Sorrows and Lace (15 page)

Almost dying at Sonny’s hands had opened her eyes. She loved Ronan and would, of course, marry him. She’d make him love her – somehow.

She’d
never
tell him that, though.

At the same time, w
hy should she wait for him to protect her?

No one had
ever tried saving her from Sonny. Even her family had been afraid of the Caracus gang and its reach – and rightly so. But she’d be damned before she’d wait around any longer for someone who may or may not show up
that
day to kill her or her loved ones. And one thing she’d learned from Sonny? She had nothing to fear but dying like a damn coward.

She hugged the trunk with one arm while
clutching the grip of the gun with her free hand. Her nerves tingled. If Devlyn or any of the other men just glanced up for about two seconds, they’d see her. She was a good shot, but not if bullets zinged around her.

Their raucous laughter and
gaudy singing grated on her sensitive ears.

Her jaw dropped when one of the men – she couldn’t see which one from the angle –
sauntered directly beneath her tree and pissed on the large semi-exposed roots. Oh, was she tempted to spit on his dirty hat.

But she held firm, watching and waiting. For what, she didn’t know. But she was certainly safer up in that tree than down in Ronan’s house.

At least until Devlyn was dead.

Shoot him, Kelsey. Just shoot him.
The wind seemed to whisper in her ear as it rustled the leaves around her. Maybe her ancestors were right and the spirits of the dead would haunt the living until their death was avenged. Maybe Red pushed for her to shoot Devlyn, claim the bastard’s life in exchange for her brother’s.

Or maybe her loom
ing freedom waited, wishing, hoping, that if she were free of the Caracus gang and all the danger they carried with them she’d be free to accept Ronan’s offer and even take the challenge to make him love her again.

But if Caracus was dead, would she need the offer?

She certainly didn’t need a divorce anymore.

In the distance, three distinct riders dotted the gold and green prairie. Even from the extreme distance, in her high position, she recognized the silhouettes of Ronan, Robbie, and Slate. But three on five wasn’t exactly the fairest ratio.

To hear better, she tucked the gun back into her pocket and carefully and quietly shimmied down to the next branch, then the next. She needed to be able to make out exact words. She picked a spot but then couldn’t see anything through the
needles, so she moved again.

By the time she’d settled and could hear as well as see, her guys had shown up
and conversation was well underway.

Ronan took the leader position. He’d always assumed it so naturally. He pulled his hat off and turned it around in his hands. Lifting a straight gaze to Devlyn, he said. “I can hear you threatening me and I have to say, that’s not the best way to start the negotiation
process.”

Kelsey almost lost her grip. Since when did Ronan
start off mocking anyone? Devlyn wasn’t one to be treated like an idiot.

Devlyn spit into the ground again. “Well, now, I could tell you what a bunch of pussies you have working for you. It was so easy to let your man see Sonny following his little bitch. After you chased after the blonde when Jack had his hands on her, it didn’t take an idiot to figure out what you’d do, if you th
ought we were in the area again chasing after women.” He stepped forward again, his hat tilting forward and then up. “So, how’d you get the drop on Smith? He was
your
man.”

Ronan shrugged
, snugging his thumb into the top pocket of his pants. “I didn’t even suspect Smith until Kelsey pistol whipped him unconscious.”

“What? That mousey thing? Sonny’s little bitch doesn’t have any fight in her. If she had, I would’ve taken her myself.” He crossed his arms.
“So what are you doing here, rich boy?”

Ronan lifted his chi
n, settling his hat low on his forehead. Frustration held him tightly controlled. “I already told you. I’m here because my interests are being threatened and I don’t take kindly to threats.” He glanced at Robbie and Slate before turning his attention back to Devlyn and his men. “What do you want?”

Devlyn threw back his head and
laughed, the sound eerie as it ricocheted off the branches and other trees around her. He finally stopped and, still grinning, pointed at Robbie. “I want my money.” He pointed at Ronan. “I want the bitch.” And then he pointed at the ground. “And I want whoever killed my brother. You give me that, and I’m gone. For now.”

Ronan’s own grin
eased the tension in Kelsey’s stomach. He only smiled like that when he had something the other person never even guessed at.

Her gambling experience had taught her a lot about facial expressions.

Ronan pointed at his chest, one hand resting at his side with his gun. He tilted his head back, jaw up. “Sounds like you want me.” He drawled nice and easy. Tucking his gun into the holster, he held his hands up, away from his weapons and stared Devlyn down. “I took on Robbie’s debt a couple days ago. That
bitch
is mine. And… I killed your brother.” His grin widened. “I suggest you drop your guns and ditch the overdone jacket and we can fight it out.”

Devlyn growled. “I only fight to the death, boy.” He slowly drew his coat down his arms and tossed it at one of the men.

“Well, this shit just gets more and more interesting.” Ronan tossed his hat to Slate and pulled his shoulder holster from his back.

Kelsey covered her mouth.
No, no, Ronan couldn’t fight Devlyn. She’d never seen a dirtier fighter. Sonny had been afraid of him. She was deathly afraid of what he could do.

What the hell was Ronan doing?

She leaned forward, placing her hands on the limb in front of her, didn’t check the thickness. She’d made it almost down to the ground, maybe only ten feet to the roots.

She rested more weight on the branch.

It snapped.

And oh crap,
as if suspended in the air and being whipped, Kelsey fell through numerous branches, struggling to gain a hold until she smacked onto the slightly cushioned forest floor. Damn, she struggled to breathe with the wind knocked out of her.

She closed her eyes and prayed that she didn’t die right then.

Until she opened her eyes to find all four of Devlyn’s men staring down at her.

One grabbed her hands and yanked her to her feet. Not even halfway recovered from the fall, she clutched at her chest and tried to breathe normally.
Roughly, they pushed and prodded her until she dropped again at the feet of Devlyn’s horse.

None
of them checked her for a gun – thankfully.

Ronan clenched his jaw and watched her approach. She offered him a grimace that she hoped passed as a reassuring smile. She wanted
her expression to say, “Look, I was here to help you, aren’t you glad?” When she feared it said, “Oh crap, I didn’t mean to get caught. Hi.”

Walking around Kelsey, Devlyn inspected her, reaching down and rubbing a chunk of hair between his fingers. He leaned in and breathed sour air into her face. “I’m going to make you beg for Sonny. You’ll be my present to his memory.” He leaned in further and licked her face, drawing his tongue up from her jawline to her cheekbone.

Kelsey gagged as the wet leathery texture slimed her skin. She struggled to pull away. Hands holding her in place wouldn’t let her budge. She clenched her teeth and talked as if she might bite him. “Why’d you kill my brother?”

“Because you killed mine. Eye for an eye, girl
y.” He flicked her earlobe and stared at her. “You know, I don’t blame you. You’re just a stupid injun bitch who wasn’t trained right. But when we get out of here…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m going to cut you so much and then I’m going to give you to my men. If that doesn’t kill you, I’ll take you down south and sell you across the border. They like a girl with fight.” He snapped his teeth at her as if biting the air.

Devlyn jokingly shivered and then cackled. He raised his voice to his gang, like the joke needed more of an audience to appreciate it. “I’m getting hard just thinking of it.” His guys laughed with him.

But he sobered and returned to standing inches from Kelsey.

As if offhand
edly, Devlyn rubbed at the patchy stubble on his face, as he stayed beside her, touching her in random places like her arm, then her stomach, and her neck – never taking his eyes off her. “Tell you what, rich boy, you fight me… and win… and you get the girl and no more debt. We’ll be square—”

“You’
ll be dead.” Robbie interrupted, the creak of his saddle as he lunged to his feet in his stirrups the only other sound.

Kelsey’s gaze flew past Devlyn to Ronan. Molten fury darkened his eyes and pressed his lips together. He stood with his hands clenched as he watched Devlyn manhandling her.

Fear corroded Kelsey’s thought process. Wait a minute
. Ronan wasn’t serious about fighting to the death, was he? A sudden surge of emotions flooded her, making her wince. The strongest was how much she still cared for him. And damn him for bringing the raw emotional tide that they’d had together back in her life.

“Devlyn, let’s just kill them and take the girl.” The voice came from Devlyn’s right. Kelsey couldn’t place who it belonged to.
They all sounded like slimy weasels. 

The
amount of rifles pointed at her guys shocked her. Four wasn’t many, but when it clearly outnumbered them, her nerves didn’t like the odds.

Slate pulled out his gun and cocked it, aiming it square at Devlyn.
He lifted his eyebrow. “Yeah, Devlyn, just kill us and take the girl.”

Ronan avoided Kelsey’s gaze. He held up his hand, staring into Devlyn’s eyes. “Tell your men to stay back, and I’l
l do the same. You can say when, but let’s do this before you run and hide.”

Devlyn motioned to
his group. “Don’t interfere. Or you won’t get any tail from the girl.”

He
turned to Ronan, reached out and pinched Kelsey’s breast. Hard. She cried out, reaching to cover her chest with her arms.

Ronan didn’t make a sound
. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. He just waited.

Another second passed
. The space in time charged with tense electricity as everyone shifted their gazes from one person to the next, waiting to see what was going to happen next. Who would make the first move.

Devlyn
launched himself at Ronan.

Kelsey
bit her lower lip to keep from screaming. She’d been the recipient of flying Caracus fists before. She desperately didn’t want Ronan hurt. The best thing right then would be to grab his hand and run as far away as they could get.

Unfortunately,
Devlyn would find them.

Maybe she cared more for Ronan than she wanted to admit – and maybe, if he made it out of the fight, she’d have to tell him.

So what if she’d promised herself she’d
never
tell him that she still loved him, to
never
show her vulnerability to him.

Never
had come a lot sooner than she thought possible.

Kelsey fell out of a damn tree.

Ronan longed to yell at her to get off her ass and run, but he couldn’t break his concentration any more than it’d already been trampled. He watched Devlyn’s dark eyes as they shifted continuously, never focusing on one thing.

When he was younger, Ronan had had a dog like that. The damn thing had killed eight chickens and a baby hog before Ronan’s dad put him down with the rifle.

Shifty eyes weren’t normal.

Rolling up his sleeves, Ronan bent his head to the side, cracking his neck. Fight to the death. What the hell did he think he was doing? Killing one man left him a sudden murderer? He couldn’t focus on the death part or he’d vomit and Devlyn would take advantage of his weakness.

Devlyn had Kelsey. He didn’t realize
he had Ronan’s weakness in his hands.

When Devlyn had the gall to touch Kelsey, Ronan’s knuckles
had popped as he tightened his fists. 

Lifting his
hands to chin level and squaring off, Ronan jerked his fingers in a come-hither motion. “I’m ready to kick your ass, Caracus, whenever you’re ready for me to hand it to you.”

The older man’s jaw ticked beside his ear. He lunged forward, reaching with claws for Ronan’s mid-section. Ronan thrust himself backward, barely avoiding the
brown-nicotine stained fingers grasping for him.

With Devlyn’s face so close, Ronan swung his elbow and cracked the side of Caracus’s jaw.

Bounding back, Ronan stayed light on his feet. He didn’t have a problem with fighting, loved it actually. But if he lowered his guard for less than a second and relaxed while Caracus recovered from the hit, Ronan would lose the advantage.