Page 342 of Power Play

Briggs came to stand beside me near the windows. “She replied.”

I kept watching the snow settle across the deck. “What did she say?”

“She’s twenty minutes away.”

My chest locked. “Do not let her near me.”

“I’ve got you.”

“Briggs.”

He turned toward me.

“If Bliss or Aura asks you to move, don’t.”

“I won’t.”

“If she cries, don’t.”

“I won’t.”

“If she says she only needs one minute, the answer is still no.”

“I know.”

I finally looked at him. The bruising along his jaw had darkened, and he carried the evidence of everything I couldn’t survive alone the night before. There wasn’t a trace of uncertainty in his face.

“I’ve got you, Ry.”

I nodded.

Across the room, Cade looked up from the kitchen. Easton followed his gaze, and Rider set down his pool cue.

They knew.

The change passed silently through the lodge as the guys positioned themselves without making a spectacle of it. Cade remained between the front entrance and the kitchen. Easton moved closer to Aura. Rider came upstairs and leaned against the railing. Briggs stayed beside me.

Bliss noticed first. “She isn’t coming here to attack him.”

“No one said she was,” Cade answered.

“Then stop acting like Ryan needs a security detail.”

“I do.”

Every face turned toward me, but I didn’t soften the admission.

“I don’t trust myself not to react if she touches me.”

Aura’s expression changed. “React how?”

“Not physically.” Anger cut through the question before I could stop it. “I would never put my hands on her.”

“I know that.”

“Then don’t look at me like that.”

“I wasn’t.”