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He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Why not, bro? You ashamed of us?” Jardin grinned. “I can see where you’d be nervous of her meeting the big, scary one,” he pointed over at Victor, “but Gracen owns his balls now, so she’ll keep him on a leash.”
“Two people own your balls,” Victor grumbled back. “And she does not have me on a leash.”
“All right, enough,” Regent said, instantly making them both quieten. He didn’t have to speak loudly or with anger to make everyone pay him attention to him. That was just who Regent was. “Why don’t you want us to meet her?”
“Well, for one, things are new, and she’s . . . shy.” Hmm, not quite the word. “She’s a worrier. Worries about shit constantly, and this will freak her out. Plus, she doesn’t know who we are.”
“She doesn’t know about us?” Jardin asked. “How? Has she been living under a rock?”
“She’s lived here for six months and I don’t think she knows of us. Or if she does, she hasn’t worked out that I’m one of those Malones. Not everyone knows about us.”
But most people did.
And most people would be scared.
“So you tell her about us,” Regent said. “And you do it soon before she finds that out from someone else.”
“I’m going to.”
“And then you bring her here to meet us,” Regent ordered.
“Aston’s not a spy for Leeds, Regent,” he told the other man. “She’s a rule follower. She helps out everyone in the building. Runs herself ragged, taking care of others. I had to work hard to get her to date me.”
“Wow, that must have been a shock for you. Having to work to get a girl’s attention.” Jardin smirked.
“It was, asshole. But I’m up to the challenge. I know how to romance a girl.”
“Hey, we both have a girl.” Jardin pointed at himself, then at Victor.
“Yeah, but Carrick did all the work for you and Victor stalked Gracen.”
Victor grunted, but didn’t disagree.
“Plus, your girl proposed to you.” Maxim smirked as Jardin’s face darkened.
“Do not mention that to me. She couldn’t sit for a week after pulling that stunt.”
Thea had proposed to both Carrick and Jardin on a recent trip away without the boys. To say they’d both been unimpressed was an understatement. And she’d soon had a huge rock on her finger. Put there by Jardin and Carrick after they proposed.
About damn time, too.
“Fine, if you say she’s not a spy, then we’ll believe you,” Regent said, garnering all of their attention. “But if you trust her, then she might be able to help us.”
“No,” he said firmly. “I’m not putting her in danger.”
“Of course not,” Jardin said. “But maybe she’s seen something . . . heard something. Or if she does happen to hear something, then she could let us know.”
“Is Leeds really going to be so stupid as to let something slip in front of his assistant?” he asked.
“He’s stupid enough to move in on our territory,” Victor said.
That was pretty dumb. And Maxim really didn’t like that Aston worked for this guy.
“I need to get her away from him.” No way could she work for this guy if he was smuggling drugs into the city. Even though he doubted that he mixed his legit and illegitimate businesses, Maxim still didn’t like it.
His brothers shared a look.
“This is my girl. We protect the women of our family. If this were Lottie, Thea, or Gracen, you’d never suggest this.”
“You’re that serious about her?” Jardin asked.
“Yes.” And he was. She was it for him. “I won’t use her. And I won’t put her in danger.”
“You might need to back off her, then,” Regent warned.
“What? What do you mean?”
“If he sees you with her, he might jump to conclusions,” Victor warned. “Might think she’s working for us.”
“Does he know that we’re onto him?”
“He shouldn’t,” Regent mused. “But we’ve worked a few people over to get his name, so there’s a possibility of this getting back to him. And even if he doesn’t think we know, he could be paranoid enough to worry if he sees her with you.”
Fuck. That was it. He was going to have to get her to quit her job and let him protect her.
Right. That was going to be so simple.
21
It definitely felt like someone was watching her.
Which was nuts, right?
Why would anyone watch her? However, now she wished she hadn’t decided to go for a late-night swim. The pool was only around the corner from her apartment building, and typically, she didn’t feel unsafe.
Tonight, she did, though.
Aston slipped her hand into her bag and drew out her Mace as well as her phone as she walked to her apartment building.
Call Maxim.
But what could he do? He was working. She hadn’t even seen him today, which was slightly odd. He’d texted her last night to ask her if she could help Mrs. Strowan put together her bookcase and that he would be busy all day.
