Chapter 51 Raine
Raine
By the time the sun dipped behind the hills, the motel had gone quiet. Troopers had pulled out, the rescued families were sent to safer ground, and Adam’s men had retreated to their own rooms to try and get some sleep.
I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling a clean shirt over bruised ribs, watching Adam pace. He’d been restless since Logan barged in. Restless and tense, his shoulders rigid, his jaw tight.
“You don’t trust him,” I said softly.
Adam froze, then turned, his eyes catching the last strip of sunlight through the curtains. “He had a chance to be there, Raine. He wasn’t. My men almost died because backup never came, and he was locked in a cell swinging fists at uniforms.”
My throat pinched. “He did it for me.”
Adam scrubbed a hand over his face, the sound rough in the silence. “I know. That’s the only reason I’m letting Hawk even look at him. But if he screws this, I’ll shut him out. For good.”
I nodded, though my chest ached. Logan was my brother, but Adam was the man I’d loved my whole life. And I knew which side I’d stand on if I had to choose.
The room fell quiet again, just the hum of the cheap air conditioner and the weight of everything unspoken. Finally, Adam crossed the space between us, sinking to his knees in front of me.
His hands slid to my thighs, gentle despite the callouses and bandages. “I can’t lose you again,” he whispered, raw and rough. “Not to them. Not to the past. Not to anything.”
I cupped his face, tracing the scar that cut across his jaw. “Then don’t. You will never lose me again.”
For a long moment, we just stayed there—his forehead pressed to my stomach, my fingers in his hair, breathing in sync. No storm, no enemies, no betrayals. Just us.
Eventually, he lifted his head, the storm still in his eyes but tempered by something deeper. Love. Resolve.
“We’ll figure out who’s behind this,” he said. “But tonight… it’s just us.”
And for the first time in five years, I believed him.