Zara’s hands were still trembling as she followed Ryker up the stairs from an underground garage. She’d recognized his motorcycles but hadn’t before seen the black muscle car with shiny rims. They bypassed the first floor.
“Our offices are here, and I’ll show them to you later,” Ryker said, his hand firm and warm around hers as he turned to take another set of stairs. The sense of protection and safety he provided tried to burrow into her heart and stay. He reached a landing and put his shoulder to a scratched metal door. The thing opened with a groan, looking beyond heavy.
Her mind cleared as she looked around a spacious foyer, empty of furniture. Blue metal doors were set into each of its walls.
“We replaced the doors with something sturdier.” He strode across the black-tinted concrete floor to the door at the far right and opened it. “Though I should probably start locking this.” His hold on her gentled, and he drew her inside an apartment with a sprawling open floor plan. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the mountains in the distance while heavy metal beams were stationed throughout, no doubt as support. The kitchen was a cross between ultra-modern and stark, with stainless steel appliances, concrete counters, and empty white cupboards.
She blinked at the bare living room. Sure, she’d spent a little bit of time wondering where he lived when he wasn’t in town. The room already smelled like him—male and strong. “I figured the bat cave would have more gadgets. Or at least a sofa.”
He chuckled. “I guess we should start shopping.”
We? She tugged her hand free. “Um, why do you suddenly have an apartment and offices?”
“We need them for now.” He shut the door.
Strung-out butterflies flapped their way through her abdomen. She scratched her arm. The mud had dried, and her entire right side felt sticky. “I don’t understand. What do you mean by ‘for now’?”
For an answer, he dug her cell phone from her purse and handed it to her. “Call in sick for tomorrow.”
She shook her head. He was taking over, and a part of her—one she didn’t much like—was tempted to let him. But how many times had she seen her mother give up control to a man, seeking some sort of security, only to lose everything? Was the need to rely on a strong man a weakness for all women or just the women in her family? She could handle her own life and ignore those unreliable needs. “I can’t call in sick. Too much work.”
He studied her with no expression on his rugged face. “You need cover until we double-check your car and see why the brakes stopped working. Either you stay here or I spend tomorrow at your office. Your choice.”
That didn’t sound like much of a choice, now, did it? Yet curiosity, the burning kind, had her looking around the apartment again. He intrigued her in a way she couldn’t understand. “Who lives behind the other blue doors?”
“Stay here, and you’ll meet my brothers.” His cajoling tone nearly made her smile.
As a carrot, it was dangled perfectly. The D and H…Denver and Heath. She hated—oh, she hated—the fact that she wanted to know more about him. What kind of men were his brothers? Were they like him, full of secrets and sexiness? She frowned. “You always seemed like such a lone wolf.” Sure, she’d figured he had other people on the payroll or people he contracted with for help but not family. “You trust them?”
“Yes. They’re my brothers.” His eyes darkened. “I trust Denver, Heath, and now…you.”
He’d just included her in his family. She took a step back as hope dared to flare in her. “This is happening too fast.”
“We’ve been dating for months.”
Her eyes rolled of their own accord. “You can’t call what we’ve been doing dating. We’ve never been out together. Not really.”
“You want to go out to dinner?” One of his dark eyebrows rose.
“No,” she breathed, her legs twitching with the urge to run. She had to get away from him and think. Definitely think. Sure, she’d had fantasies about him staying, but the reality was freaking her out. He kept too many secrets. The darkness in his eyes that he thought she couldn’t see… Oh, she did more than see it. Sometimes she could feel it.
She’d been on the run before, when her mother had dated a convict, and she knew—she just fucking knew—he was running from something or someone. This apartment, this building, was just a temporary stop. Part of her believed he was different from the jerks her mother had dated, but what if her instincts were just as bad as her mother’s had been? What if she allowed herself to get all caught up in one man? That led to disaster. “Ryker, we need to take a step back.” Why was it so hard to breathe all of a sudden?
His head lifted while his eyelids half lowered.
She shivered.
“I know the right thing to say, and I know the right thing to do,” he said slowly, his voice gritty.