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"Meet in the office in five."
Rafe looked up at Noah's softly muttered words. He glanced over where the girls were chatting and laughing, the pizza long gone.
He didn't want to leave Diana. It was stupid but he worried about her whenever she was out of his sight. But when Noah called a meeting, it was always about something important. He couldn't take chances with her safety. So he followed his best friend down the hall to his office. Matthias, Ryan, Dylan and Oskar were already there waiting.
Noah sat behind his desk, his face grave. "We need to strategize. The Vandergraffs will make a move eventually. We have to be ready."
It should have given him comfort to see that the others were taking this as seriously as he was. But all that registered was a pervasive sense of fear.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, this helplessness. He would do anything to protect her, but for the first time he worried that his best wouldn’t be good enough. There were simply too many variables at play between her brothers, the FBI and Interpol up their asses, and any others who might think she knew where the damn diamond was. Threats were everywhere, and he was fighting his instinct to take Diana away somewhere and disappear.
But she deserved better than that. A life on the run was no life at all. He thought back to how she'd looked earlier, laughing with his sister and JJ. This was what she needed. Family. Friends. Security.
Things he could give her if he played his cards right.
“Rafe?”
He glanced up at the sound of his name.
Noah was watching him with knowing eyes. “I know what you’re thinking. Running won’t fix this.” He stood and came from behind the desk.
“What else can I do? She’s in danger here, and being with me is likely only going to bring more heat down on her.”
“That’s not true.” Noah clapped a hand on his shoulder, as if he could keep Rafe there through sheer force of will. “You are probably the best thing for her right now. Who the hell else could protect her the way you can?”
Rafe sighed. “That’s all I want. To protect her. But how do I do that when we have heat coming from all sides? She’s too good to live like this.”
Oskar leaned back against the far wall. “Am I the only one who’s going to say it?” He looked around, and they all stopped what they were doing to glare at him.
Rafe growled out. “Say what you want to say, Oskar. No one has time for your bullshit tonight.”
“I’m glad to see someone here is PMSing. Would you like a Midol?”
Rafe flipped him off. “Fuck you.”
“I’m sure you would enjoy it very much.”
Normally, Rafe would let him mouth off and let his annoyance slide. But tonight Rafe was too raw. He kept thinking about what could have happened if he hadn’t been there when her brothers grabbed her. What if he’d lost her before they’d even had any time together? Before he’d known she carried his child? He was far too raw, too emotional.
Noah put a hand on his chest. “You, chill out.” He turned his attention to Oskar. “And what the fuck are you thinking?”
“Her brothers aren’t just going to give up.”
Rafe was a hair away from shoving Noah’s hand off his chest and going after the German to work out some of his angry frustration, but Noah’s hand stayed steady. So Rafe had to dial it back a notch.
Rafe growled through clenched teeth. “You got an idea, or you just enjoy stating the obvious?”
Oskar grinned. “I’m so glad you asked about an idea. Because I do happen to have one.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “Cut the shit, Oskar. Spill it.”
“They want her. So we allow them to get back what they want.”
For a long moment Rafe was certain he hadn’t heard correctly. Then the words started to filter in, and it took Noah, Matthias and Dylan to stop him from vaulting across the room.
“You want to use her as bait? That’s my fucking girl. She’s pregnant, asshole.”
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