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“What’s the name of this company?”
I can’t help but tense, worried about the direction this line of questioning is going. I have a feeling that Charlie won’t like anyone digging into this part of his past, not if a man like Tasker was part of it. I probably won’t like what I hear, either, truth be told. I don’t want to hear anything that might tarnish what we have.
Things are different now. I don’t care—
But he answers easily, stroking my arm. “Blake Enterprises. They specialize in getting around alarm systems, which makes me think this probably was him. I put this system in myself, so if he can show me up in some way, make me look bad, maybe I won’t be taking any more of their business.”
“Guess he wasn’t expecting a big dog, huh.” Daniels laughs and starts to stand up. “Well, I think that’s all I need for now. A team is on their way to take some blood samples. That way you can get that door boarded up for the night. Heard there was a storm coming in. We might get up to six inches of snow. Can you believe it? Ma’am, if you see that gold Suburban again, give us a call.”
“Her name is Miss Killian.” Charlie’s voice is still pleasant, but there’s a dark undercurrent threading through his words.
“Of course, Miss Killian. If you think of anything else, give us a call.”
I bite my lip, trying not to show my unease. Tasker knows damned well Charlie has a big dog. So why would he try to break into the house? Who else could it be, though?
Charlie stands and eases me to my feet so we can walk the deputy out. He ducks into his car but doesn’t leave immediately, his radio crackling. He calls up to us. “The forensics team’s about five minutes out. Then we’ll be out of your hair. I’ll wait until they’re done before leaving.”
After shutting the front door, Charlie looks over at me and frowns. “Come on, kitten. To bed with you.”
He picks me up and I nuzzle his throat, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Sounds good to me.”
He laughs but it isn’t his normal light-hearted teasing. “He never checked to make sure you weren’t going into shock.”
“I’m fine,” I protest, but he sets me down on the bed anyway and tugs off my boots.
“Your feet are icy. Your hands are cold. You’re starting to shiver. Trust me, you need to get warm and stay calm. I’ll take care of you now.”
“I know.”
He frowns, rubbing my feet harder. “Idiots. Only one car and a lone deputy green enough he probably crapped his pants when he saw the blood. If he needed to draw his weapon, he’d probably shoot himself in the foot. You’d be dead before he could help you, and he’d be too busy staring at your breasts to notice the threat right under his nose.”
His voice becomes harsher with each word, his hands hard enough that my body is only all too eager to get some other ideas of what he could hurt. It’s ironic in a way. Here he is trying to take care of me, but I find myself soothing the rising beast in him. He needs to take care of me so badly that I’m afraid he’ll do something he’d regret later.
I curl around him so I can wrap my arms around his waist, my head on his thigh. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asks gruffly. “I failed you. You could have been seriously hurt tonight before I could get to you.”
“Hardly. You gave me the best protection possible to fill in during your absence. Thank you for getting the registration I needed so she could go with me anywhere.”
He strokes my hair. “Sheba would die to protect you. But next time, he’ll have a gun. He’ll shoot her before she can take him out, and then you’re on your own.”
My arms convulse around him, tears filling my eyes. “I won’t let that happen.”
His hands slip under my armpits, drawing me up face-to-face with him. His eyes glitter like bottomless pits and his voice rasps. “Oh yes, you will. You’ll let the bastard shoot her dead before you put yourself in harm’s way. That’s her job. That’s my job. No one hurts you.”
I shake my head, crying. It kills me to deny him anything, but I refuse to allow someone else to be hurt or killed to protect myself. Especially someone I love.
He shakes me hard enough my teeth snap together. “Promise me, Ranay. Promise me!”
“No. I won’t. I won’t stand by and let someone hurt her just to save myself. I won’t!”
Boots tromp on the front porch, warning that the other team has arrived. Breathing hard, he crushes me to him, his lips against my forehead. “We’ll talk about this later. For now, stay in here and get warm. I’ll get rid of them as quickly as possible.”
They knock on the front door and he grounds out a curse. “Sheba.” She immediately jumps up on the bed beside me. He rubs her head and stands. “Guard.” Then he looks at me, so grim and hard that I duck my head. “I’ll see to you when they’re gone.”
“Yes, Master.”
My heart pounds. I want to strip off my clothes and prepare for whatever punishment he plans because I refused to give my word as he ordered, but not if we have people in the house. They might find something and need me to answer questions again. The last thing I want to do is get him in trouble by coming out to a police interview stark naked. Although imagining the look on the young deputy’s face makes me laugh.
