Page 67 of Fiercely Protective

I clenched my hands into fists to keep myself from marching over to her, throwing her over my shoulder, and carting her back to the car. I would make it up to her, hell I would take her to every fucking museum in the country if that was what she wanted. I took a few steps toward her when my phone rang. I hesitated, not wanting anything to ruin this night, but if Blaze had found Galante I wanted to know, I wanted to finish it. I wanted to give her the gift of knowing that she had nothing else to fear, no more nightmares.

“Tell me you have him.”

“No, but he was here. I got his description from the hotel clerk. He has been living in this shithole for about three weeks and there is more. I will send you a few pictures.”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked down at the screen. There were photos of Bri’s old apartment before I had everything boxed up, photos of her with me outside the club and again outside the penthouse.

“That fucking bastard. Have two men stationed outside the hotel in case he returns there tonight. And pay the clerkoff. I don’t want him to warn Galante that we were there. Leave everything like you found it.”

“Since you have taken to giving me orders, I have some for you. Get her out of town, take her to the estate, or send her to New York to stay with Alessio. I have a bad feeling about this man. We have too much that can go wrong. Petros and his Armenian thugs are poised to make a move any day now. While I know they aren’t much to worry about, they could cause just enough of a distraction that Galante could capitalize on it. I don’t want another incident like we had with Alessio’s Cara Mia. We were lucky that night; it could have gone much worse and if we had been thirty minutes later to rescue her, it would have. I don’t want a repeat of that scenario. Heed my warning and take her away from here.”

I heaved a heavy sigh. “I will have Brenda make sure the estate is properly staffed. It will take a few days but once everything is in order, I will take her there. But I want that bastard found! I don’t want her to even have to see his face again. See if the hotel has any security footage of him and have every man look at it so he can be recognized.”

“This isn’t the kind of hotel with security cameras, but I will ask. But Bri was right, it either was him outside the club or he paid someone to wear the coat, hoping he could lure her away. He may have had plans to grab her tonight. This makes me question if he has friends inside the club, not one of your employees, but maybe someone posing as a patron. Someone sent to just watch what goes on and report back to him.”

I wanted to punch the wall; my anger was growing by the second. “There are too many ‘what ifs’ and I don’t like it.”

“Me either, but it’s what we have right now. Let’s just hope that we can find Tony before Petros makes his next move.”

Chapter Fifteen

Bri

I would remember tonight for the rest of my life. I never imagined anyone having the power or money to rent out an entire museum, but Rogue had done exactly that for me. A gift to me simply because I mentioned wanting to visit but never being able to afford the luxury. As I strolled through the different halls, admiring the ancient treasures and exhibits on display, not one time did I think of Tony or the trouble that followed me. It may be only a short reprieve, but I was happy to take it.

Things had changed between Rogue and me. I wasn’t sure exactly when this transformation occurred, but I no longer felt like a captive looking for the first opportunity to escape. I no longer was afraid or angry with him, and the flame of desire that burned between us only seemed to burn hotter the more we were with each other.

I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see him hovering behind me or staring at me, but he had walked away to stand across the room to take a call. Something had happened to change his demeanor. He was angry. And just like that, the reality of our situation returned. The fragile but twisted fairy tale that I had woven into my brain was now broken. I was not living with a prince or a knight in shining armor. I was living with a dangerous man in a world where death and peril were commonplace.

The desire I had to continue my exploration of the museum deserted me along with any hope that this could turninto a normal relationship. The steps I took drawing me closer to him alerted him to my presence. An intense feeling of dread swept over me, and I knew that the phone call that had disrupted our evening had to do with Tony and his search for me.

He looked up and put the phone back into his coat pocket. “Finished so soon, Angel?”

I nodded my head. “I am just a little tired and while I feel foolish and hate to admit it, my foot hurts a little bit from where I tried to kick you and instead kicked the car.”

He stepped forward and before I could utter a protest lifted me into his arms and I felt that fairy-tale feeling threatening to take over my senses again.

He carried me over to the information desk and sat me on top of a stack of maps and brochures.

“You should have told me your foot was hurt. I had not realized you kicked the car hard enough to injure yourself.”

He slipped off my black heel and held my foot in his hand as he examined it.

“I am not injured. You just saw me walking all over this place. My foot is just a bit sore. There is no need to be concerned.”

His hand slid over my ankle and slowly up my calf. “It doesn’t appear to be sprained, but we really should be certain.”

I saw a hint of amusement flicker in his eyes.

“I told you it was just a little sore.”

His lips lifted into a small smile. “Let’s be sure.”

I shrieked as he raked a finger down the bottom of my foot and nearly jumped from the desk. I tried to pull my foot free, but he held it tighter and raked his fingers across the bottom of my foot again, causing me to burst out in a shrill giggle.

“Stop! I can’t stand anymore.”

He laughed and released my foot before placing a quick kiss to my lips. “You are ticklish. That is an important bit of information that might prove useful in the future.”

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