Page 58 of New Orleans Collection

Before I can start to pound on the door, as fear I’ve never felt before wars with the need to see my woman safe and sound, the door swings open. I barely have the time to take in Fleur’s tearstained face before she plows into me and wraps herself around me like I’m her fucking salvation.

Warmth blooms in my chest even though my heart is beating far too quickly to be healthy. My hands roam over her body and I’m not sure if I’m checking to make sure she’s okay or trying to soothe her. Maybe a little bit of both.

My voice is a harsh rasp, “What is going on, Fleur? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Panic starts to swirl through my gut, and I fight against the feeling of being pissed at my brothers for insisting we give her space when it was probably the last thing she needed. We should have shown up on her doorstep the moment we knew she was gone.

“I’m fine,” Fleur’s voice is wobbly, and I don’t even have to be looking into her eyes to know she’s lying to me.

I move us through the door and kick it shut behind me before I grip her shoulders and push her away from my body just enough so I can look down into her eyes. I study her face, taking in the way her blue eyes are filled with fear, the puffiness under her eyes, and the way her bottom lip is swollen because she’s been chewing on it.

“You’re not fine.” My voice is harsh, but only the worst-case scenarios are filling my head right now. I demand, “Tell me what’s going on and what has you so freaked out.”

“It’s probably stupid,” she admits in a whisper.

“If you’re scared, no matter what it is, then it’s not stupid.”

Her shoulders square and determination fills her eyes, but I can still see the remnants of fear there. “I’m not scared,” she insists.

“Fleur,” I say her name like a prayer and arch an eyebrow, “the moment you saw it was me you clung to me like a spider monkey.” She narrows her eyes, but I cup her face in my hands and hold her gaze. “I could see the fear in your eyes. I know you’re an independent woman and you don’t need to lean on anyone. It’s one of the many things I love about you, but you are allowed to be afraid sometimes.”

Her eyes widen when I use the word ‘love’ and she bites on her bottom lip. I pull it from between her teeth gently and kiss her forehead, needing the connection just as much as I think she needs it. The way she sighs as her shoulders relax tells me everything I need to know.

Fleur nods once and then turns quickly which causes me to lose my grip on her face. I follow her as she marches into the kitchen where there is a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I narrow my eyes at it knowing I didn’t send them to her and neither did my brothers. I desperately want them to turn to ash in front of me.

She wrings her hands together, an action which tells me how much the flowers are freaking her out more than words ever could. She is not the kind of woman to fidget or be unsure. Knowing the bouquet got to her so deeply has me wanting to find out who they are from and kill them before presenting their head to my woman as spoils.

“I thought they might have been from you and your brothers,” her voice is soft and hesitant, like she knows I’m right on the edge of my sanity.

She wouldn’t be fucking wrong. Whoever thought they could send her flowers is going to learn really fucking quickly that she is ours. We might be sharing her between the three of us, but that’s it. There’s no chance in hell we would allow anyone else to touch her.

“They aren’t,” my voice is harsh, but my anger isn’t directed at her.

“I know,” she mutters. She grabs a card I didn’t notice on the counter and hands it to me. “Once I found the card I knew. I have no idea who they are from.”

Soon we’ll be together. Just you and me.

My eyes snap up to look at my woman after I’ve read the card so many times the words start to swim together. She’s not looking at me, she’s looking at the flowers.

“They’re my favorites,” she murmurs, sadness and horror etched in her voice.

I drop the card back onto the counter and snag my woman around the waist, pulling her to me and wrapping myself around her like it will be enough to keep the demons at bay. The way she relaxes against me has my cock hardening even though now is not the right time.

“You didn’t come after me,” her words are muffled against my chest, but I hear them as clearly as if she’s saying them right against the shell of my ear.

“My brothers convinced me you needed a little space and if we came after you too soon then you’d try to run,” I admit honestly.

I won’t ever lie to her, and she needs to know that right from the start. Nothing good comes from lies and half-truths. She knows the kind of lives we lead and the danger that comes with it. Trying to keep her in the dark will only put her in danger and if I can’t lie to her about some things then I can’t lie to her about anything.

She huffs out a humorless laugh as her arms tighten around me. “I can’t say the assumption is wrong.”

When she tilts her head back and looks up at me, I get lost in the blue of her eyes. So clear and beautiful. I could drown in them and be a happy fucking man.

When I kiss her, her eyes flutter closed and my tongue pushes past her lips to sweep through her mouth. She clings to me, but her touch doesn’t have the same fearful desperation it did at the door. With my hands cupping her ass, I lift her up and almost roar out in satisfaction when her legs wrap around my waist.

Even though I’ve never been inside Fleur’s home, I’ve looked at the specs and know where her bedroom is. My steps are strong and sure as I make my way through the relatively humble space considering who she is and the money I know she has at her disposal and shoulder the door to her bedroom open.

Only when I lay her down on her bed, do I release her mouth and her eyes slowly open. The way her fingers run through my hair has some of the tension inside me easing. I’ve been on edge for a week now and being with her is the answer to it.

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