Chapter 18
Just as her fingers were about to give, the suit spun around. The next thing Prudence knew, his back slammed up against her door. She hit the lock button and scrambled to get out from the driver’s side as Adam threw a punch so hard the man’s head snapped to the right.
She ran her hand along the floorboard, searching for a weapon. Bingo. She curled her fingers around a handle and then pulled out a hammer.
As she rounded the back of the truck, she caught sight of blood.
The next few moments happened in slow motion.
Adam threw a punch so hard she heard the suit’s jaw snap. She was certain he’d broken bone. As Adam brought his fist up for another round, blood squirted from his hand. A lot of blood.
She glanced around for some kind of weapon. A knife?
The glint of metal five feet behind Adam caught her eye. Suit must’ve found it at the same time because he lunged toward Adam, using the truck to deliver enough force to knock Adam back a couple of steps.
As the suit dropped to the ground, Prudence dove toward the knife. She knocked it farther away half a second before the suit got there. Her skin burned where the concrete shredded her forearm as she landed. She managed to keep her head from slamming into the pavement.
But the suit gripped her by the chin, squeezing until she thought her eyeballs might pop out.
“Where’s the kid?” he ground out.
With all her strength, she slammed the hammer into his forehead as Adam literally pulled the man off her. The suit went flying up, hands behind his back as Adam put him in some type of wrestling lock.
The suit’s head snapped back, and he blinked a few times like he was barely holding onto consciousness.
The sweet sound of sirens split the air. Help was coming.
Still, she scrambled toward the knife and kicked it as far as she could. The sound of metal grinding across concrete caused her shoulders to tense.
“You’ll never find her,” Adam said, hauling the suit chest first over the hood of the pickup truck.
“They will.” Adrenaline must have kicked in, giving the lawyer a boost to stay coherent. Blood splattered from his nose and colored his teeth in what looked like red dye.
Who would? The grandparents? Her main concern right now was Adam. Blood dripped from his elbow. There was a lot. Too much.
Lawler’s SUV roared up to the scene. He was out of the driver’s seat and handcuffing the suit faster than Prudence could say, under arrest.
“I’m a lawyer,” the suit claimed. “I’ll sue the shirt off this department if I’m not provided emergency medical care now.”
Lawler quickly assessed the scene.
“You’ll have access to medicine,” he said. Right now, though, I plan to read your rights.” He walked the lawyer over to the back of the SUV and moved him inside as he started with, “You have the right to remain silent…”
Prudence hopped to her feet and ran to Adam. Lawler was there. The lawyer was going to jail. The news seemed to sink in as he confessed that he’d been hired by the Warringtons to make ‘the little problem’ go away.
Would they sign over their rights and walk away now? They wouldn’t need to. She overheard Lawler making the call to his office to place them both under arrest.
She skimmed Adam, looking for signs of injury. Her gaze stopped on his arm where blood pulsed out of his wound. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s a scratch. I need something to tie it off with,” he said. “Stop the bleeding.”
She immediately found a towel in his backseat.
He tied off his arm above the wound, which stemmed the bleeding while an ambulance pulled up, and a pair EMTs came bolting toward them.
“Let’s have a look at that injury, sir,” one of them said.
He was young, early twenties if Prudence had to guess.
All she could think of was how easily it would have been to lose Adam today.
The thought gutted her. Her heart squeezed because in that instant, she saw a different future unfold.
One where he was gone and her life was empty.
She couldn’t allow that to happen, not without fighting for the future she wanted. Needed?
Yes, she needed Adam in her life and she had to know if he felt the same.
An EMT went to work on him, but he tried to wave him off.
“She’s injured,” Adam said. “You can work on me when I know she’s all right.”
“It’s barely a scratch,” she said. Her skin burned but she was nowhere near as badly injured as he was. “It’s no worse than playing hopscotch on the playground and taking a fall.”
Adam locked gazes with her and her heart free fell. Butterflies released in her stomach.
“Will you let him finish his job if I come over there?” she asked.
“We can talk about it,” he said.
She walked over to him on his good side and reached for his hand. She told the EMT to go ahead and warned Adam that if he argued she would find a way to make him regret it later.
“Will there be a later?” he asked, with the most sincere look in those perfect eyes of his.
“There will if I have anything to say about it,” she reassured.
Adam leaned over and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “I was hoping you’d say something like that.”
“I hate to interrupt, but we need to take you for a ride,” the EMT said.
“I’ve nursed back worse injuries with antibiotic ointment and field stitches.” Adam tried to blow the young guy off.
“How about I go with you?” Prudence asked, tugging on his hand. She caught his gaze and held it. “I need you in tiptop form later.”
Mischief danced in his eyes when he said, “You heard the lady. We’re going to the ER.”
“Don’t let these stitches hold you back from whatever you planned to do to me later.” Adam winked at Prudence as she took the driver’s seat of a ranch truck brought to them by Brax.
She leaned across the cab and kissed him.
Not even the pain medication he was on could dull his senses enough to stop his body from reacting to her soft, full lips pressed against his. He’d been wanting to kiss her all day.
Prudence pulled back first. “Remind me to finish that later.”
“Now’s a good time,” he teased. He was only half joking.
She laughed.
“I’ll keep that in mind. But someone has to drive this thing,” she said.
He held back the remark that was ready on his tongue.
“Plus, the doctor ordered rest. You aren’t supposed to get too excited. Remember?” she asked.
“I was hoping you weren’t listening to that part,” he admitted with another grin.
“We have all the time we want, Adam. There’s no reason to rush,” she said as she started backing out of the parking spot.
“Do you mean that?” he asked.
She stopped the truck half-in and half-out and put the gearshift in park.
“Yes, I do.” She kept her gaze straight ahead.
His seatbelt was off in a heartbeat and he practically flew across the seat.
“I know it’s only been three days, but when I met you my whole life flashed before my eyes. I used to think love at first sight was nothing more than hormones but now I know different,” he started, searching for the right words to let her know just how hard he’d fallen for her.
She met his gaze, her eyes were wide, and he saw so much emotion behind those beautiful blues. Her thick glasses couldn’t hide the beauty there. “The same thing happened to me, like a lightning bolt.”
“I don’t know if I’m Angel’s father but I already feel like we’re supposed to be a family. Together. The three of us,” he continued.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Adam,” she said. “What do we do with it, though?”
“Make a commitment right here and now,” he said without hesitation.
Knowing she’d felt that same jolt when they’d met spurred him on.
“I have fallen in love with you. Hard.” He saw the glittery need in her eyes.
“I’ve been around a long time and dated more people than I care to count trying to find something missing in my life.
Turns out, nothing was. I’m whole. You’re whole.
And I’m a whole lot better when you’re with me.
What I’m saying is that I love you, Prudence. ”
She brought her hand up to cover a gasp. And then she studied him. Really studied him.
A wide smile broke out on her face as she dropped her hand.
“I love you too, Adam. And I can’t imagine ever loving anyone more,” she said.
“It’s crazy because I thought I missed my chance. That love and a family was going to work out fine for my brothers. But because I waited, I thought I’d somehow missed my chance,” he said. “Until you came along. And then I realized why it had never been right before. Because I hadn’t met you.”
“That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me before, Adam Firebrand.”
“Then make me the happiest person in the world.”
She gasped a second time as he reached for her hand, taking it in his, and he could feel hers trembling ever so slightly. “Marry me, Prudence. Allow me to spend the rest of our lives getting to know you and proving to you every day that you made the right choice.”
Now it was his turn to be nervous. It was a strange sensation. One he’d never felt before. And yet, with Prudence he figured there was so much more to explore.
“Yes,” she said instantly. “I’ll marry you, Adam. I’ve never been in love with anyone like I love you. And whether Angel turns out to be ours or not, she’ll always be part of our family.”
Adam kissed his future bride, his love, his life.
And one word came to mind…home.
A horn honked, breaking into the moment. Prudence pulled back and laughed. Mischief danced in her eyes—eyes that he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life staring into.
She shifted into reverse and then made her way to the exit.
“Miss Peabody and Hutch will make great additions to the main house,” Adam said. “My cabin isn’t big enough for all five of us.”
“Will your family be okay with us moving in like that?” she asked.
“You saw how few people were willing to go inside now that the Marshall is gone. I imagine we won’t get too much blow-back if we go through the right channels,” he said.
“Besides, the only time that place has ever felt like home has been with you, Angel, and the dogs in it. It’s time for a change around Firebrand Ranch. ”