Raid (Unfinished Hero, #3)

by Kristen Ashley

“Can I ask at this juncture what you’re doing here?”

EDIT "Can I ask, at this juncture, what you're doing here?"

Miss Mildred was standing in the kitchen. Fuck. He stood silent, but impatient as she made her slow way to him, stopped a foot away and tilted her head way back. Her shrewd eyes moved over his face. He let them and it was his mother’s deeply ingrained manners that kept him standing there rather than setting her aside and getting to Hanna. He watched her eyes close. When she opened them, she whispered, “Wash it away. God gives tools to His earth that He uses, son. He puts men here like you to love girls like her, to protect them.” She lifted her hand, rested it on his chest and her sharp eyes flashed with wrath. “And, if necessary, to avenge them.” It was then Raid closed his eyes. She knew. “But you know that already, don’t you, Raiden Miller?” she asked. “You already know God’s use for you ’cause He’s needed to use you before.” Raid kept his eyes closed and said nothing. “Wash it away,” she kept whispering, the words flowing through him, leaving him clean. Jesus. Fucking clean. Raid hadn’t felt clean in nearly five years. He opened his eyes. She shuffled away, murmuring, “Go to her. I’ll call Eunice. It’s late but she’ll come get me.” “Miss Mildred—” She slowly turned her head to pin him with her eyes. “Proud of you, son. You do things others can’t do and you stay standing. Now get upstairs and reap your rewards.” Jesus, she understood everything. Raid needed no further prompting. He moved through the kitchen, but stopped and turned when she called, “Boy?” His eyes hit he...

“It was a dare,” she announced. “Come again?” he asked. She didn’t move her eyes from the yard when she answered, “I’ve been thinking about it and figured it out. She knew what I’d do when she told me you were dangerous.” Raid felt his shoulders tense. “What?” he asked. Finally, her eyes came to his. “Grams. She loved you. She respected you. She wanted me to have you. She knew exactly who you were. She knew everything. And she was worried I might not go the distance. So she warned me off you, knowing the minute she did I would not back down. She did this by scaring the pants off me then telling me that if I saw it through, I’d know nothing sweeter in my whole life,” she snuggled Clay closer before she rocked his world, “than the love you’d give to me.” Raid held her eyes. “She was always right,” Hanna finished, and that burn came back into his chest. Fuck. Fuck, but he loved his wife. And he missed her great-grandmother. “Raiden?” she called even though his eyes were locked on her. “Right here, baby,” he answered quietly. “I figure she thought she knew something else and I have to know if she was right about that too.” “What?” he asked. “Only you can answer,” she told him. “What is it, honey?” She gave it to him. “She knew you’d know nothing sweeter than the love I give to you.” Jesus, fuck. “Was she right?” Hanna asked. Raid held her eyes. Then he unfolded his body from his chair, taking her in swaying on her porch swing with his son held close to her chest, wrapped up in...