Page 198 of Protective Heroes

She didn’t and that little fact could land her in a body bag fast.

Icy fingers of trepidation raked down his spine.

He shook them off and shoved the car into park. “Here’s the deal. We go in, get what you need and then we get the hell outta here. Caden, you have the perimeter. Keep an eye on your six. I saw a beaten path through the woods on our way in.” Reece nodded in the direction of the worn walkway highlighted by the floodlight on the front of Abigail’s house.

“Copy that. I caught it too. Where does it lead, Abigail?” Caden reached over and took her hand. The small action shot a pang of jealousy through Reece’s gut. Not because his best friend was touching Abigail, but because he wanted to help ease her stress too.

“It’s a path that leads down to the lake. I use it all the time.”

Her voice trailed off with a hint of embarrassment, no doubt thinking of the pictures she had to share with them this evening of her taking a liking to a midnight dip al fresco.

Reece’s reaction to what Abigail said echoed Caden’s grim expression he caught in the rearview mirror. “Fabulous. Another way we can get ambushed.”

Caden took the words out of his mouth. This was a minefield of danger zones.

“Let’s go.” Reece pulled his sidearm, taking point with Abigail in the middle and Caden pulling up the rear.

“Keys?” Abigail handed them over and they were inside within seconds. Abigail punched in the security code.

“Reset the system, sweetheart.” Abigail did as Caden requested.

Inside he quickly assessed their escape routes.

“I’ll only be a few minutes.”

Abigail turned to head upstairs, but didn’t make it two steps out of their reach before Reece took hold of her elbow.

“I go first.”

That earned him a saucy, exasperated eye roll, but he wasn’t taking chances.

“I’ll be all right, guys. There’s nothing to worry about in here. No one ever broke into my home, remember? All those pictures were taken outside.” Devastation glittered in her eyes and damn it broke his fucking heart down the middle to see the second she realized or accepted how the one place she could feel safe no longer was.

The color drained from her face. “They must have sat in a nearby tree and looked in on me. While…while?—”

Her voice trembled and broke off.

Son of a bitch. This damn tiny woman who had walked into his and Caden’s life like a ray of sunshine would break him if he wasn’t careful.

He pulled her into his arms and wrapped himself around her tiny body.

When she settled, he pulled her back and tilted her face up to his. “You’re safe with us. That’s a promise even if I or Caden have to give our lives for yours to ensure that promise is never broken. You will trust us.” Like hell he would let her live in fear. Not while he had a damn beating heart.

She placed a hand on his wide, chiseled chest and that one simple gesture had the power to tilt his world on its axis.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head in refusal. “I… no. Just no. I could never ask that of you, Reece, or of you, Caden.”

He liked the way she used their given names. A liberty she didn’t take in the office and something he would make sure changed after today.

Images of her naked body pressed against Caden while Reece claimed her from behind flashed across his mind as she screamed for them to fuck her harder. Make her cum. Not really the place for those kinds of thoughts, but they were there just the same.

“You didn’t have to,” Caden added for them. “We have the best damn system on the market, but that doesn’t mean it’s one-hundred percent infallible and that someone didn’t find a way in. It pays to be cautious.”

A rush of raw fury flashed in her eyes and she stepped out of his arms. He could see the fear slink back and the strong woman within her take a stand, and his pride in her grew.

“Let’s get what we came for and get out of here then.”

He couldn’t agree more.

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