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Something flashed in her eyes. "I’m not a shark."
"Yes, you are," I countered. "Don’t think because you fool every other dumb fuck out there, you ever fooled me. I can scent a predator when I’m near one." I reached up and tapped her nose. "Now, what does ‘it is what it is’ mean?"
She rolled her lips inward, like she was trying to watch her words before she blurted out, "I’m weird with you."
"Weird?" I scowled. "You’re not weird."
"That’s sweet of you to say but you’re not inside my head."
"No. I’m not." I tipped my chin. "Care to share what’s going on inside it?"
"Not particularly." She pulled a face. "Not tonight. Tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow I’ll tell you everything."
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. "What? When you’re less shaken?" A kinder man would have backed off.I wasn’t kind. I hummed. "That wasn’t a request, Savannah."
"No? Well, it sure as hell sounded like one. One I choose to refuse."
"What if I won’t let you refuse to answer, hmm?" When did I get so close? So close that I could smell her perfume, one that reminded me of peaches, so close that I could see the individual lines of the grazes on her chin and jaw.
She squirmed again. "Stop it."
"Stop what?" I rumbled.
Her hand wafted in the very minute amount of space between us. Less than two feet? "This. Stop it. Back up."
"I don’t think you want me to," I rasped, leaning forward.
All of a sudden, she had her back to the wall and I had my forearms on either side of her head. The relief was immediate on my knee, the pressure shifting, but I wasn’t thinking about that. Just about pinning her in place.
Savannah needed that.
Otherwise she’d squirm free.
A growl escaped her. "What’s going on with you?" she attempted to deflect. "Why are you so angry?"
I scowled. "I’m not angry with you."
Her expression cleared in an instant, and I noticed the tiniest corner of her bottom lip was sucked between her teeth. "I didn’t—" She heaved a sigh. "Okay, not with me. What, then?"
"I don’t matter," I rasped. "What you went through tonight—that’s why I’m mad. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that on your own. Where the fuck were your security, Savannah? I know your father insists you have them."
She scowled. "What use would they have been? He got into my apartment, Aidan. How were my guards supposed to get to me before that bastard slit my throat?"
Rage throttled me, filling me with a tension that was unlike my usual temper. It was selfless, not selfish. Revolving around her because she was right.
She was fucking right.
As her truth resonated, I rasped, "Okay, that settles it. You’re going to stay with us. No one apart from Lodestar would fucking dare creep into our penthouses. At least that way you’ll be safe."
Her eyes measured mine. "Fine."
I blinked. "Fine.Fine?" Jesus, that meant she was terrified and just not showing it. I’d never known a woman reply that fucking fast without even bitching about independence and all that other shit.
My hands dropped down, sliding along her arms until I reached her wrists which I cupped. "I’ll keep you safe. You don’t have to be scared."
Her gaze darted to my chest. "I have a lot of exposés left to reveal," she murmured softly. "It could take weeks."
Weeks with Savannah?
Christ, she’d drive me insane.
Absolutely fucking insane.
She was chaotic and invasive. Always asking questions. Relentless when she was on the hunt for answers. She was so fucking beautiful it hurt.
This rehab shit was hard enough without that sweet kind of torture hovering around me too.
So why the fuck did I say: "You’ll stay for however long it takes, Savannah. Do you hear me?"
