.” Liberty shrugged. “I figured if it was really important, he’d have let me know.”
“Okay.” Mary Grace smiled. “I’ll see you out on the floor.”
She left her boss standing by the kitchen and pulled an order pad out of her back pocket as she walked toward the front of the building. Some old southern rock music played over the speakers and she found herself tapping her foot to the beat as she took the table’s order.
“Hey, Mac,” she said cheerfully. “What can I get you?”
“Cheeseburger, fries, and a beer.” The old man smiled. “How ya been, Mary Grace?” Mac was an old friend of her late grandfather, and she’d known him for as long as she could remember.
“I’ve been great,” she said, speaking honestly for once. Ever since she’d kicked Frank out, she’d been smiling a lot more; and for once in just under a year, actually felt good about herself.
She asked around the table of men who were there with Mac for a late lunch, jotting down their orders. After a promise to get their beers poured, Mary Grace stopped by the kitchen window and placed the order on the turnstile and hollered at Moe, “Order!”
Moe grumbled some sort of reply but she didn’t stick around to make small talk. The bar was filling up and it was time to work. She was only working dinner after pulling a double the day before. She had been working longer shifts ever since Liberty finally fired Nicole for being a snot-nosed little twit. Mary Grace never did like that girl anyway.
It wasn’t long before Liberty’s husband came out of the back with all of his Guardians following him. Each one of them were larger than life, and it didn’t take a genius to know they were all predators. Their faces were set in stone, as if whatever Talon had said had put them on edge. She started to turn away but froze when Savage rounded the corner and their eyes met. He stopped and leaned against the wall where the end of the hallway opened up into the dining area of the bar. Those tattooed arms flexed as he crossed them over his chest, and he didn’t take his eyes off of her. Savage made her nervous and sexually frustrated at the same time.
There was something about the way he smelled whenever he was near her. Mary Grace couldn’t even identify its uniqueness. Savage Corvera was a man who was in control of every aspect of his life and the confidence showed just by the way he carried himself. The woodsy scent on his skin was so appealing, she found herself floating on a contented high for hours after she’d go home, swearing his perfume was imbedded in her skin, but knowing it was only her mind playing tricks on her. Savage had never touched her and she was pretty sure he never would.
Liberty had explained things to all of her employees when she’d mated the leader of the panthers. The men didn’t touch women openly because that was a surefire way for their kind to find their soul mates. The Guardians usually kept their distance, preferring to only touch a woman when they were sure she was the one.
It wasn’t like they never touched a woman. She’d overheard a few of the Guardians talking in hushed tones about hooking up with females they’d found an interest in on a lonely night. Guardian Ranger recently met a woman who he took to his bed, but made it perfectly clear to her that he wasn’t going to see her again after he’d touched her and realized she wasn’t his mate. She guessed that everyone had an itch that needed scratching every once in a while, no matter your species.
Mary Grace filed away that information for later. Working in a bar, she heard all of the deep and dirty secrets that floated through the place during each shift. There were things she knew about every one of the regulars. Just like how Red Mason was coming in to drown his sorrows in a pitcher of beer every night because his wife had left him for a man who made more money and could give her the life she wanted. Poor Red was devastated.
“Hey, sugar,” a customer called out. “Can I get a beer?”
“Sure,” she said as she nodded. The music blasting over the speakers was a song about a guy’s reputation and it was one that she liked. As she waited for Cole to hand over the drink, she tapped her foot to the beat. She could still feel Savage watching her, but she didn’t have the nerve to look and see if he’d moved from his spot.
“You good?” Cole asked, his brow furrowed as he looked around the bar. “We need to hire another waitress. You and Della cannot handle these crowds on the weekends.”
“Um, no. We don’t need another waitress,” Mary Grace chuckled. “I like the tips.”
Cole laughed and shook his head as he dried a glass behind the bar. A few people came in to grab two seats at the bar and Mary Grace fell into a routine for the next few hours. The Guardians all hovered around their big table at the back of the bar. Della was working the other half of the bar and pretty much kept to herself.
Talon and Winter were playing a game of pool while both of them watched their wives from the corner of their eyes. It was sweet, but Mary Grace had a moment of sadness. She wished she had a man who loved her as much as those two men loved Liberty and Nova.
“Hey guys,” Mary Grace said as she approached the table of shifters. Savage was there, only inches from where she was standing. He turned slightly in his seat and her cheeks heated when his gaze roamed up and down her body. “What can I get for you?”
Her gaze flickered over to the other Guardians, then back toward Savage. She stifled a gasp when his eyes started to change. Just like her bosses, this man was also a shifter. His other half was obviously causing the sparks in his eyes. She had to shake herself to keep from staring at him and making an absolute fool of herself.
“Round of beers,” Savage said, nodding toward the others. Each one rattled off an order for food and Mary Grace wanted to get away so she didn’t have to make small talk with Savage. He made her uncomfortable and very, very hot.
“I’ll be back with your drinks,” she mumbled.
As she waited for Cole to load the beers on her tray, Mary Grace’s phone rang from her back pocket. She slid it free and looked at the screen, stiffening when she saw that Frank was calling her. She wouldn’t answer that phone call for a million dollars. Gritting her teeth, she sent it to voicemail and turned around to look out over the bar, only to freeze in her place when Savage was standing right behind her and staring at her with glowing sparks in his eyes. His gaze flickered to her pocket and back to her face. She didn’t need that panther getting into her business any more than he already was. She was absolutely certain nothing good would come from it.
“Was that Frank?” he asked, his eyes shifting from ice blue to glowing amber and back again. That look honestly scared her…and it made her body melt where she stood. He surrounded her without even touching her. How he did that, she couldn’t even explain it. The sensations she felt when he was that close sent her into a lust filled dream of his touch.
“Yeah.” She paused to clear her throat. “Um, yeah.”
“Has he been bothering you?” Savage’s eyes roamed her body, examining from her head to her feet. She shivered from the look he gave her.
“That’s the first I’ve heard from him since…well, since that day.” She shifted nervously as Savage moved closer, but not close enough to touch. She did close her eyes when his unique scent reached her nose, but she only had a second to absorb it before he backed away.
“You will call me if he comes back around,” Savage ordered. That wasn’t a question. No, Mary Grace was certain that Savage wasn’t a man to ask for anything…he just demanded it. “I mean it, Mary Grace.”
“I really think he’s gone.” She shrugged, trying to calm the man in front of her. She could tell he was agitated, and she didn’t want to be the cause of his anger. “It’s going to be okay, Savage.”
“It better be okay,” he mumbled. “I don’t want that son of a bitch around you.”
“It’s okay, Savage,” she whispered.
“I’ll be watching,” he growled, turning around to return to his seat.
“Here’re your beers,” Cole said, interrupting her staring at Savage’s back as he walked away.
She delivered the beers and left to check on another table. After Talon and his Guardians ate, most of them left the bar, including Savage. She was a little sad he wasn’t there and she ended up feeling that loss for the rest of the night.
Savage intrigued her. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on. His hair was long and fell over his eyes as if he were either hiding from the world or just so much of a badass that he had to keep up with his appearance. Either way, Mary Grace wanted to run her fingers through the top of it to push it out of his ice blue eyes. She wanted to see him smile just for her and that thought right there needed to stop. She wasn’t intrigued by him…she was infatuated with him. Holy hell, every time he was around, she wanted to strip his clothes off and jump his bones.
That would never happen.
After the bar closed and everything was cleaned up, Mary Grace said her goodbyes and jumped into her car. She lived a town over from the bar and it usually took her about twenty minutes to get home. Once she arrived, she grabbed her purse from the backseat and locked up her vehicle.
The front porch light on her mobile home cast just enough light to see where she walked as she climbed the steps and unlocked the door. She flipped on the light switch inside the door to light up her living room and turned to close the front door when a boot wedged itself against the frame.
“Mary Grace,” Frank snarled, pushing the door wide open.
“What are you doing here?” she gasped, dropping her purse in the process. “Get out!”
“No,” he replied. “I have someone who wants to meet you.”
“It’s one in the morning, Frank,” she argued. “And what happened to your teeth?”
“That fucking panther,” he growled, reaching for her arm. “Come with me.”
Mary Grace was quicker and yanked her arm back before Frank got a good grip. She hurried into the kitchen, trying to put as much distance between them as she could. Her phone was in her purse that she had dropped when Frank rushed the door. She didn’t have any other way of calling for help.
“No, Frank,” she yelled, holding her hands out in front of her as if to stop him from coming after her. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“They’re paying me a bunch of money,” he answered, pausing to run his fingers through his thinning hairline. He wasn’t the best looking man in the world, but he wasn’t haggard, either. Frank Templeton was just…blah.
“Who’s paying you a bunch of money?” she questioned. Whatever nonsense he was spouting, she really didn’t want to know. She just wanted Frank out of her house so she could go to bed. “What’s going on?”
“That’s it! Come here, woman,” Frank snapped. “I’ll drag you out of here, Mary Grace.”
He took a step toward her and she frantically looked around for something to use as a weapon. To her left was a butcher block and a big knife she used maybe once a year when she had to cook something for a potluck at work. Her fingers wrapped around the handle and the metal sliding free was drowned out by Frank’s heavy footfalls.
“Get out of here, Frank,” she warned one last time, holding the knife up in front of her. She honestly didn’t know how the hell she was going to scare him away. He knew she would never hurt him, or anyone for that matter.
“No,” he said, reaching for her arm.
He snagged her free wrist and pulled her body close to his. She could smell the horrible aftershave he’d used ever since she’d known him. Frank tried to grasp the arm that held the knife as he growled in her ear to hand over the blade. Mary Grace cursed as he tightened his hold on her. She wasn’t going to win this battle and she knew it. Trying one last time to get Frank away from her, she stomped on his foot, causing him to cry out in pain. He stumbled backwards toward the short hallway that led to her bedroom, pulling her as he fell. She tried to roll out of his hold, but she didn’t make it far.
With an ear shattering scream, Mary Grace cried out as the knife slid into her side. Frank let out a curse and scrambled to his feet, rushing out the door just as her vision blurred, but looked over his shoulder one last time with a panicked look on his face.
“I’m sorry…so sorry,” he whispered, closing the door as he fled.