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realized she was hallucinating and felt it best not to interrupt. He held her gently. Her sobbing ripped at his heart. He had never witnessed such gut wrenching sadness before. Gradually she accepted his offer of solace, relaxed in his arms and ceased weeping.
    He rested his face against her hair as they sat on the floor in the dark room—two misplaced people caught in someone else’s game.
    Before dawn, Von had decided to take matters into his own hands and forget about what Aiden had in mind. Flame’s condition was unbearable for him to watch. There was no way he’d let Aiden drag her across country on motorcycles to God knows where. The man hadn’t been able to protect her here. Von seriously doubted his ability to protect her from further harm.
    Even in her battered state, she’d still smelled sweet, like spring flowers on a light breeze as he’d lifted her into his arms and crept from the house. He’d take her away until she healed.
    As he passed the last room in the hall, he overheard Aiden and Cathy conversing softly.
    “I don’t think you should be doing this,” Cathy whispered. “Her boyfriend might have a lot of friends. They could rain hell on you.”
    “I have to,” Aiden said. “She doesn’t know Hatch like she thinks she does. She’d never have listened to reason. I had to get her away from him and try and talk some sense into her.”
    “You’ve gone over the edge. You need to let her go.”
    “No…you and Chuck went over the edge. I should’ve never come here. I’m leaving at first light and taking Flame with me. I’m never coming back either. This family sucks.”
    “Fine, go your way, but don’t expect any help from us when your plan backfires.”
    “Like I’ve ever had help from anyone before,” Aiden growled. “Don’t worry, you won’t hear from me again.”
    Von was disappointed over Aiden’s poor decision-making. Though his intentions might have been upright, his method of handling the matter had only made things worse. If Hatch found his woman in this condition, he’d be gunning for whoever did the damage.
    Flame had barely managed to hold on as they rode away. He’d held high hopes of taking her into seclusion and getting better acquainted while she healed. But his time alone with the sweet beauty was cut short.
    In a startling turn of events, as if someone had tipped him off, Hatch and his friends caught them on the road. A bitter fight ensued, leaving him well outnumbered. To spare her from added injury, Von had relented and fled, inwardly vowing to find her again one day.
     
    He lit a fresh smoke and leaned back on his bike. The only good thing that came out of his involvement with Aiden was meeting Flame. Had he not agreed to go along with the plan he might have never known of her existence. Still, discovering her brought a new set of complications—issues beyond his control at the moment.
    Her weasel of an ex-husband had been banned from the Black Pythons just as he’d ordered. Aiden seemed to vanish into thin air following the highway fiasco.
    Von still couldn’t figure out how Hatch caught up to him on the highway the morning he tried to get away with Flame. The man had more biker friends than expected from a guy who rarely rode a motorcycle. His aggressive attack had indeed been a surprise, thus denying Von the time alone with Flame he craved. Even worse, he never got a chance to apologize or let her know that he wasn’t the bad guy.
    Perhaps now he’d receive the opportunity, with everyone but her boyfriend gone. He glanced up at the moon and wondered where she’d gone and what was taking so long in those deep dark woods.
     
    * * * *
     
    “I will go back one day,” Flame muttered, plucking at blades of grass. “Aiden and everyone there that day is going to pay for what they did.”
    She thought back to the tall dark stranger who’d given off mixed signals. The last thing she needed was a third man cluttering her already busy thoughts. Why he’d