Page 183 of Protective Heroes

Shay swallowed against the bile burning the back of her throat. How could she be so stupid? So trusting? Her mother had talked about the boy she’d known, but the man she didn’t almost killed them both tonight.

She rested her head in her hands. “You must think I’m so stupid.”

“No, precious, just desperate, and I understand that more than you think. But you could have come to me for help. Doesn’t matter what you need, all you had to do was ask.” It broke her heart to hear the pain in his words.

She straightened in her chair. He looked at her with so much feeling, so much love it took her breath away. But there was hurt there too, and she’d put it there.

“For years my father shunned me. I could never make the bastard happy no matter what. Took me fucking years to erase what the SOB did to me from my memory.” He sliced the air between them with a swift move of his hand. “But when you do it…” He pulled back from her, breaking the contact. Her breath hitched and her heart fell. God, she felt like such an ass now. She’d never intended to hurt him and she ached for the boy who’d never known the love of his father. At least she had, even if for a few short years.

She took a deep breath, fighting the raw emotions threatening to override her good sense. Dyson continued to stare as if he saw the inner war she struggled with. She worried her lower lip, unable to break away from the power in his gaze.

“Why didn’t you let me in, let me help, Shay?”

She wrestled her emotions into check, desperate to clamp the lid shut.

If she let herself need him, where would that leave her? Them? The firm lines she worked hard to maintain between them would be blurred, and her clear-cut path to keeping her heart secure would no longer be safe.

“Because I felt it was my duty to do what was needed for my family.” A single tear escaped down her cheek. He sat forward, his attention locked fully on her. It was all she could do not to let the dam burst open from the understanding she saw in his eyes.

He cupped her cheeks between warm, callused hands. “My family, too, Shay. If you’ll allow me a place in your heart, and your life, I want to be there for you.” She melted at his words. Her tough-built Marine had a soft heart beneath all that muscle.

She kissed his jaw. The day’s stubble tickled her lips, and she smiled. No way she’d ever tell him how much she loved his rougher side.

Or how much she would miss it.

Shay pushed up from the chair. “I need to get dressed and back to San Diego, Dyson. This isn’t your mess to fix.” She moved to the stairs. Hopefully, Diego’s wife had something here that would fit her and she could get the hell out before anyone else got hurt.

Distance was what Shay needed. Once she got him out of her system, reclaimed her senses, and forgot the way his hard body felt against hers, she’d be okay.

Her heart called her liar.

Six

Shay made her way upstairs, her bare feet softly falling against the hardwood. Fire blazed between her shoulder blades from the heat of Dyson’s stare. Hard breaths cut through the thick air. Not hers, but his.

¡Diablos!

Every step that took her farther from him was harder than the last.

Don’t look back. Keep moving. Just another step.

A frustrated growl rumbled through the air, followed by heavy footsteps in the opposite direction. Spears pierced her heart. This was for the best. She’d return to her small shop, figure out how to save her and her sister’s futures, and never have to worry about heartache again. She just had to survive tonight, and tomorrow would be better.

She flung open the door to her cousin’s upstairs bedroom, flipped the light on, and grabbed the first thing from the top drawer.

How could he just blurt out things like being a family? It never got her anything, and it sure as hell never served him. She gritted her teeth and shoved her feet into the closest pair of sneakers. She ran a hand through her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. God, what was wrong with her? No amount of couch time with a top-notch therapist would fix her screwed-up views on family.

A sharp noise pierced the quiet night and hijacked her thoughts.

Everything went pitch black.

She threw her hands out and blinked several times waiting for them to adjust to the sudden darkness. Before she could clear her head, three gunshots ripped through the night.

Glass shattered, followed by masculine grunts.

Dyson!

What if it was Bautista? Was he as crazy as Dyson had said? Why did he want her so bad? She patted her thigh for her cell. Her heart stopped. Dyson had left in on the counter downstairs.

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