Page 197 of Protective Heroes

Fuck.

He’d screwed up royally. When he saw Abigail sucking a fake cock while pleasuring herself with another, his world came to a full stop. He’d be the first to admit his heart faltered and his mind shut down.

Then he’d scrolled and his dick wasn’t hard anymore. It was solid granite.

Abigail naked and dripping wet from her midnight skinny-dipping was the second most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and his dick agreed.

He’d been a fool to accuse her of anything less than moral. If she hadn’t forgiven him, he would have groveled and did her bidding until he somehow changed her mind and he knew it.

Reece flicked his eye to the rearview mirror where she sat next to Caden. Knowing someone had stalked her and disrespected her space kicked his adrenaline into overdrive and made him see red.

Those amber eyes of hers had filled with so much hurt and because of him.

He bit back a curse and turned the car down the dirt road leading to Abigail’s secluded, quaint country house, as she called it.

Wary, he moved his foot off the gas and let the heavy truck glide down the darkened drive.

Large oak trees lined the single-lane road with thick brush beyond that which did a damn fine job of offering any sniper perfect concealment. Dusk had fallen in the last forty-five minutes of their drive and within a half hour it would be pitch black out here.

When this was all over, the first thing on his agenda was to talk Abigail into moving somewhere safer. With him and Caden preferably.

Reece cast a glance to Caden through the rearview mirror and saw that same wariness on his buddy’s face. He could see the wheels turning and the man already calculating exit strategies and hold up areas if it came to that.

Loose gravel crunched beneath the weight of the large SUV. They approached the house slowly, their arrival announced by a blast of light from a motion activated floodlight. Bright light engulfed the entire front entrance of the house and gouged a deep hole out of the encroaching darkness.

In the center of the drive stood a century-old willow tree. A soft breeze tangled the swaying vine-like branches, but the aged sentinel that overlooked the warn country house’s entrance didn’t give up its secrets that easily.

Its hanging branches were an impenetrable fortress even for the powerful light. A small army could be waiting for them inside those branches and they could be walking into an ambush,

His hairs stood up on the back of his neck and his gut tightened with the same dread he felt on the battlefield in years past.

Reece’s face hardened. Over his shoulder he leveled his attention on Abigail who had moved closer to Caden in the last few minutes since turning down her long ass drive. No doubt picking up the dangerous vibes consciously or otherwise.

“Sweetheart, look at me.”

He waited for her to bring her eyes back to his and when she did a sudden burst of emotion took over. He swallowed that shit down and shoved aside the blast of rage he felt at seeing fear in her eyes. “You’re safe with us.”

There was a distinct pause as she held his gaze and in that one moment a new feeling took hold. Before he could analyze it more, she nodded and turned away.

He didn’t need to see her eyes to read the wariness etched in the creases along her brow and the way she ran her palms along her thighs. Every signal broadcasted loud and clear.

“Everything looks like it should?”

Abigail leaned forward, her gaze roaming over the entire perimeter of her property. “I think so. It all looks how I left it this morning, from what I can see.”

It’s what he couldn’t see that bothered him. But he didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was. He glanced in the mirror again. Abigail worried her lip and played with the hem of her skirt.

What a fucked up turn of events the day had taken. It had been Caden’s grand idea to spell everything out for Abigail after work today. Reece had been against the idea for the past week he and Caden had been discussing it, but Caden felt it was time. He didn’t think so. She was too damn innocent for their kind of kink.

He took the wide rounded drive positioned between the willow tree and Abigail’s front porch and parked with the hood facing the exit. A fast getaway was the name of the game in this business.

He didn’t like how he couldn’t see both sides of the house from this position, but he’d take the lesser of two evils.

“Sweetheart, you have a peculiar taste in location and when we get this all worked out, we’re gonna have a talk about the lack of security you have,” Caden spoke up from beside her.

“What can I say, I’m not a city girl by choice. And you guys already know I have the best system your company offers. What more is there to do? Put bars on the windows and steel shutters?”

He cocked a brow and shook his head. He couldn’t blame Abigail for not seeing the red flags as he and Caden did. They saw the world through jade-colored glass that made everyone a possible suspect.

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