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“Baby, hey, baby. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I’m here. I won’t let any harm come to you. Just hold on to me. I’ll protect you.”
He could hear how she fought to breathe, to calm herself, and he tightened his hold on her.
Shit. What if that was making things worse? What if touching her was making her more upset?
He set her off his lap, then next to him on the sofa.
Hannah stared up at Raid.
How had she gone from being cuddled on his lap to sitting on the sofa? And why? Oh God, was it because of what she’d just told him? Had he decided he no longer wanted her? Because she’d let herself be fooled by that asshole?
Because she was dirty?
She tugged at her hair. Hard.
“Whoa, don’t do that, baby.” He gently extracted her hands from her hair and held them in his hands.
Okay. That was nice. Maybe he wasn’t disgusted by her.
“Listen to me. I want you safe. And I have to be certain that you are. That means making sure that this guy is behind bars. Part of me will be upset if he is.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I wanted to make him hurt for what he did to you.”
She stared up into his eyes. With someone else, it might have been an empty threat. But she could see how serious he was.
He really meant it.
“Then I’m glad he is.”
“You are?”
“Because I don’t want you to get in trouble for me.”
She wasn’t worth it.
“Baby, you only get into trouble if you get caught. And us Malones never get caught.”
“You guys are always in trouble. You always get caught.”
“Do we? Not in the things that really matter, I promise you that. And if I need help getting rid of a body, I have some cousins in New Orleans who will be happy to help.”
“I don’t think I want to meet these cousins.”
“You don’t. They’re such bores. All stiff and formal. Well, sometimes Maxim can be okay. But yeah . . . you’re better with the Texan Malones. We know how to have fun.”
“Well, I’m certain this guy is Steven. And that he’s in jail. So I guess I don’t have to worry about how to dig a tunnel through to your jail cell.”
His eyes twinkled for a moment. “You’d do that for me?”
Her face dropped, her gaze going to where he held her hands. “Yeah.”
“Thanks, darlin’. That means a lot. Now, look at me.” His words were bossy, but his tone was soft. Which was kind of surprising. But she raised her eyes to his.
He slowly moved his hand to cup the side of her face. She thought they’d gotten past him having to move slowly. But she guessed he was being careful with her after what she’d just told him.
She was feeling kind of fragile, so maybe she needed that care.
“Darlin’, thank you for telling me all of that. I know how hard that was.”
That piece inside her that was worried telling him would change his view of her started to ease.
“But I’m going to have to ask you to do something else that’s not gonna be easy.”
Shoot. She thought she knew where this was going.
“I need you to tell Jake.”
“No way. Not happening.” It was a reflex. But also, she meant it. She wasn’t going to tell Jake. If she did that, then Steven might find her.
But Steven is locked up. He can’t get to you.
“Baby, you have to. Or if you won’t, I can. But I know that he’ll still want to talk to you to get the details.”
“You said you wouldn’t tell him.” A feeling of betrayal filled her.
“I said that I wouldn’t tell him if you weren’t in danger.”
“But I’m not.”
“We don’t know that for sure. Jake can help us find out. And he can help keep you safe.”
She shook her head. “If I . . . if I tell him and it’s not Steven, he’ll come back! He’ll hurt me!”
“Nobody is hurting you,” he said fiercely. “No. One. Understand me? I will never allow it.”
She breathed in deep, letting it out slowly. “Raid, I’m scared.”
“I know, precious girl. I understand that. The con man that was arrested might be Steven, in which case you have nothing to worry about. But if he isn’t, I still won’t allow him to harm you. I will protect you.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. Steven might hurt you. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. I’m thinking I shouldn’t have told you.”
“You definitely should have told me. And I’m so proud of you for being brave.”
Whoa. Those words were as heady as hearing she was a good girl. She felt a rush go through her.
He was proud of her.
“No one is going to hurt me or you. Do you trust me to take care of you?”
