Chapter Ninety-One
Xavier
Ruby barely says a word during the drive as Squirt snorts in the back seat. I didn’t blink when she snatched him up and stood outside the passenger door. There was no way she was leaving him behind. Not after everything had happened.
The heater blasts warm air into the cab, fighting the cold that slips through the plastic I'd hastily taped over the shattered back window before we left. Every few seconds it snaps against the frame, another reminder that I didn’t have time to do more than keep the worst of the wind out.
It'll do for tonight. It has to.
She’s turned toward the window, arms wrapped tightly around herself, watching the darkness slide by. Not crying, not shaking, and not saying a damn word. I’d almost rather she yell at me.
Less than eight hours ago she was laughing with Bella and Emily over Thanksgiving dinner. Now all she’s doing is staring out the window.
I grip the steering wheel harder. Every set of headlights that passes throws enough light across her face for me to catch the tension locked in her jaw before she’s swallowed by darkness again.
She’s still replaying it. The shattered glass. The notes. The words.
Stay away from her.
She doesn’t want you.
The plastic behind us rattles again as a larger piece of it breaks free. Worthless. The plastic. The tape. The cameras. The locks. None of it stopped somebody from getting close enough to throw rocks through her window. Close enough to make her afraid to stay in her own home.
My jaw clenches. Whoever’s doing this wanted a reaction. Congratulations. They got one. By the time I turn into my driveway, lights glow through the front windows. Ben’s truck sits crooked near the garage. Sam’s beside it.
For the first time since the first rock came through Ruby’s window, I let myself breathe. There are people here. People I trust. People who’ll help keep her safe while I figure out who’s responsible.
I kill the engine. The truck settles into silence. Neither of us moves right away. “Come on.” My voice comes out quieter than I intended.
She nods like she’s been waiting for me to say it.
The cold rushes into the cab the second I open my door, the plastic over the back window snapping once more in the wind. I don’t care about the truck. I need to get her inside. “Come on.”
The front door barely opens before Sam looks up from the couch. “Dude, you’re back alrea–”
He stops cold when he sees Ruby behind me with Squirt in her arms. His expression changes instantly. “What happened?”
Ben appears from the kitchen a second later, dish towel in his hand. The second he takes in Ruby’s face, his shoulders tense. “Everything okay?”
“No.” The word lands flat in the room. “Someone put a rock through Ruby’s front window.”
Silence.
Sam’s sock-covered feet hit the carpet. “You serious?”
“And my truck,” I add. “They hit the cameras too. I checked the feeds. There’s nothing there.”
Sam mutters a curse under his breath.
Ben’s gaze flicks toward Ruby again, softer this time. “Hey,” he says. “Come sit down.” Ruby hesitates like she doesn’t want to inconvenience anyone. “That wasn’t optional.”
A faint breath of a laugh leaves her as he guides her and Squirt toward the couch.
Sam disappears into the kitchen without saying another word.
Ben snatches his phone off the coffee table. “You call it in?”
“No, didn’t take the time.” Getting Ruby here safely was the only thing I was worried about.
“Anything else?”
“Not that I noticed.” Checked the pigs, fixed the window, and got Ruby out of there. Those were my priorities.
“This isn’t good.” Ben’s jaw tightens as he hits a name on his phone. I don’t have to look to know it’s Jake.
Ruby flinches when a cabinet closes in the kitchen. Her eyes snap toward the sound before she catches herself. Something sharp twists low in my chest.
Sam comes back with a glass of water and presses it into her hands. “Drink.”
“You guys are hovering,” she murmurs.
“Yeah,” Sam says. “We are.”
Nobody apologizes for it as Ben paces between the kitchen and living room with the phone plastered to his ear. Every few seconds, he asks one of us a question and relays the information to Jake.
Sam starts cleaning counters that are already clean. I march to the front door, checking the lock that I’ve already secured five times in the last ten minutes.
Nobody says anything about it. But we all feel it.
Ruby curls deeper into the corner of the couch while Squirt snuffles noisily against her leg before flopping onto the rug with a grunt. Now and then, Ruby reaches down to keep a hand against his side.
Sam glances toward the hallway. “We can make up the guest room.”
“She’s staying with me,” I say. Too fast. Too automatic. Ruby’s head lifts. “Until we figure out what the hell this guy is doing.”
Sam’s eyes flick toward me for half a second before he looks away again. “Alright.” But something in his expression suggests he heard the first part more loudly than the second.
I step into the kitchen and call Dad before I can think too hard about any of it.
He answers on the second ring. “You alright?”
News travels fast. “We’re okay.”
“Ruby?”
“She’s here.”
A short pause. “Good.”
I lean against the counter, lowering my voice even though everyone already knows everything. “We’ll probably be late tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about work.”
“We’re heading back to her place in the morning. Need to board up the window. Clean the glass.”
Dad grunts once. “She scared?”
Ruby is listening to Jake now, fingers wrapped too tightly around Ben’s phone.
“Yeah,” I admit.
Another pause. “Take care of her.”
“I will.” And I mean it. I have no intention of letting anything happen to Ruby. It doesn’t matter what I have to do to keep her safe.
When I walk back into the living room, I drop onto the couch beside her. Close enough that our legs touch. “You cold?”
“A little.”
Sam snatches a blanket off the recliner and hands it to Ruby. “Here.”
“Thanks.” She smiles at him.
“No problem.” He shoves his phone into his pocket. “Jake said that patrol is driving by your place every hour to check on things.”
“Good.”
“But honestly? I agree with Jake. I don’t think tonight was about getting inside.” Ruby’s attention shifts toward him. “They wanted you awake. Scared. Reactive.”
My jaw flexes. “Mission accomplished.”
Nobody argues.
Ruby stares down at the blanket in her lap before speaking. “I thought it stopped.”
I know exactly what she means. The quiet week. The dinners. The way things had started feeling almost normal again. “Yeah. So did I.”
That’s a lie. Maybe. Or maybe I wanted it badly enough to pretend.
The room falls silent again. Not comfortable. Not awkward. Just tired. Worn thin. Ruby’s hand finds mine beneath the blanket a second later. Small movement. Automatic. I lace our fingers together without thinking.
Not that anyone notices. Ben has joined Sam in the kitchen, where they’re talking so low I can’t hear what they’re saying.
Ruby leans into my side. Not much. Just enough that I feel it.
Outside, wind rattles faintly against the windows. Ruby tenses again. Son of a bitch. I want to kick this guy’s ass for making her feel this way.