Page 24 of Her UnBearable Protector

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Salvatore felt his back teeth grind together and held tightly to his phone so it didn’t shake loose from his hands. “I don’t like this.”

He could hear his brother pacing on the other end of the call. “None of us do. They don’t escalate and then drop off the face of the earth.”

“Have Valerio head to her apartment and you come here. You’ll drive my car and I’ll stay with her in the back.” Fangs slid free in his mouth, grazing the inside of his upper lip. The blood was hot in his mouth and he felt his bear rise. “There’s something wrong.”

A heavy breath sounded through the speaker on his phone. “What’s wrong is you.”

Uberto didn’t challenge him often. When he did, they both ended up bloody and shaking from exhaustion, waiting for their wounds to heal. Even when the challenge was on the phone, Salvatore felt his bear rear up on his hind legs and glare. “What?”

“You’re not thinking straight.”

Salvatore was searching for the sound of contrition in his brother’s voice.

He didn’t find any.

“You’re not safe because you’re on the phone, ‘Berto.”

A subtle growl reached his ears. “I’d say it to your face, brother. You need to hear the truth in my words. You’re wound too tight. You’re too focused on her.”

“She’s my responsibility!”

“She’s your mate, ‘Tore.” Uberto’s tone held more humor than was safe, even as his brother. “You’re thinking with everything but your brain right now.”

“I would never let anything happen to her!” He turned his head, half expecting Natale to come out and glare at him, but the hallway remained silent. “That’s why I’m focused on her.”

“Yes,” he heard the soft, soothing tones in his brother’s voice, “but you’ve never been in love with a client before. You’ve never been so out of your head that you’re tied up in knots. What has you so on edge today?”

The truth hit Salvatore hard in the ribs. “What makes you say that?”

Uberto’s sigh was a familiar one, Salvatore had heard it over and over throughout the years. “When you picked up the phone you bit my head off. That’s how I know. Something happened and you’re not happy.”

There was no way that he was going to tell his brother that he’d had the chance to hold her in his arms and turned her down. He’d seen the hurt in Natale’s eyes, heard it in her voice and when he’d listened at her bedroom door, he heard the way she’d tossed and turned in bed.

He’d wanted her more than his next breath, but while he would have gladly rolled her beneath his body and tasted every inch of her skin a hundred times over, she deserved to know the truth. She needed to know who he was inside and out before she allowed him to claim her. It had to be her choice, but with her eyes open.

The elevator opened up and Salvatore got to his feet.

He saw Ericka through the glass panel. A moment later she swung the door open, her keys dangling from the lock.

Pulling the phone away from his ear he met her worried gaze with his own, instantly on alert. “Ericka?”

“Where’s Natale?”

He ended his call knowing that his brother heard what had been said. Dropping it into his pocket he looked down the hall. “In her office.”

Ericka’s gaze looked heavenward and she almost collapsed in relief. “Thank goodness.”

“What’s wrong?” He didn’t like the fear that was riding her when she’d arrived.

She let out a little giggle. “Don’t mind me, I get a little ‘odd’ sometimes.” Waving away his concern, she rolled her eyes. “I get these feelings. Natale calls it the voices in my head.”

His gaze narrowed on her face, concerned.

“Oh hey, relax!” She gave him a swat on the arm and then recoiled liked she’d hit a brick wall. “Ouch, you’re hard as rock!” She giggled. “But I’m sure I’ll get all the details when I talk to Natale. She’s going to think I’m crazy for coming back here, but I just had this odd feeling.” She shuddered. “I felt like Natale was in trouble.”

Some didn’t believe in feelings or intuition, but when you were a man who could become a bear at will, superstition didn’t seem like such a stretch. When Ericka’s words settled in his thoughts, he felt a sudden and abject fear gnaw through his middle.

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