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He’d felt it for the last two nights, the malevolent gaze focused on Janey, the threat of violence swirling in the air around her.
They were playing a waiting game.
He could feel Mark and Tyrell backing them as Alex kept her close to his side, sheltered by his body, the vehicles and the shadows around them.
What would he do if he lost her? He hadn’t been lying to her when he told her he would cease to exist.
When he’d been wounded, he’d come home with one thought in mind. Janey. Touching her, having her, relieving the unrelenting hunger he’d had for her for far too long. He hadn’t returned with the best of intentions. Because seducing her had been his plan, not finding himself bound to her by emotions he couldn’t explain, justify, or make sense of.
As they neared the truck, Mark and Tyrell moved ahead of them as Timothy eased in behind Janey. The older man was softer around Janey. Hell, that whole daughter thing. He’d worked in that restaurant like a pro the past few days. And if Alex wasn’t mistaken, he had enjoyed it.
“Clear,” Mark murmured after he and Tyrell checked the vehicle for explosive devices.
“This is ridiculous,” Janey muttered. “All of you putting your lives on the line like this, Alex. ”
She was frightened. She hid her fear well until they left the restaurant each night, but until they were safely behind the locked doors of his house, she trembled with the terror of someone being hurt because of her.
The fear wasn’t as much for herself as for others.
“It’s our job. ” Timothy beat him to a response. “And trust me, every time we win, every child, husband, daughter, or sister we save makes it all worth it. ”
“And I don’t let anyone take what’s mine,” Alex told her softly as he lifted her into the truck and watched her slide to the middle of the seat.
She sat beside him; she never slid to the other seat anymore. He liked that. Liked the way he could curl his hand around her leg, above her knee, and touch her warm skin as he drove. He liked having her close to him, feeling her, knowing she was safe.
As they drove away from the restaurant, he felt the tightness in his neck increasing. The closer they got to the house, the more he could feel the danger approaching. Once they got in the house, it would ease.
Whoever her stalker was, he hadn’t figured a way past Alex’s security yet.
It was impossible to toss a handmade bomb past the wrought iron that blocked the windows. His bedroom had steel shutters on the inside that further protected the room. Those had been installed immediately after he’d brought Janey home.
Dark blinds and heavy curtains further shielded the other rooms. Windows and doors were secured, and outside, Mark and Tyrell took turns sleeping in their truck and watching the house.
The waiting game was ending, though. Alex could feel it.
“Something’s wrong,” Janey whispered. “I can feel it. ”
She was staring out the truck window, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, as they turned onto a side street and headed to the house.
Alex never took the same route, never allowed anyone to know which way they were going.
“We’re okay,” he promised her.
He checked the rearview mirror. Mark and Tyrell were right behind them; there were no other vehicles following, and none in front of them.
“This is insane. ” Her voice was thick, worried. “I used to get like this, before moving here. I always knew when Dayle was going to show up, when he was going to try to pressure me into marrying one of his buddies. ” She sneered the last word. “I always knew when he was going to find a way to hurt me or Natches. ”
“Dayle is dead, Janey. I saw the body when Natches was there. He’s gone. ”
She swallowed tightly. “But he left something,” she whispered. “Someone who hated him enough that they think punishing me will get back at him. ”
He breathed out roughly, checked the mirrors, watched the street carefully as they neared the house.
“Someone crazy,” he told her. “And no one is going to hurt you. ”
He turned onto another side road. It didn’t make sense. No one was following them, but he could feel the sights on the truck, feel the danger rolling around them like a dark, oily wave.
He looked out the windshield. There was no place a shot could reasonably come from, not with the shelter of the buildings and the trees.
