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I froze in his arms when his words triggered another’s. “Don’t let me catch you on the streets again.”
You don’t own me, I silently chanted. You don’t own me, you don’t own me. I belong to no man.
I pushed away from him and lifted a brow. “You have no more control over what I do than I have over what you’re trying to do.”
His face was impassive when I took a step away . . . and then another.
And it was infuriating.
I’d walked on solid ground for so long and this man had rocked it with little more than a thought.
I wanted him to care. I wanted him to be affected by me the way I was by him.
Not that it would change anything.
I turned and started back the way we’d come. If Beck was still on Holloway Estate, I’d slip into his car and wait for him to head to Raleigh for the night.
A weight rested low in my stomach, but I resisted the urge to curl my arms around my waist. Just as I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder to see if Kieran had gone inside.
It shouldn’t matter to me if he was going to ruin his life.
That’s what men did. They ruined things.
Head up.
Shoulders back.
I nearly stumbled when I saw that familiar SUV not far from where I was, idling at the curb. And in the driver’s seat, the silhouette of a man who haunted my thoughts.
Oh God.
How had I not felt that heaviness weighing down on me and crawling over my skin, warning me that someone was watching me? That he was watching me?
My next breath caught in my throat when my legs were knocked out from under me—an arm braced my shoulders just before my head could hit the ground. Before my mind could understand that my head wasn’t going to bounce off the earth, I was being swung up and over a lean, muscled shoulder.
The air rushed from my lungs like a pathetic scream. “Kieran!”
A full laugh sounded from the man carrying me toward The Jack, away from the SUV. The sound so beautiful and pure I willingly hung there limply on his shoulder, wishing it would happen again.
“Was that necessary?” I asked when he set me down outside the doors to the bar.
The corners of his lips twitched, like he was fighting back a smile. “It was worth it.”
I tried to narrow my eyes at him, but it was impossible when a man like Holloway’s assassin was so carefree. “I thought I could go anywhere,” I said instead.
His face fell and eyes searched mine. “I thought you could too.”
Curling his arm around my neck, he turned and led us into The Jack without another word.
And I let him, when all I wanted was to lead us in the opposite direction. Past the awaiting SUV.
Back to Holloway.
Back to safety.
I should’ve let her go.
I’d known that when she was leaving.
