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“Primaries?” Ethan asked.
“One of them will stay here to shadow Lucy whenever she leaves this house and one of them will escort you to Arizona and then D.C.”
“I’ll go with Ethan,” I interjected before Ronan could continue. I ignored the heat that crawled up my neck as all eyes turned to me. Not only was I stepping on Ronan’s toes by making a decision that was solely his, I’d just revealed a pretty big fact about myself.
That I was way more emotionally invested in this case than I should be.
I remained silent as Ronan’s eyes returned to Ethan. “Both Phoenix and Cain are more than qualified for this job, Ethan. Do you have a preference for who your primary is and whose Lucy’s is?”
I held my breath as Ethan’s eyes shifted between me and Phoenix.
“Phoenix should be Lucy’s,” he finally said as his eyes briefly met Phoenix’s before meeting mine for a fraction of a second.
I tried not to react at all, but the fact that Ronan cast a glance at me showed it wouldn’t have mattered if I had or not. He knew something was up.
“I’d like to recommend you rest up for a few more days,” Ronan said. “That will give Lucy time to adjust to being with my family.”
Ethan nodded. “Thank you. I’d like to be the one to tell Lucy about all of this.”
To Phoenix, Ronan said, “Would you take him to Lucy, please?” To Ethan he said, “Seth can show you to your rooms so you and Lucy can talk.”
I kept my eyes off Ethan as he left the room, but didn’t bother leaving myself since I had no doubt Ronan wanted to talk to me. The way he’d held my gaze as Ethan had gotten up to leave was proof enough of that.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on or do I need to guess?” Ronan asked.
I took a deep breath and went to sit down on the couch across from him. “Does it matter?” I asked. “I can keep him safe.”
“I have no doubt about that,” Ronan responded. “Does he know about your…preferences?”
I wanted to laugh at the polite word he’d chosen to describe my aversion to physical contact.
“He knows. I told him this afternoon.” I paused and said, “I wouldn’t hurt him, even if he…”
“Touched you?” Ronan finished for me.
I nodded.
“And what if he touches you in other ways?” Ronan asked.
“What do you mean?”
Ronan sighed. “I had the same problem,” he said softly. “Though my reasons for it were different from yours, I suspect.”
I found that hard to believe since I’d seen plenty of people touching Ronan in all sorts of ways. Even the thought of all those people doing the same to me had a shiver running up my spine.
“How did you get over it?” I whispered before I could even think better of it.
“By almost losing the one thing that meant more to me than anything else.”
I had no doubt he was talking about his husband. Since that wasn’t in the cards for me, I simply said, “I’m no threat to Ethan.”
Ronan climbed to his feet. “It’s not Ethan I’m worried about,” he murmured. I didn’t respond to his cryptic statement, nor did I move as he headed for the door. “Get some rest, Cain. We can discuss strategy tomorrow.”
Once Ronan was gone, I went to my truck to grab my bag and then headed down to the gym. While I could’ve used the gym at the hotel I’d been staying at the past few months, I was still too on edge from the encounter with Ethan to wait that long. I worked out for more than an hour before I finally felt some of the rage leave my system. After using the shower to get cleaned up, I was about to leave the gym and head for my truck when I noticed a figure out in the backyard. I recognized the long black hair instantly.
I was tempted to just continue on my way, but I knew I needed to mend some fences. I left my bag in the gym and walked out the double doors leading to the back yard.
Ronan and Seth’s house was quite sizeable and sat on a good chunk of property on a bluff overlooking Elliot Bay. I walked to where Lucy was sitting on one of the swings of an elaborate play set. Her back was to me so she didn’t see me coming, nor did she notice when Bullet left her feet to come greet me.
As I rounded the swing set, she startled and then hastily wiped at the tears that had been trailing down her cheeks. She went on instant alert as she eyed me suspiciously.
“He told you, huh?” I said softly.
Lucy hesitated before nodding.
I eased around the post I’d been leaning on and went to sit on the swing next to hers, hoping it would hold my weight.
