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Tim shifted his feet, sidestepping an exposed tree root in the ground.
“Oh shit.” My ankle twisted, my knee buckled, and I crashed onto my hip. I slid a few feet down the hill in the loose soil and mulch.
“Fuck.” Tim rushed after me, dropping to his knees. “Are you hurt?”
I brushed the palms of my hands on my thighs. “No, just proving I’ll never be graceful.” I twisted to stand, but my ankle gave out.
Tim wrapped an arm around me. “You’re determined to get me into trouble. Can you put any weight on it?”
“Just give me a second.” I braced against him and tried to roll my ankle. Searing pain blazed through my foot and shot up my calf. “Fuck,” I hissed and gingerly set my foot on the ground.
My knee buckled with the sharp pain.
“Hold on.” Tim slipped one arm under my knees and scooped me into his arms.
Breath swooshed from my lungs. I wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“If you give me a minute, I’ll be able to walk. It’s a long way back to the house.”
He chuckled and stepped cautiously through the mulch to the worn dirt trail. “Are you worried about my back?”
“I’d be more concerned for your neck.” I’d never noticed how dark his eyes were. He stared at me, his angular jaw tense, and his full lips tight. We’d known each other nearly our whole lives, but I’d never been this close to him.
The citrus and musk scent of his cologne clung to his sweat-slicked skin. Hard muscles bunched beneath my fingers. I lowered my gaze first.
“Ally, I requested this assignment.”
I lifted my head again. “Why?”
With the way he stared into my eyes, I was almost afraid of the answer.
“Because I don’t want anyone too close to you.”
Suddenly uncomfortable with the way he spoke to me and the way he stared, my throat tightened. I pressed against his chest. “Tim, maybe you should put me down. I’m going to marry Marco. I shouldn’t be in your arms.”
“Christ, Ally,” he said and shook his head with a chuckle. “I don’t want to fuck you. Not that you aren’t gorgeous.”
“Well, what am I supposed to think when you talk about not caring if I’m a virgin and then saying you don’t want anyone close to me?”
He smiled. “First, I was just pointing out that your virginity would be the least interesting thing about you. And that is the problem. Ally, I don’t want anyone following too close to you. I saw you climb down the trellis the night Marco arrived.”
I sucked in a breath and stiffened in his arms.
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t follow you, so I checked the cameras. Your friend was recorded on the surveillance footage.” He shifted my weight in his arms and kept walking.
A shiver of cold fear coiled in my chest. I tried to bank my response, the sharp inhale, the tremble vibrating through me, and the instinct to deny but also the desperate need to find out what he knew.
“Tim…what happened on the footage?”
“Don’t fucking deflect. You need to be careful. There are always going to be eyes on you now. Marco is possessive, and he’s known to be brutal. I can only do so much to protect you, but you need to lock that shit down. I deleted the file, but I won’t do it again.”
I exhaled, not realizing I’d been holding my breath.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on,” he said.
I chewed my lip. Tim was Santi’s best friend. Why had he protected me? I wanted to trust him, but I couldn’t trust anyone…except Knox.
“I can’t protect you if I don’t know what,” he continued, “or who I’m up against. You said rich mafia pricks are fucking young girls.” He stopped walking and stared hard into my eyes. “Are you in trouble?”
