I growled at him, which made him take a step back. “Right, you work on commission, so you creep on women, make them so uncomfortable they’ll buy anything just to get away from you. Not cool, and it’s really not cool when you try it with a woman that happens to be with her overly possessive and extremely protective boyfriend. That also makes them even more uncomfortable and it pisses the boyfriend right the fuck off. You got me?”

The guy blinked rapidly and I felt Poppy place a calming hand on my arm. The muscle twitched against her touch. I stepped away from the guy and pointed at the stack of papers that equaled a hefty commission for him. “You can keep your cut of the sale but you bet your ass I’ll be getting in touch with whoever your manager is and letting them know your sales tactics leave a lot to be desired.”

I grabbed Poppy’s hand and pulled her around in front of me so that we could walk out of the store with me at her back. Guys like that rarely acted on the ugly intent that shined out of their eyes, but with my girl, I wasn’t taking any chances and I never would. We got to the massive 1973 Dodge Power Wagon that I drove when the roads were too bad for the Caddy to navigate and I helped boost her into the seat. The truck was a behemoth, lifted to the sky and painted black with silver flakes. The thing looked like it would survive the end of the world and drive over anything that tried to stop it. It got crap gas mileage, was a bitch to park in the city, but when the weather got cold and the snow piled up, it was my favorite toy to play with.

When I climbed up behind the steering wheel, I expected her to gently scold me for taking the lecherous salesman to task but instead she turned to look out the window and told me quietly, “I asked my sister to try and get in touch with our mom over Christmas. She told me no, but I asked again, and again, until she finally gave in and reached out. Mom knows Salem is pregnant, and when she called me the first time, she mentioned how she couldn’t imagine not knowing her grandchild, so I thought for sure if she knew Salem was reaching out she would respond. My dad answered, called Salem a whore, and hung up. She called back and there was no answer. She asked Rowdy to call, and again, nothing. I don’t know what’s going on in that house but I do know it can’t be anything good. I’m worried about my mom, not because she’s my mother, but because I know firsthand how bad it can get living with someone that sees you as a thing. I don’t want my father to kill my mother, Wheeler. I have to do something.” She craned her head in my direction and blinked wide, innocent eyes at me. “I didn’t say anything before now because I wasn’t sure I could actually do it.”

I frowned and shifted my attention from the road over to her for a split second. “Do what?”

She sucked in an audible breath and let it out slowly. “Go back home. I wasn’t sure I could face my father and deal with whatever it is he’s done to my mother and I realized I couldn’t, at least not alone. I need you to come with me, Wheeler.” She reached out and put her hand on my thigh as I steered the massive truck through the snow. “Salem said she would go and Rowdy lost his mind. He offered to take me after he forbade her from getting on a plane, and Sayer and Zeb also offered to go, but the only way I can do it is if I know I’ll be safe and the only time I feel safe is when I’m with you.”

I hated it.

The last place on earth I wanted her was anywhere near the man that had given her over to her tormentor without a backward glance, and as far as I was concerned, her mother was just as bad. She should have taken those girls and run as far and as fast as she could away from the man that did nothing but try and destroy them. But I knew Poppy needed this. To her, it wasn’t about rescuing her mother, it was about saving another abuse victim. No one should have to live like that even if the person was the one behind her horrible upbringing.

I wanted to pull a Rowdy and flatly forbid her from going but she needed this and I needed to be there to keep her safe when all the skeletons came falling out of the closet. They could bury her. “Give me some dates and I’ll get things squared away at work so I can be gone for a few days.”

She made a noise and leaned across the seat so that she could plant a kiss on my cheek. I turned my head at the last minute so that our lips brushed and she sighed at the contact. I put my hand over hers where it was still sitting on my leg and gave it a squeeze.

“If I’m going to do this for you, I want you to do something for me.” I lifted an eyebrow at her and turned the truck toward downtown instead of Capitol Hill, where her apartment was located. I’d been waiting for a way to work this into a conversation and was grateful she’d unknowingly given me the perfect opening.

“I’d do anything for you, Hudson.”

She smiled at me sweetly and I had to fight the urge to move our joined hands up a few inches higher to where my jeans were getting tight because my cock really liked hearing those words.

“Right … well, that’s good to know because something tells me you’re going to freak out.”

Her mouth fell open and her shoulders tensed at my words. “Why am I going to freak out?”

“Because I’m going to give you something that’s bigger than a bread box.” It had been a knock-down, drag-out fight to get her to take the pretty, delicate poppy earring and necklace set that I bought her for Christmas. She told me it was too much, that she didn’t want our relationship to be about the material things we could give to each other. I knew she was trying to protect me from falling into the trap I’d just escaped of giving the woman I loved literally everything. However, I knew she wasn’t greedy and materialistic like Kallie had been and I wanted to be able to give her things that reminded me of her, things that made me smile when I saw how much she liked them.

She stiffened next to me as I used my phone to unlock the gate to my garage and pushed in the code that made it roll open.

“What are we doing here?” Her fingers spasmed in mine and her voice was higher and thinner than normal.

Without answering, I turned her hands over and kissed the back of one of them. I slid off the bench seat and walked around to her side of the truck so I could help her down. The snow she was standing in went all the way up to her ankles and the stuff falling from the sky caught in her honey-colored hair. I bent so I could kiss the tip of her nose and asked her, “You trust me, right?”

She stared at me silently before slowly nodding. “I trust you.”