“Jesus Christ, where have you been?”

“I was out of the city. I get shitty reception. What’s the word?”

“There has been a new development. It’s not fucking good, man.”

“What do you mean new development? Just spit it the fuck out already. Did you find him or not?”

“No, but he found this guy named Shawn Miller, a local lawyer, looks like a few hours ago. Beat him to death.”

“Fuck…” my voice trailed off as I thought about Rose’s cheating fiancé.

“Wait, you know who he is?”

I closed my eyes and looked up at the sky, wishing I had kept my big fucking mouth shut.

“Where is she, Bishop?”

I pounded my fist on the roof of my car.

“WHERE IS SHE, BISHOP?” he asked again, not disguising his anger. I pulled open the driver’s side door and slid back into my car.

“She’s safe,” I finally admitted as I turned the key in the ignition. Brock let out a string of expletives at the realization that I had been lying to him the entire time.

“She’s not safe and neither are you until we find this son of a bitch. Do you have any idea what he did to this guy? To her fiancé?” The word fiancé stung and only added fuel to my anger.

“He didn’t do half of what I am going to do to him once I get my hands on him.” I hung up, this time tossing my phone on the dashboard, harder than intended. I had only a few hours left until I needed to do this job for Danny or we would have a whole lot more trouble on our hands. If I could pull this off, he would be none the wiser about her being alive.

I had no idea where to begin my search, but this was going to prove to be very bad. I turned off on the side ally to my apartment. I needed to get some things and get the hell out of there. I couldn’t leave any traces of Rose behind. I pulled up next to the fire escape, not bothering to park in the garage. I would only be in and out and, in the darkness, I would be safe for a few minutes.

I made sure my gun was safely in the back of my jeans as I got out of the car and scanned the road for anyone who had tailed me. I climbed the old metal fire escape until I reached my living room window. It was cracked a good three inches and I was certain I had not left it like that. I pulled out my weapon and held it in front of me as I quietly slid open the window and slipped inside. The place was destroyed. Books had been thrown from one end of the apartment to the other. My old leather couch was flipped onto its back. This was more than a standard robbery. This was someone who was very, very pissed off.

I tiptoed from room to room as I made sure no one had stayed behind to hurt me. Once I was certain it was clear I slipped my gun back in my pants and knocked the little bottle of mouth wash and tooth paste off my bathroom sink. I ran my hand roughly over my chin. I walked out of my bathroom in a daze and turned the corner to my room. I sank down on the bed and looked up to my dresser and my heart sank. I pushed away from the old mattress and grabbed the picture of Amber from her police file that sat alone on top of it.

“Fuck!” I hurried as fast as I could out of the room and down the fire escape to my car. I needed to call Amber and make sure that they were both okay. I was practically dizzy with worry and anger as I grabbed the phone from my dash and called Amber’s cell phone. It went straight to voice mail and I realized that her reception was just as bad as mine when she was out at the old house.

The sun had long set, and I raced as fast as I could across town, praying I wouldn’t get pulled over and be forced to beat the shit out of a cop so I could get back home. I was seeing red, I couldn’t even begin to process what was happening. Was it Craig? Was it Danny? Had he figured out what I had been doing? He hadn’t given any indication that he knew something when I had talked to him earlier.

I contemplated calling back Brock and having him meet me at my house, but I knew better. The odds of anyone finding the women were slim, and Brock was still tied up with the lawyer. I needed to do this alone. I needed to be certain these fucking assholes wouldn’t be coming back and hurting Rose again.

The drive seemed to last for hours as I sped down the darkened back roads outside of the city. It was like traveling from one planet to the next. Life, time — all of it seemed to pull to a stop when you left the busy life of New York behind. The outskirts, like those of any city, were dotted with small, poor towns filled with people struggling to survive a simple existence.

Most were oblivious to what went on behind others’ closed doors — not like a city where everyone lives on top of each other but doesn’t give a shit if they hear someone getting killed as long as it didn’t affect them.

I promised Rose this would all be okay. I promised her and I couldn’t live with myself if it was a lie. The old dusty drive to my house sent my heart into overdrive. The lights in the house were off, and I left the car several feet from its parking spot, then jumped out and ran for the front door. My feet felt like they were encased in cement as I struggled to get to the front door as quickly as possible. It was my nightmare. It was everything I had feared since the moment I’d laid eyes on Rose. All of my police training went out the window as I pulled my gun from my pants and walked cautiously up to the front door. I needed to be cautious, but the fear overwhelmed and consumed me. If she had come back into my life only to be ripped away, I would finally snap. The world hadn’t seen the worst of Colton Bishop. I shook the anger from my thoughts as I thought through the process of clearing a building. I needed to eliminate any threat, but I didn’t want to kill whoever may have hurt her. I wanted to injure, cause pain, make him suffer.

I slowly pulled open the screen door, cursing myself silently as it squeaked. I should have maintained this hellhole so I wouldn’t have to worry that I had just alerted a perpetrator. I took a long deep breath and slowly, painfully slowly, turned the knob to the front door, pushing it free from its frame. I held my gun out from me, one arm locked in position and the other cupped below to steady my aim. I looked from side to side. Nothing. I took a cautious step inside, my back to the wall as I aimed into the kitchen, walking quietly into the room. Nothing. I backtracked toward the living room, glancing up the staircase that now seemed a mile high. I could see Amber’s door, and it was closed. Rose’s was off to the side, and I couldn’t see it from my position. I took a quick check of the family room, wasting little precious time.

I took the stairs two at a time, unable to keep myself from checking on them any longer. I gripped the doorknob to my childhood bedroom and let out a deep breath as I turned it slowly and pushed it open. I couldn’t see anything and I kept my gun out in front of me.

“What are you doing?” Amber called from the bathroom, scaring the shit out of me. I spun around to see, my weapon aimed at her chest.

“Jesus fucking Christ. You scared the hell of me.” I sighed as I slipped the gun into the back of my jeans. Just then my parents’ bedroom door opened and Rose stepped out.

“I could say the same thing.” Amber folded her arms over her chest. She was wearing one of my oversize T-shirts and looked exhausted.

“Sorry. Go to bed. Everything is fine.”

Amber stalked passed me and into her room, closing the door behind her. After a few seconds I heard the familiar sound of her music fill the house. She hated sleeping in silence and would be out before her head hit the pillow. My eyes danced over Rose in her tiny T-shirt and panties. She had obviously removed her bra before falling asleep. Her hair was wild and messy.

“How did it go?” she asked as I walked toward her. “I was really worried.”

“You have nothing to worry about, sweetheart. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I was worried about you.”

I pulled my T-shirt over my head, grabbing my gun and wrapping it inside before placing it on the ground next to the doorway. I was in overdrive. Her being more worried about me than herself let me know that she was not going to run from me again. I knew this was our forever, even if that only meant a few more days. “Take off your shirt.” She complied with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

I grabbed her ass and lifted her, sliding her against my cock as it strained inside of my jeans. Rose in only her panties was too fucking hard to resist.

“Wrap your legs around me, sweetheart.” I pushed her back against the wall as I leaned in, running my tongue over her neck. Her head fell back and her fingers splayed against the wall.

“There’s nothing for me to hold on to.” She panted as I nipped her earlobe with my teeth.

“Hold on to me, darlin’,” I whispered into her ear as I pushed my hips against hers. Her hands gripped my shoulders and her nails dug into my flesh. I groaned, shoving down my jeans and pushing against her entrance. She pushed back against me, just as eager to have me inside of her.

“I’m not going to be gentle this time.” I gripped the side of her panties and ripped them with a quick tug.

“That was gentle before?” Her voice was breathy. I laughed into the crook of her neck.

“I suggest you hold on tight, sweetheart. You are about to find out.” I gripped her ass in one hand and I used my other hand to rip away the other side of her panties, pulling the torn fabric from between us. I thrust inside her with one fast move and she cried out, her hands sliding into my hair and fisting as she panted. I covered her mouth with mine to help muffle her cries as I drove deeper inside of her tight pussy. Her tongue pushed back against mine, hard and fast.

With one hand gripping her ass and one bracing the wall, I pulled her hips toward me as I continued to fuck her the way I had dreamed of doing since the first day I heard her scream my name in that alleyway. I wanted to hear it again and again. I couldn’t get enough of her. Her smell, the feel of her soft skin against my rough touch. She was intoxicating.

“You’re so wet for me,” I growled as I continued to fuck her, my strokes longer and slower now, teasing her.

“Don’t stop,” she moaned as her eyes fell closed.

“That’s not even an option.” I pulled almost completely out of her, teasing her with the head of my cock as it slid over her folds. “Look at me, sweetheart. Look how fucking good we are together.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed down between us as my hips rotated against hers. Slipping back inside, I pulled my hand from the wall and ran it over one of her perfect tits. She gripped my hair tighter and pulled my mouth to hers, just as hungry for my touch as I was to give it to her. A growl emanated from the back of my throat as I drove into her, harder with each thrust. The sexiest little whimpers escaped her each time I was buried deep inside of her.

“You like it when I fuck you like this?” I asked as she cried out again.

“Yes,” she replied, her back bowed toward me.

“You can’t ever give this to anyone else, Rose. This is mine. It’s always been mine.” I ran my fingers from her collar bone, over her chest and found her swollen clit between us.

“It’s yours, Colt. I’m yours,” she moaned.

I rolled my thumb over her one last time as she unraveled, her pussy gripping and massaging my cock as she came.

“Colt,” she cried and I buried my head in the crook of her neck as I came inside of her. Her body trembled below me as my teeth grazed her shoulder.

I slid her body down mine, slicked with sweat. Her legs wobbled and I kept a firm grasp of her waist until I was sure she could stand on her own. I pushed the damp hair from her cheek, running my fingers along her jaw as she smiled up at me, glowing.

“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on.” My hand slid lower, cupping the weight of her breast in my palm. I rested my forehead against hers as we both struggled to catch our breath, my thumb sliding lazily over her hardened nipple. She slowly raised her fingers, sliding them over the ridges of my abdomen before her eyes found mine. I grinned at her, knowing damn well she had claimed me as hers as well.