Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“What do you mean, you can’t stay here?” Ryleigh asked.
“Lilac, don’t say it,” Opal warned.
“I’m not staying, because I’m going back. The only way to ensure we’re all truly safe is to take out Stefan. And I’m the only one who can manage that. I’m the one that he really wants. That he won’t kill. So, I’m going to go back. And I’m going to make sure that he can’t hurt any of you ever again.”
38
To her shock, Tanner just started laughing.
Okay, that wasn’t the reaction she’d been expecting.
She’d thought he’d immediately tell her that she couldn’t go. That Mr. Bossy or Meanie Malone would make an appearance.
This was . . . unexpected.
Standing, she put her hands on her hips as she stared down at him. “Why are you laughing?”
“Because you’re funny.”
“I’m not funny. How is that funny?”
“Because it’s a joke.” The smile wiped off his face as he stood. Okay, this was more like what she’d been expecting. Only, he was very intense. A bit scary. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him look like this before.
Lilac swallowed and stepped back.
Bad move.
Because all he did was take another step forward. And another and another. Until she was backed up into a wall. He placed his arm against the wall above her head, leaning into her.
“Uh-oh.”
“Yes, pretty girl. Uh-oh is right,” he rumbled.
“Tanner, I think you should back away from my friend, you’re intimidating her,” Ryleigh said.
“Pretty sure that’s the point,” Opal said dryly. “Lilac, say your safeword if you want him to back off. Or you want me to make him back off.”
Tanner seemed to ignore all the banter behind him, staring down at her from those deep brown eyes. “You were joking, weren’t you, Lilac?”
“Um.” Okay, so he seemed like he really wanted her to say she was joking.
There was just one teeny-tiny problem . . .
“Linc, get him to back off her,” Ryleigh demanded.
“Nope,” Linc replied.
“Why not?” Ryleigh asked in frustration.
“Because she needs to learn the truth,” Alec said firmly.
What was that?
“Baby, I’m a Malone. And Malones don’t allow their women to head into danger. They protect them from the danger. So get any thoughts of going to Stefan out of your head right now. It’s not happening.”
She closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. God, she was so tired. And it wasn’t just the fact that she was worn thin physically. Or that her emotions that were near breaking point.
It was . . . every. Fucking. Thing.
She really wanted to just fall into his words. To wrap that protection around her.
But she couldn’t.
“You don’t understand.” She opened her eyes and looked up at him imploringly.
He ran a finger down her cheek. “No, baby. You’re the one who doesn’t understand. I will protect you. My family will protect you. All four of you.”
“And I want your protection. For them. But I have to go. There’s no way that he’ll ever stop looking for me. And if you try to stand between me and him, then you’ll die. Don’t you understand?”
Please let him get it.
She couldn’t handle anything happening to him.
Tanner cupped her face between his hands. “I know that you’ve been making all the decisions, doing everything you can to protect your friends and yourself. You’ve been on the run for so long that you’ve run yourself into the ground. You’ve stopped eating and sleeping, you don’t know how to relax, and you’re in a constant state of stress. It has to stop.”
“And it will as soon as I kill Stefan. Um, you didn’t hear that Linc.”
Linc just snorted.
“Don’t worry about Linc,” Tanner told her. “He might have a stick up his ass, but he doesn’t like abusers any more than the rest of us.”
“I do not have a fucking stick up my ass. I’m an officer of the law.”
Tanner widened his eyes at her. She wished she could laugh, she really did. But there wasn’t anything funny about any of this.
“Tanner . . .” she said in a low voice. But she didn’t know what else to say. Her mind was a mess. It went from one thought to another, chasing them around and around.
And she wasn’t being fair to Ryleigh. This was her moment and Lilac was stealing the attention.
Suddenly, Tanner slipped his arm around her, the other went under her ass. He lifted her up to cradle her against his chest. “Lilac is getting tired. She should be in bed. She needs rest and care.”
“We need to pack up her things and bring her out to the Ranch,” Alec said.
She stiffened in Tanner’s arms. She thought Alec didn’t want her there if she was a risk to his family? Moving her there would be a definite risk.
“All four of you will be coming with us,” Alec declared. “If you could pack up everything, I’ll call West and get him to bring another vehicle to transport everything.”