Page 15 of Fiercely Protective

When I heard the lock turn on the door, I jumped from the seat and moved to stand on the opposite side of the room. The slight bit of hope I had thinking it might be someone that could help me was dashed when Rogue Delaney strolled back into the room.

“I’m sorry the night didn’t go as expected.”

I couldn’t believe how nonchalant he was acting. “Didn’t go as expected? How can you be so calm? Your friend, who I suspect is a member of the Russian mob, was shot at, the would-be assassin was killed, and your grumpy friend is covering it up. I would say, didn’t go as expected is a bit of an understatement.”

His lips turned up slightly, but otherwise, he seemed completely unaffected by my words. He held out his hand. “Come, I’ll take you home.”

Thank God. He must have come to his senses. Perhaps his broody looking friend convinced him that my being here would only bring trouble. With caution, I moved across the room toward him, intentionally sidestepping his outreached hand. The deep growl that escaped him indicated his disapproval.

Once outside the office, he gripped my hand tightly, interlaced his fingers with mine, and began tugging me behind him as we moved through the crowd. It surprised me that even with the incident that had happened outside the club, everything was as it was before. People were dancing, the music was loud,and the noise of voices and laughter was buzzing around me. When we reached the waiting car outside the club, I looked around expecting to see police cars and a crime scene unit, but the only thing was a line of people waiting to get inside the most popular hedonistic club in Chicago. I felt Mr. Delaney’s hand on my lower back as he urged me forward. He opened the door for me to get into the back seat then climbed in to sit beside me.

“This isn’t necessary. I could have found my way home on my own, and I don’t need an escort.”

He tilted his head in my direction but made no effort to touch me. “I will determine what is necessary.”

I scooted as far away from him as possible and looked out the window as the car moved through the busy city streets, but it didn’t take me long to discover we were not headed in the direction of my small apartment.

“I thought you said that you were taking me home. Where are we going?”

He turned to look at me, his face serious, and his eyes seemed to pierce through me. “I am taking you home, just not your old apartment.”

“What the hell? Where are you taking me?” The fury I had initially felt was soon replaced with fear. Had he grown so tired and bored with my petulance that he was planning something much more sinister? He had already proven that he was a dangerous man, and that violence was nothing new to him.

I switched tactics. “Just take me home and we can forget that we ever met. I will not tell anyone about what transpired at the club tonight. I won’t call the cops, and we can pretend this day never happened. I promise. Or you can just stop the car andI will either walk or take the bus from here. Either way, you will not have to worry about me talking about you or what occurred tonight. You will never see me again.”

He reached across the car and pulled me onto his lap. I thought about fighting him, but that may cause more harm than good. He turned my face toward him.

His brow furrowed as he studied me. “You are afraid, Angel. Your whole body is shivering.”

I tried to turn away, but he held my chin firm.

“Do you think I could so easily forget meeting you, Bri? Do you believe that I could let you walk away, never to see you again? That you would be a passing thought, just another girl that wandered into my club?”

His warm lips moved to my bare shoulder, and I closed my eyes willing my traitorous body not to react. “What are you going to do to me?”

“I told you. I am taking you home, just not your home. After what happened tonight, I want to make certain you are safe, and the only way I can do that is to keep you close. Until I have more information about the incident that occurred outside the club, you will stay with me.”

His arm wrapped around my waist. “But that is not what you are afraid of, is it, Angel?”

I held my tongue, refusing to answer.

“You can relax. I have plans but none of them include hurting you.”

His fingers slipped lower as he traced circles on my thigh just below the hem of my dress. “But that assurance still doesn’t ease your mind. There is something else that is worrying you.”

I pushed his hand away. “The only thing that will ease my mind is being away from you and whatever crazy shit you have going on in your life. I am not your responsibility anymore. In case you have forgotten, I quit. I am no longer your employee. I know I signed a contract but after tonight I’m sure you aren’t going to try and hold me to it. So, stop telling me to calm down and stop trying to make me accept this as normal. It isn’t making me feel any better. I’m sorry if me being a bit freaked out over this displeases you. A man was killed tonight, and you and your friends are involved in things I don’t even want to know about. I just don’t understand why you won’t let me go home.” My hand flew up to cover my mouth. “Oh my God!! Are you holding me captive?”

My body shivered as a deep rumble vibrated from his chest.

“Hmmm, is that what you think I’m doing? Holding you as my sweet little hostage? Keeping you all to myself so you can play out my deepest, darkest fantasies. I must say, I like the sound of that.”

I rolled my eyes not certain if he was serious or not. “Just take me home. I don’t have time for this. I have too many responsibilities to play games. If I don’t get a job soon, I will be evicted from my apartment, and I won’t have anywhere else to go.”

His eyes widened. “You no longer need to worry about trivial matters, love. I will be taking care of things for you from now on.”

The man was exasperating. “Needing money for food and rent is not trivial for most people. Not everyone is wealthy. So, I can’t accept your help. I don’t want your help. You expect more from me than I am willing to give.”

He shrugged his shoulders and smirked. “I did warn you that I was demanding and would expect your full attention.”

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