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“Gwen helped us identify the main suspect. She was the only one who saw his face and could positively identify him. Based on her description of him and the tattoo on his arm, we were able to track him down. We’ve arrested him, but he refuses to name his accomplices.”
“Where is this going, Matthew?”
“The suspect had given her an ID with the name Devon Krait. His real name is Samuel Kemp; he’s the leader of the Hunts Point Kraits, a gang that’s been trying to expand their territory. Their call sign is a banded krait, a type of poisonous snake with black and yellow stripes. Gwen saw his tattoo when she helped him open a safety deposit box. The whole thing was a ruse, he was after something in one of the other boxes, but we don’t know what. She was the only one who spoke to him and can put him in the vault while he was in the bank, and the other two suspects work masks. We haven’t been able to ID them yet, so they’re still out there somewhere. This gang won’t hesitate to go after the one person who can put Kemp in prison.”
“Then get her into witness protection!”
“The higher-ups don’t think she is in any danger since this gang is fairly small and unorganized,” Matthew says, hints of frustration breaking through his voice. “But they were organized and strong enough to pull of this robbery. I think she’ll be in a lot of danger if we leave her unprotected after she helped us nail the gang’s leader. It’s just not right, Jax.”
I hold back a groan. My brother and his bleeding heart will get him in trouble someday. He is in many ways like our mother. That woman was a saint who wanted to save the world and everyone in it when she joined the police force. I, however, take after our father. He was a mean, angry man whose edges were only softened by the calming presence of the woman he married.
“What do you want me to do?” I ask, although the answer is obvious.
“Protect her.” His eyes are pleading. “You’re the only one I trust to protect her. Just until we catch the rest of the criminals involved in the bank robbery and find out what they took. We are closing in on them, Jax. We just need a little more time.”
My eyes shift to the girl seated across the room watching us, and our eyes lock. I expect her to blush and look away, but she maintains a steady gaze on me, and I find myself getting lost in those pretty hazel eyes. I realize there is no way I am going to leave her protection to someone else.
I only just met her, and I can’t explain the possessive feeling that grabs me by the throat and threatens to choke me if I don’t claim her. The feral need to fight anyone who dares look at her is so strong, it undoes me.
Mine!
“What’s her opinion on this?”
“She was against it when I told her at first, but yesterday, she called the station to tell us that she thinks she saw someone follow her home and that she’s been that she’s been seeing strange cars outside her building.”
“Do you really believe she’s in mortal danger?”
“Yes,” he says without hesitation. “She consulted with me and my partner about hiring a bodyguard, but I don’t think that will be enough. She just needs to disappear for a while as we close the case. You’re the only one I know capable of protecting her.”
I sigh, wanting to be surprised by the fact that he is worried for this total stranger, but this is the same man who picked up a puppy from an alleyway on his way from school when he was ten and cried until our parents agreed to take the animal to the vet. Unlike my brother, my interests do not come from a place of innocent concern.
Sure, when I look at the pretty girl, she raises in me protective feelings, but I also want to do other things to her. Very bad things.
I want her.
I want to preserve her innocence just as much as I want to corrupt it.
“Fine, I’ll do it.”
Chapter Three
Gwen
“Are we there yet?” I whine, fighting the urge to lean against the bark of a tree. My legs ache with every step, sweat drips down my forehead, mingling with dirt on my face. I can feel the weight of exhaustion pulling me down, and a part of me hates the man who brought me here. The hulk of a man walking beside me seems unfazed, the muscles in his powerful thighs and calves flexing with each stride.
“Close,” he grunts which has me rolling my eyes at him.
“You said that an hour ago,” I whine again, but in reality, it’s only been a few minutes or so, but since he doesn’t seem annoyed by the question, I plan on asking it until we get to our destination. In my defense, I am a city girl through and through, and all my previous hiking trips have taken place at my apartment whenever the elevator was out of service and I had to take the stairs.
Hiking through the forest is nothing like taking the stairs. For one, the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. Towering trees reach toward the sky, their leaves rustling in the wind, creating a serene atmosphere. The air is crisp and refreshing, filling my lungs with each breath.
I would love to enjoy the scenery standing still or seated on the ground, but the effect is somewhat lost on me as I struggle to keep moving forward. With the way I am feeling, I am only a few steps away from passing out on the forest bed.
“Are we there yet?”
“Patience, Gwen,” the beast of a man—Jax—says again, and I can’t help but study him. He is carrying my bag along with his huge pack and a cooler, but he’s barely out of breath, which is proof of the fact that he does this a lot.
When I first met Officer Matthew Riffle right after the robbery, I was shaken to my core, and I am glad that the adorable cop and his gorgeous partner—whom I have a suspicion he’s dating—immediately put me at ease. They were so patient and sympathetic with me as they took my statement, and I felt safe enough to tell them what I knew about one of the bank robbers: his dark hair and green eyes, the way he made me feel uneasy, like prey about to be struck down, and the snake tattoo on the arm that had grabbed me. I had remembered enough of his face to describe him to a sketch artist. But I’d had no idea that by doing so, I put my life in grave danger.
