His Alone (For Her #2)

I don’t know if I should be proud of myself for coming up with the plan for her to cover Mallory, or pissed. She’d be away from her father, no longer jumping from shelter to shelter. She’d be put up somewhere where she could grow safely, but so far from me. Not easily within my grasp.

Thinking about the shelters makes me clench my jaw. The first night I’d finally found her, she was walking into one. Hoodie pulled over her head, hiding all that auburn hair. Her backpack strapped tight to her, holding everything she owned. She looked so young, but she carried herself with strength. Some little punk tried to grab a hold of her, and she punched him right in the mouth. I smiled at that show of fire. It was nothing compared to what I did to the little prick after she disappeared inside. It was safe to say he wouldn’t be fucking with her again. No, no one would. She was going to be sent to a safe haven away from the dirt Miles and I were about to crawl through.

My phone goes off, breaking me from my thoughts. I pull it out and read the message.



She’s coming up



I let out a breath of relief that she’s here. Fucking hell, I was still scared she might make a run for it. That she might change her mind about taking Miles’s deal to watch over Mallory, and I wouldn’t be there to stop her.

Normally I tail her. Have been doing it for weeks, but sometimes I have to meet with Miles. Or like now, I have to be in my office. So I had to put someone on her when I couldn’t be there. The same guy I planned to send with her to school. There was no way I could make it without eyes on her constantly. If it was up to me, I’d change my mind and drag her away from all of it instead of doing what needs to do be done for everyone. But if I know one thing, it’s that Paige hates her father and she wants to make him pay. I want to give her that, and it means helping Miles and making sure Paige isn’t around to get any of her father’s wrath when we start to make his world crumble around him.

The door swings open as she walks in. She doesn’t even bother to knock as the door hits the wall. I’m on my feet instantly as she strolls into the room. Her shoulders are back like she’s ready for a fight, and a smile pulls at the corners of my lips.

She’s wearing a sweater today, with no hood hiding her. Instead, every part of her softness is revealed to me. No matter how hard she tries to hide it, it’s right there in her face. Her creamy skin highlighting the little freckles on her upturned nose. Her bright blue eyes shining even brighter against her cool skin.

“I’m here. Let’s do this thing.” She puts her hands on her hips, not coming any closer to my desk, but standing in the middle of the room. This is the nearest I’ve ever been to her. I need more. I want to know what she smells like. Brand it into my brain before she’s once again too far away from me.

I give her a smile, trying to hide the fact that I want to leap over my desk and drag her to the floor. That I want to do all the things I’ve been thinking about doing to her for the past few weeks. It would take me months to get to every one of my fantasies, and by then I’d have created new ones.

“Have a seat.” I wave to the chair in front of my desk.

“No, I’m good,” she shoots back, making no move to come forward. I take a calm breath and move around the desk myself. I can tell she wants to take a step back.

“Ryan.” I reach my hand out. I should probably tell her to call me Justice. Everyone on Miles’s staff does, but I want to hear my name on her lips.

“Ryan,” she says, narrowing her eyes at my hand. “I’m Paige.”

Her palm meets mine, and I wrap my fingers around hers, feeling her soft, delicate skin. She gives a hard squeeze, trying to assert her power, and I have to fight another smile. This little kitten has claws. I like that. I let my finger run along her wrist and soothe the sparks in her eyes.

She pulls her hand from mine. “So,” she snaps.

I go back to my desk and grab the folder. “You will check in with me twice a day with full reports on yours and Mallory’s activity,”

“Mine?” Her face scrunches, like she doesn’t get why I need to know what she’s doing every day.

I want to tell her because I don’t think I can breathe without knowing.

“Yes, yours, too.” She opens her mouth to say something else, but I cut her off. “It’s not open to negotiation.”

Her mouth slams shut, and she shoots me a look that I’m sure would kill lesser men. But I’m not a lesser man. I’m her man, and all it does is make my cock even harder than it was when she walked into the room.

“Sometimes by telephone, and on occasion we can FaceTime.” I reach into my pocket, pulling out the phone. “This will be on you at all times. There is no exception. I text or call you, you always respond or answer.”

“What if I’m in class? What if—”

“I’ll know your schedule. I won’t call then,” I tell her.

I watch her jaw clench, but she doesn’t say anything. I hand her the file.

“Everything you need is in here. You leave today.” I have to force the words out of my mouth.

She grabs the folder, and I don’t want to let it go. Her eyes meet mine. Fuck. I can’t do this. Something inside me is shaking, trying to break free.

I keep chanting to myself that this is what is best for her, that I have to let her go. This is the only way to free her from her father. I have to so that I can have her. I have to prove I’m worthy of her. She’s full of so much fire and passion, but also a sadness she tries to hide with anger.