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“But the road?” They’d come after me in the woods, but they’d seen me on the road both times.
“The road is different, but they shouldn’t have chased you into the woods or followed you home yesterday.”
“You know about that,” I exhaled, shifting slightly on the hard metal bleacher. He nodded and I knew I’d been right about the man being his dad. “Hank Navarre is your dad.”
“He is. He wanted to check the place. Make sure the Hanley’s hadn’t come sniffing around.”
My eyes met his as I remembered them following me into the parking lot. He glanced away, his jaw clenched, and I knew he was aware of where my thoughts had gone.
“Why are they coming after me?”
My question caused a slight flush to form on his cheekbones, which only further spiked my curiosity.
“That’s a complicated question,” he said, rubbing his hands along his jeans. “Suffice to say, you’re here and not there.”
“As in,” I pointed to the ground, wondering if he was really trying to tell me this had to do with geographical location.
“Navarre lands instead of Hanley lands, yes.”
“That wasn’t why they chased me in the woods.”
“No, but it’s one of the reasons why they’ll keep coming after you.”
“There’s no way to stop them?”
“Not unless you want to go over there and become their sexual property,” he growled so bitterly I slid back at the force of it, almost falling off the bleachers. He caught me before I fell, standing next to me, as his hands wrapped around my forearms, supporting my weight as he dragged me toward him. “They are not good people. They treat women as possessions. You don’t want to be involved with them.”
“I know,” I stammered as his grip on me tightened. “I mean, I know I don’t want them to catch me.” My heart was racing from his proximity and the sheer rage radiating from him. He hated the Hanley’s on a primal level. This had nothing to do with rivalry or feuds, but a bone deep hatred. “They don’t seem like nice people.”
His tight hold relaxed a bit, but we were still a hairs breadth from one another. One of my legs was holding me up, the other braced on the bleacher, and if he let go I’d fall on my ass. My hands curled around the back of his biceps, the muscles taut as he supported me. If he let go without warning, at least I’d have a chance to catch myself.
“They’re dangerous,” he cautioned, giving me a tiny shake as if he could force me to understand. “They…” he trailed off as his eyes lost focus, recalling something, perhaps a memory. Whatever it was had me flinching away from his expression. I wasn’t sure I could handle knowing what would cause a man like Dominic such pain.
His face returned to the normal impassiveness I’d come to expect, and only then did he seem to realize how close we were. He lifted me up, giving me a chance to straighten my leg before setting me back down. I forced myself to let go of him as his hands trailed down my arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
Once he was no longer touching me, I exhaled and clenched my fists. His touch had an odd effect on me, wiping my thoughts of everything except him.
Anger flared back to life as I stepped away from him and remembered I was still in danger. You’re safe with him, a voice whispered. Fat lot of good that’ll do me when he isn’t around, I snapped back, fed up with feeling helpless.
“What am I supposed to do about them?” I snarled, needing a solution.
“You will do nothing,” he informed me and I crossed my arms, glaring at him.
“They’re after me. I should be able to do something,” I argued, the sense of helplessness I was feeling not something I appreciated. “Anna mentioned the sheriff was a Hanley, so no cops?” Police corruption was something I could wrap my brain around so I latched on to it gratefully.
“Yeah, no cops. They can’t help you in this situation anyway.” I felt my eyebrows pull down at his words, because I was pretty sure cops dealt with these types of situations all the time. “This is pa….,” he cut himself before he could finish, his jaw locking.
I stepped forward, back into his space, and ignored the intense desire to touch him. “I don’t care about your secrets,” I informed him, my eyes burning as they met his. “I just don’t want to be afraid.”
His expression softened, and I backed away in a hurry. A caring Dominic was even more dangerous to my mental health.
“I don’t want your sympathy,” I warned him, dragging in a shaky breath. He pressed his lips together and gave a short shake of his head.
“Hey, we walking you home today?” A new voice caused me to jump, my nerves on edge, but I wasn’t in the least bit surprised to see Caleb standing there. His face was open and friendly, the complete opposite of his guard dog, Dominic. I gathered my stuff up and shoved it into my backpack. It was already after four and I knew there would be no one in the parking lot. I also knew I was terrified to walk home alone.
