Roman-1(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(40)

That makes her turn to me in confusion and I hold up a hand to quiet her as I park and put the truck in neutral.

“They’re here because I don’t want you unprotected while this op is still unresolved.”

That makes her tense and I curse myself for scaring her when all I want is for her to have one day of happiness where we don’t talk about anything heavy or serious.

“Why? You’re here,” she says softly and I feel my chest expend with pride at the idea that she trusts me so completely with her safety and well-being.

I like that, but I’d be lying if it didn’t terrify me to know that she has that much faith in me.

“I appreciate the confidence, baby girl, but when it comes to your safety and little man’s, I’m willing to take a hit to my pride and ask my brothers for help. Now come on, woman, we’re wasting daylight.”

“Huh.”

“Huh what?”

She shrugs and I see her lips twitch before she starts laughing into her hands, her eyes twinkling up at me like two deep pools of endless gold.

“Roman, babe, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but I think I prefer your friend persona more than your boyfriend one. Remember that time we were trying to break into the station archives and I asked if we shouldn’t have brought backup?”

“Yeah,” I grumble, hating that I know where she’s going with this.

“You told me that if you couldn’t protect me from a few bad cops, we were doomed to fail anyway.”

I did say that but give me a break. Our relationship was shiny new and I took the unintended slur on my manhood personally. At that stage, I was still cocky and thoughtless and I thought I had nothing to lose.

I know better now.

“I was an asshole.”

That gets another laugh and she winks at me with a grin.

“See? Friends is definitely better. You’re not so hard.”

“Baby girl, I’ve been hard as a fucking brick since that day I laid eyes on you.”

“Oh shut up and behave yourself, Lane. Now come on, the daylight’s wasting.”

***

The day was so nice that I hated having to pack up when the sun started sinking and Miah pointed out that Mel was starting to flag where I had her sitting on a blanket in the shade while I pretended to fish and Miah kept cursing with every hour that passed without a single bite.

I hated taking her home to her cottage and kissing her good-bye while my brothers watched from the windows like a bunch of little old ladies, and I actually heard Ma squealing from all the way over there.

More than anything, I hated walking away when all I really wanted to do was throw her over my shoulder and bring her to my bed where I want her. She’s slept here, in this very spot where my head now rests, and yet I’ve never seen her here.

I’m still cursing my own stupidity an hour later when I hear my door crash open and a little ball of trembling terror lands right on top of me with a cry.

I recognize her scent immediately and I spring into action as fear and adrenaline start pumping through my veins so hard, I have to shake my head to dispel some dizziness.

“Baby girl?”

“There…was…” She’s breathing heavily and I hear her teeth chatter even over the sound of my door hitting the wall as Miah comes running in in a pair of shorts and his bare chest.

“What the fuck is going on? Mellie? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he demands.

Mel is still trembling, but I manage to hit the light and keep her steady so I can get a good look at her. She’s pale and her eyes look wild and glassy with fear, ramping up the surge of energy trying to crawl out of my skin.

“There was someone in the cottage. I heard the door click open and I saw…” She starts shaking harder and it takes a lot for me not to go on a rampage before I settle her and go find whoever scared her near to death.

“Breathe, baby, just breathe and take it easy. You’re safe here with me. I would never let—”

“I hid in the crawl space beside the dresser and I saw…he had a freaking rope and a syringe. I think he was going to try and drug me,” she snarls and I see my Mel’s eyes flash with violent anger.

“Baby—”

“Nuh-uh, Lane, do not try and tell me to calm down. The only reason I made it out of there is because I shimmied down the stairs on my hands and knees while he was looking under the damn bed. Thank you, Jesus, Jared showed me the hidden panel leading to the tunnel, because there was another person outside, waiting to get me,” she hisses, punching my pillow before breaking out in tears.

“I should have gone for the gun and shot both their asses!”

I’m not even listening at this point as I look up and meet Miah’s eyes with a hard glare of my own. All I can think is that my girl was all alone in the cottage, a place that should have been safe and yet wasn’t, while some fuck snuck onto our land and tried to kill her.