Since I Fell For You(60)

“Damn straight kissing our sister shouldn’t have happened,” Alec snarled, his rage not having lessened. “We hired you to protect Suzanne, not take advantage of her.”

Roman knew he was in the wrong—he shouldn’t have touched Suzanne, plain and simple. But that didn’t mean he could let her brother get away with being an idiot where she was concerned. “If you actually think someone could trick your sister into kissing him, then you don’t know her as well as you think you do. Suzanne is too smart and too tough to be taken advantage of by anyone, no matter how beautiful she is.”

Alec advanced on him again. “Of course I know Suzanne is smart, tough, and beautiful. She’s too good for you in every way.”

“She is.”

Roman’s quick agreement made Alec pause. A couple of beats later, however, he let his anger loose again. “I know what you’re like with women. I know how you treat them.”

“I’m making a vow to you right now that I will never treat Suzanne like that.”

“Are you asking us to believe you’re going to change your stripes now?”

“No.”

“Then what the hell are you going to do?”

“I’m going to do whatever I can to convince her that she needs another bodyguard, and then I’m going to get out of her life. And stay out.”

Roman had turned to track down Suzanne at the party, when Drake asked, “What if she won’t let you go?”

Roman’s gut twisted tighter than ever before as he shook his head, letting Drake know that wasn’t an option. If push came to shove and he had to tell Suzanne the full truth about his past, once she heard it all she’d understand why he could never be her dream man. No matter how hot their kisses were, she’d want to run from him and never look back.

“Don’t worry,” he promised her brothers, “she will.”

* * *

“Something’s gotten into Suzanne.” Alec was still fuming. “She’s never acted like that. Never talked to us like that.”

“No, she hasn’t, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t right.” Harry looked pensive. “She’s always been the peacekeeper. She’s always put herself last if it meant making sure everyone else was happy.”

“Face it, guys,” Drake said, “from what I’ve seen so far, Roman seems to make her pretty happy. Happy enough that she’s not about to let him quit until they figure out if they can make things work.” None of them wanted to hear it, but that didn’t change the facts. “I’m worried about her too, but you both know I never liked this plan to hire a bodyguard behind her back.”

“It was the only way we could make sure she was protected.” Alec’s hands fisted again. “At least, she should have been.”

“Looks to me like he’s doing a good job of protecting her,” Drake pointed out. “All they did was kiss.”

“He’s her goddamned bodyguard!” Alec’s frustration bubbled over again. “I can’t believe I handpicked him for the job. What the hell was I thinking?”

Harry rubbed a hand over his head, leaving his dark hair standing on end. “Two things are clear right now. She won’t stand for letting Roman resign—or be fired. And, whether this was the plan or not, she likes him. More than she’s liked any guy in a very long time.”

“I wouldn’t have let any of you stand in my way with Rosa,” Drake said. “If Suz is serious about Roman, she’s not going to be any different.”

“Jesus.” Alec looked like his whole world was turning inside out. “You really think she’s serious about that bastard?”

“That bastard was your friend ten minutes ago,” Drake pointed out.

“I’m itching to rip into someone,” Alec growled. “Don’t push me right now, little brother.”

“If you need a sparring session to let off some steam, old man”—Drake took a step forward—“I’m up for it.”

Just as he had dozens of times before, Harry got between them. “Beating the crap out of each other tonight isn’t going to help Suzanne.”

Alec’s fists opened and closed several times before he finally backed away from Drake. “Swear to God, if he hurts her…”

“If he hurts her, we’ll all make him pay,” Harry agreed. “But right now the three of us need to do exactly what she said—take a step back and let her live her own life without us always butting in.”

“I can never forget the way she looked when Mom left and we found out she wasn’t coming back.” Alec’s eyes were bleak as he remembered the past. “She cried so long, so hard, that her eyes swelled completely shut. Our nanny took her to the doctor, and I insisted on going with them. The doctor said nothing was wrong with her, that the swelling would go down by the next day. But he didn’t know what he was talking about—everything was wrong. From that day forward, I vowed never to let anything happen to make her cry like that again.” He looked at his brothers. “If Roman makes her cry, I won’t be able to control myself.”