Page 70 of Kyle

“That’s it?” I asked.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?”

“You’re not gonna push?”

“Sweetheart, you’re a big girl. You know your body. If you want another glass, drink it.”

Huh. That was interesting and I wasn’t sure how I felt about him giving up so easily. All day he’d been militant about me not moving from the couch. I hadn’t even been allowed to get up and get myself a drink, and twenty minutes ago when I told him my butt was numb and I needed to move, he’d grumbled about me walking to the kitchen to sit, again, but this time on a stool.

But suddenly he wasn’t going to fight me about a pain pill.

Kyle moved to my side of the island, and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Anaya. All I care about is you’re resting, healing, and comfortable. There’s a difference between me not budging and not letting you off the couch and you drinking a glass of wine. I’m not a dick. I won’t ever try to control you. But I will always make sure you’re taken care of.”

He straightened, kissed the top of my head, and strolled out of the kitchen with a fresh beer in hand. Thad followed with a smirk, chuckling as he went.

They’d heard.

Emerson was staring at me with wide eyes when Tatiana came into the kitchen.

“What’d I miss? Damn, that smells divine. Thank God, it’s not one of the guys turn to cook. I’m over grilled cheese.”

“You just missed Kyle giving her the speech,” Emerson answered, ignoring the second part of Tatiana’s statement.

“Damn. I missed it. Was it good?” Tatiana leaned against the counter.

“Oh, yeah. He told her he’d always make sure she was taken care of.”

“He was talking about my bruised ribs,” I cut in.

“Girl…if you think that, you’re not with the program.” Tatiana turned and got down a goblet and poured herself a glass of wine. “But don’t worry. It took Emerson forever to get with it.”

“Thad and I had some stuff to resolve. Ten years is a long time to be apart and I didn’t leave under the best of circumstances.”

“Wait, what?”

Emerson turned from the stove and smiled. “It’s a very long story but here’s the short of it…”

She proceeded to tell me about how she’d met and fallen in love with Thad. After what she’d called a very bad decision on her part, she left him when her younger sister, Autumn, had been kidnapped. Emerson had then spent eight years hunting men like the ones who had abused her sister. She finished by telling me about meeting Thad again when the team was tracking a man she was pretending to be involved with.

“… So there you have it. We had a lot to work out.”

“And you were kidnapped?” I asked gently.

“Yeah. Not too long ago. That’s what started this war. A note was left at the hotel threatening Ivy and some of the other women. But you don’t need to be scared,” Emerson rushed out. “The guys are good at what they do.”

“I know.” I nodded.

“You know? That they’re good at their jobs?” Tatiana asked.

“That, too. But I know I don’t need to be scared. Kyle promised to keep me safe and I trust him.”

“You do?” Tatiana whispered then waved her hand in front of her. “I mean, that’s good, you totally should. Kyle’s a great guy. They all are.”

“I know,” I repeated.

Emerson and Tatiana exchanged a funny look, then they both smiled.

“Well, maybe this won’t be as hard as we thought,” Emerson spoke for both of them.