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I turned to leave, and her voice was quiet. “Hey, thank you. I mean that. You saved my life today even after I tried to make yours more difficult.”
Every cell in my body said stay. Hold her. Comfort her in some way. But the only way I wanted to comfort her right now was to take her lips with mine again.
So to be wise, I deliberately kept my back turned, and gave her brief nod before practically running out my front door.
With each step, I had to fight the pull. The gravity of her allure was almost too strong, making me want to turn back. I had felt it last night, but now, seeing her in my place, that primal urge clawed its way to the surface.
I stopped down the hall by the elevator and knocked on Rook's door.
The fucker answered with a sly grin. “Saint. What brings you round to my door, mate?”
“What's up is you're off duty. She's staying with me, so I'll be primary.”
What the fuck was I doing?
I hardly registered the words until they were out of my mouth. I didn’t want this. The kid was just as good as anyone else, though personally, I preferred Lachlan. He was nice and attached, practically married and desperately in love with Saffron. He would have made a great bodyguard for Kaya.
Rook laughed. “What are you on about mate? I haven’t been pulled. This is the assignment. Besides, she likes me. I can tell,” he said with a wink.
The fuck did he just say? “Excuse me?”
He gave me a sunny smile and nodded. “Well, the way I figure it, she's going to need round the clock watching, so I might as well do it from bed.”
Was pretty boy’s smile inviting my fist? His obvious glee at this bright idea made me want to knock him into next week. “No. Not a good idea.”
He frowned. “What? Why not? She likes me. She's well fit. Seems sweet. I might like her.”
I glowered at him. “Keep your eyes on the fucking ball instead of her arse. Matter of fact, don’t think about her at all. You're done here.”
Rook narrowed his eyes. “I knew you liked her. Listen, I know you've got the most experience and all on account of your age. I'm just a rookie in the ranks of Rogues. But we don't have to let this be a thing between us. Let the best man win.”
I leaned in so that he would hear me clearly, but I was very careful not to touch him. “I will say this once and only once. You touch what's mine andI. Will. End. You. Is that bloody clear?”
With a cocky smile, he nodded, and I turned and strode off. He thought this was a game. She needed protection. And I was going to make sure she got it starting right fucking now.
Fromme, not from Rook, and I had a wild idea how to go about it.
CHAPTER 11
SAINT
Drastic was the wrong word.Insane was probably a better one. But still, I kept mulling options over and over in my head, and I kept coming up with the same conclusion. Kaya needed coverage that would keep somebody from making big moves against her. In a span of forty-eight hours, she'd gone from your average university student to being actively hunted. Okay, not average. I'd done the research. Her grades were exemplary, and the work she'd done at the center was above excellent. Everyone had great things to say about how much they loved her, how great she was with the kids.
Then there was that face.
She was a stunner. Those big eyes and lips that look like she was Grade A at sucking cock. No wonder Lohman had been watching her during the auction. But there had been nothing that stood out about her history that deemed she was a threat. What the fuck was I missing here?
Yes, she'd been in care. Even her foster parents had had great things to say about her. In the report I'd seen, they'd even tried to adopt her, but she'd stopped that herself. The only notes in her file being that she thought she was too old for adoption. And then she'd lived a quiet life. The landlord loved her as she paidher rent ahead of schedule. No trouble. She only asked him once if she could put nails in the walls to hang up paintings. So how did that girl go from that quiet boring life to this? Hiding away in my penthouse with men trying to kill her?
Were they trying to kill her? Or are they trying to grab her?
The more I thought about the movements in the garage, the more I got the distinct impression they were gunning for me. Which meant I was the assassination target and the goal was to take her.
Shit. This girl needed coverage. Because whether it was Connor's men, or worse, Igno's men, Kaya was in trouble.
Just like Elise had once been.
I wasn't due back on the Rogues campus for two more days. But the situation called for an unscheduled visit. One, I wanted to take another go at Connor and see what the interrogation turned up. Two, I needed to talk to Gabe, because for this plan to take hold, he was going to need to be in on it and pull back Rook, the wanker.
