Page 26 of Relentless

She nodded. “I want this over with.”

“Worried?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am.” Not for himself. For her. He didn’t want Piper near the resort and knew insisting she stay in Otter Creek wouldn’t do him any good. Piper could drive herself to the resort. Worse, she wouldn’t have protection and would be vulnerable to attack along the road. He’d rather she remained with him than attempt the drive to the resort alone.

“What will we do?”

“Hope for the best and plan for the worst.”

“Was that what you did in the military?”

He nodded. “Still do the same with my work now. We make plans and several backups.”

“Why?”

“Missions never go like we plan. Things happen we can’t anticipate even though we plan for every contingency we can think of.”

“What if you run through all your contingency plans?”

“We develop new ones on the fly. Don’t worry, Piper. I won’t let anything happen to you. Nothing matters more to me than your safety.”

“Your safety is just as important as mine. I don’t want you hurt because of me.”

An invisible band tightened around Liam’s chest. “We’ll watch out for each other.” He drew Piper to her feet. “We need to get going. The longer we wait, the more time we give Barone to prepare a counterattack. I’d rather keep him off balance.”

He escorted Piper to his SUV and tucked her inside. Minutes later, he parked in her driveway and turned off the engine.

“Do you want to go to your place while I pack a bag? I’m sure it will take me longer.”

Liam shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone.”

“You took care of the kidnappers.”

“Your uncle or Barone could have sent more men.”

He walked with Piper to her front door and held out his hand for the key. “Let me make sure it’s safe before you go too far inside the house.”

“Overprotective much?”

“I care about you, Sunshine. Let me do this for you.”

She thrust her hand into her purse, grabbed her house key, and handed it to him. “Where should I wait?”

“Inside the front door. Don’t move until I tell you it’s safe.” When she nodded, Liam unlocked the front door and eased his weapon from his holster. Motioning for Piper to stay behind him, he turned the knob.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, Liam froze. Oh, man. Piper wouldn’t be happy when she saw the state of her house.

“What’s wrong?” She gasped when she saw the chaos. “What are the odds of a burglary hours after being kidnapped?”

“Zip.”

Piper stared. “Did the kidnappers trash my house before they threw me in the van?”

“It’s possible. Stay here while I check the rest of the house. I want to be sure you don’t have a visitor waiting for you and I need to know where you are while I search.”

She nodded.

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