Alexis sat on the edge of the tub, still fully dressed, watching the basin fill with water, the bubbles grow. She was upset. Upset on so many levels, Alexis didn’t know if she was coming or going. Worried over Kelly and completely rattled over the ranch—afraid she was about to lose it. No. Certain. Absolutely certain that everything her father had worked for was going to end horribly. At least selling the ranch would have felt like a successful ending. Losing it was devastating. Adding to those things was a complication she’d warned herself not to create, but she had. She’d gone and fallen in love with Ryder. Head over heels in love. And tonight she’d been ready to tell him everything going on in her life, to spill the beans about how bad her circumstances were. No more talking in circles and telling him half the story. No more avoiding his ideas to help the ranch grow and prosper because she didn’t have the money to implement any of the changes he suggested. She was going to trust him completely.
But as surely as she’d been ready to open up, he’d disappeared. Gone three hours without a word. The timing had been undeniably horrible. A silent promise that leaning on him was dangerous. He was leaving. He had never said anything about staying. Not once. Heck. Maybe he already had left. Maybe he’d heard her talking to the bank and had packed up and gone. She stood up and took off toward the door, determined to find out.
Turning off the water, she ran down the stairs as if she was on fire. She needed to know if she had trusted her heart to someone who didn’t deserve it. Halfway down the stairs, she drew to an abrupt halt, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. Ryder was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was devastatingly handsome, his hair tousled, lithe muscle defined beneath soft denim. But it was his eyes that got to her, the soul-deep torment within them.
“Alexis.” He whispered her name, softly, full of emotion.
“What?” she whispered. “What is it?”
He took a step upward, coming closer to her. She wanted him closer. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said.
Her heart squeezed. “But you’re going to.”
He shook his head slowly, his voice still low, his voice gravely. “I have obligations. Things I have to deal with.”
She could barely swallow. “I understand. I knew this was temporary.” She drew her spine stiff. “I appreciate all the help you gave us.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “Just like that? You’re ready to kick me to the curb?”
“What do you want me to say, Ryder? You just told me you’re leaving.”
“No, Alexis. You don’t understand. I never said I was leaving. I said I have obligations. I have more than obligations. I have a duty.”
“To Jaguar Ranch,” she said flatly. It hurt. He had a real job, a real life. Damn it. Why did she do this to herself? And she had done it to herself. He’d never promised her anything. Before he came, she’d been fine on her own.
His hand was on the railing. “I thought about all kinds of ways to talk to you about this. Played it over and over in my head.”
“Goodbye,” she said. “It’s simple.” She crossed her arms in front of her body, feigning nonchalant cool when her insides were shredded. “It’s okay.”
He stared at her, his eyes dark, intense. Anger began to burn in their depths. “Is it okay?” he asked, a demand in his voice. “Is my leaving really okay with you?”
She wanted to tell him no. No, it wasn’t okay. But she was scared. When had she become so scared? “I don’t know what you want from me. I don’t.” Why did he have to push her beyond her comfort zone?
“I want you to answer the question,” he said. “Is my leaving okay with you?”
She wanted to answer. “You have obligations. What I want doesn’t matter.” She turned to walk up the stairs.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him, heat flickering up her arm with the touch. “I want you to believe in me enough to tell me to stay,” he said. “I want you to say it. But if you do, I need you to mean it.” His lashes lowered, lifted. He whispered her name. “Alexis. Tomorrow is here.”
She was confused. No. She was done fighting. She wanted him. “Damn you, Ryder. No. No, I don’t want you to go.” Her eyes burned, stupid tears threatening to make her look weak and needy. “Are you happy now?”
He laced his fingers through her hair, framed her face. “I don’t want to go, Alexis. I don’t.”
“Why do I sense a but? You don’t want to, but what?”
The front door jiggled. Not now, Alexis thought desperately. “Kelly,” she said. “It has to be.”
“Alexis!” It was the housekeeper, Beverly. “Alexis!”
Before they could make it to the bottom of the stairs, Beverly was there, her short, dark hair wild, her expression flustered. “Rick is in jail. He saw Hector roughing up Kelly and he went after Hector.”
“Oh, no!” Alexis said. “Is he okay?”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes. He’s fine. He’s worried about Kelly. He thinks Hector is going to blame her for all the bad publicity at the bar.”
“Let’s go,” Ryder said, grabbing Alexis’s hand and tugging her with him.
Alexis saw Beverly glance at their connected hands, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care because something in the way Ryder held her hand, the way he claimed her crisis as his own, made her never want to let go of him.
Ryder whipped the truck into the parking lot of the Double R Tavern, thinking how profoundly ironic it was to end up here tonight, the place where he’d become a Demon hunter. He’d been only seconds from confessing who and what he was to Alexis when they’d found out about Kelly. And damn, how he’d wanted to tell her. Wanted to get the secrets dealt with, the past behind him, once and for all. But this situation with Kelly had to be handled first. More than once he’d thought he’d spotted evidence of Kelly being abused. More than once he’d wanted to come to this bar and beat that sorry bastard’s ass. It was long past due.
Easing the truck into a graveled spot at the side of the bar, Ryder put the gear in Park and left the engine running. Alexis reached for the door, and Ryder grabbed her arm. “Stay here behind the wheel, ready to drive. I’ll take care of Hector. You can count on it.” She looked as though she might argue, but changed her mind, logic winning against her emotional need to see Kelly. He started to get out. “Lock the doors.”
The minute he was out of the truck, he scented Beasts. Damn it! His swords were under his seat in the truck. Another little ironic twist of this night. Same bar he’d died at. Same enemy. No way to defend himself.
He started for the door when he heard Alexis call his name. “Ryder.” She was running toward him. “The back parking lot. I just saw them go out the side door.”
Back parking lot. The location of his attack. And Alexis was running in that direction. Ryder’s gut twisted with warning. This moment was what he had come here for; this was where everything began and where it could end.