Carter Reed

He nodded, his eyes darkened even more.

I couldn’t look away now that my eyes had connected with his. The words tumbled free now. “I wasn’t hiding from you. I was hiding from everything. I’m sorry that your men contacted you and you had to come back from Greece.”

My heart skipped a beat. He had come back for me.

I continued, stumbling over my words, “Everything is different, Carter. Nothing’s the same. Even my job changed yesterday. It’s all,” better, “different. Everything is different. I’m different. I’ve changed and I,” don’t know how to handle that, “don’t know what to do now.”

I clasped my eyes shut against my thoughts.

“Hey.” His hand skimmed up my arm to caress my cheek. “When my men called and said you had disappeared something changed in me too. I would do anything for you, Emma. I thought Dunvan found out about you and took you. I was ready to come back and start a war. When they told me you were having drinks with your co-workers, I could’ve gone back, but I didn’t. I came home. I needed to see you. I had to make sure that you were okay. You were in bed when I got home. You were sleeping. You looked so innocent. I wanted to murder Jeremy Dunvan for what he did to you.”

I shook my head. “He was hurting Mallory—”

“He hurt you too.” An alarming tone came from him. “He changed your life. For that alone I will not stop until all of his men are in the ground.”

My hands fell away from him. What was he talking about? I shook my head again. “You can’t.”

“I can,” he growled. His hand flexed against my back and he held onto me as I had with him. “When you came to me, I wanted to torture Jeremy Dunvan, but I couldn’t. You already killed him. His father won’t stop, Emma. He’s still searching for what happened to his son and they know about Mallory.”

My eyes bulged out and I bent over. I couldn’t breathe. Panic filled me.

His hand didn’t move from me. He kept me chained to him. “They know he was with a girlfriend, it’s only a matter of time before they find her.”

I gasped for breath. It wasn’t coming. Something was blocking my air.

“I can’t protect her—”

I shook my head, fully panicked now. I gasped out, “You promised me. You said that—”

He jerked me against him. His eyes drilled into mine. “I said what I needed to get you here. You never would’ve left her if I told you the truth.”

“NO!” I ripped out of his arms. Then I turned and started for the door.

“No,” he growled as he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

I struggled against him, but he lifted me in the air. He carried me further into the room, into the shadowed corners, and he pressed me against the wall. I was trapped again. I had nowhere to go. He held me up as he had held me in the bed that first night. His legs paralyzed mine and my arms were helpless under his hold. His chest was against mine again. He lowered his head to my neck. His nostrils flared and he skimmed my skin with his lips.

I shivered as sensations flared inside of me. But no, Mallory—I tried to struggle again, but it was useless. I was melting instead.

He whispered against my neck, “You can’t go to her. You can’t, Emma.”

I whimpered. My legs started to soften.

“That man wasn’t your boyfriend.”

I shook my head, but it wasn’t a question. Another whimper left me.

“I found out who he is and where he works. I know that he works with your roommate. He loves her, doesn’t he?”

Another nod. Another submission. I groaned and my head fell against the wall. I was starting to need only him now.

Carter whispered against my neck, an edge in his voice, “That man would do anything for her. What do you think he would do if Franco’s men took her?”

Agony speared me. I already knew.

“He would give you up in a heartbeat,” he clipped out. “You know that. You know what he would do. He wouldn’t even give you a heads-up, Emma. They would take her and he would walk into Franco’s office without a second thought. And that will happen. Franco’s men knew Jeremy was with someone, they’re searching for her right now. As soon as they question her, and they will, your name will come up. If she doesn’t give you up, he will.” His hand had a cement hold on me. He was claiming me. “He will do that to make sure the woman he loves is safe. And I would do the same for you.”

My heart stopped. Had he just—I opened my eyes and saw the stark need in his.

“I have been protecting you since you were a child, Emma. I’m not going to stop now.”