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“What?” he asked.
“Look at you—having a conversation and being nice and all,” she teased.
“Shut the fuck up,” he grumbled.
“Fuck,” Sadie repeated from the backseat.
“Language,” Rose shouted at Thorne. For the first time since she met the guy, he actually smiled, and she couldn’t help but do the same. He had a nice smile, even through all the tough-ass exterior—not that she’d tell him that.
Thorne
Thorne hadto admit that Rose was growing on him. Hell, he even thought that her kid was cute, and that might trip him up. His job was to keep Rose and the kid safe, not like them. He knew that getting too close to the person he was charged with protecting was a huge problem. It led to mistakes and miscalculations that could end up getting them all killed. He just had to remember that Rose wasn’t someone for him to fuck around with. Savage wouldn’t allow that, and he couldn’t go against his club Prez that way.
When he was in the Army, he had been on a hell of a lot of ops that ended badly. He was one of the guys that the government would send in when they had exhausted all other possibilities. He was their last resort, and that usually meant going into a situation to find the people he was sent to save already dead. He was usually too late to save any of the victims, but that didn’t matter to him. He knew that taking out his targets was what uncle Sam wanted him for, and he was damn good at killing. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be a skill he needed to use in this case.
Finding out that a buddy was laying low in his safe house, Thorne had to come up with a plan B—fast. He called Savage and was told to take her to the place Bowie had out in Texas. Bowie’s parents still lived out there, so they kept a house in Texas and let the guys in the club use it when they needed a place to lay low. It was off the beaten path and Thorne had to admit, he was thankful that Savage saved his ass. His club’s Prez had a way of doing that—saving the guys in the club. He was the one who held them all together, but once in a while, he’d ask for help and not one of the guys would tell Savage no, even if it meant calling his boss and telling him that he’d need some time off. He’d do just about anything for Savage.
He brought in the last of their bags and piled them in the family room. “Which room should we take?” Rose asked, looking down at her daughter who was already finding her bags of toys.
“Um, I’m not really sure,” Thorne said. “This place belongs to Savage. I guess you can pick whichever room you both would be comfortable in. Savage did mention that they have a kid’s room here, so maybe Sadie would like to stay in there.”
“I haven’t slept without her since we left Joe,” she admitted. “I’ve been too afraid that he’d catch up with us and take her.”
“You don’t have to worry about that here,” Thorne promised. “Savage has a top-of-the-line security system. He’s already sent me the specs on it. Also, no one will get in here without me knowing about it. You’re both safe here,” he said. He hated that Rose still looked skeptical even with his reassurances.
“All right,” she breathed. “I’ll try to let her sleep in her own room, but if she wants me, I’ll bring her to bed with me.”
“Whatever you want,” he agreed. Honestly, he didn’t care where the kid slept. He just wanted Rose to know that she was safe with him.
“Thanks,” Rose said. “I’ll get Sadie settled first and then, I’ll check out the kitchen to see what we have to make for dinner.”
“Bowie’s mother ran over here and filled the fridge,” he said. “If we need anything else, all we have to do is contact Savage and he’ll have it delivered.”
“He’s being so kind to me, and that just makes me feel extra bad for not seeing him for so many years,” Rose admitted.
“You don’t have to feel bad,” Thorne said. “I know Savage well enough to know that he wouldn’t want you to feel bad about any of that. You’re his family and to a guy like Savage, that means everything.”
“Thank you for saying that,” she said. “I guess I’ll have to get used to having family again. It’s going to take me some time though.”
“You’ll pick it up in no time, I’m sure,” Thorne said.
She nodded, “Do you have any family?” she asked. He was afraid that making conversation with her might lead to her asking personal questions, but if they were going to be stuck together for an unknown amount of time, he was going to have to give her something.
“I don’t have any family,” he admitted. “My dad died about ten years ago, but we weren’t close. My grandmother raised me, and she passed after I joined the Army.” He left out the part about not knowing his mother. She had skipped out on him and his dad shortly after she had him.
“You were in the army?” she asked.
“I was, but I retired a few years back,” he admitted.
“What do you do now?” she asked. This was the part that he usually tried to avoid answering. He’d give her the truth, but only a tiny bit of information to go with it—just enough to keep her from asking him more questions.
“I still work for the government—in the CIA. It’s classified, mainly. What I can tell you is that my day job looks a lot like what I’m doing to help you,” he said.
“So, you help people for a living?” she asked.
“I do,” he said, even if it wasn’t completely the truth. He usually was too late to save or help anyone, but he didn’t want to tell Rose that. Thorne needed her to believe that he would do everything within his power to keep her and Sadie safe from her ex-husband. He needed her to trust him.
Sadie started to fuss, and Thorne was sure that he had never been so happy to hear a kid cry. “I better give her a bath and change her. She’s probably tired and will want to go to bed early.”
