Page 92 of Heart of Frost and Scars

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Now we’re at a place where we can fix this.

“So you don’t like Doyle.” I twist on his lap to see the broody expression I’ve grown to love. “Because he touched my hand.”

“Your hand, your arm, your face. I saw it all.”

“And you were what? Hiding in the shadows, trying to catch him in action?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not creepy or anything.”

“It’s my job to protect you.”

“Protecting doesn’t include stalking.”

“I disagree.”

“While you were stalking, did you see me move away from his touch? Did you see me handle it myself?”

“You don’t need to handle it when you have me to protect you.”

“Kody…” I blow out a breath. “You have to let me do shit on my own. What happens when I go back to work? My job is very hands-on. I touch people. Patients. They touch me, sometimes out of kindness, sometimes because they’re in pain. You can’t be there, interfering with my work. You need to let me do things on my own. You have to trust me to take care of myself.”

“Doyle isn’t one of your patients. He crossed the line.”

“So what are you saying? Do you want me to find a new therapist?”

“Yes.”

“Just like that? You won’t even have a session with him and give him a chance?”

“I saw what I saw. It was in his eyes, in the way he looked at you. He wasn’t touching you because he wants to help you.”

“Monty put that shit in your head.” I grind my teeth.

“Monty doesn’t control my thoughts. I think for myself and trust my gut.”

“And your gut says Doyle’s harboring some depraved agenda?”

“What if he’s the hunter? The silent ache, the shadow that lingers, the present from your past? You’ve known him for years. He is, in fact, from your past.”

“What about Monty? Is he no longer on your list of suspects?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Okay, so I’m not agreeing or disagreeing. But if Doyle intends to hurt me, wouldn’t it be smarter to keep him close? Get to know him in your therapy sessions and let those tracker senses of yours smell him out?”

“It would be smarter to keep him the hell away from you.”

“So here we are, circling back to my earlier point. You can’t protect me every second, everywhere, all at once. Eventually, I will go in public without you. I’ll go to work, see my gynecologist, hang out with my friends—”

“What friends?”

“I have friends. Point is if Doyle is the unknown shadow, he’ll come after me. If we’re no longer watching him, I won’t see him coming. I’ll be blindsided, caught unaware, just like the night Denver took me.”

“If he comes after you, he’s a fucking dead man.”

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