Page 120 of When He Protects

Cops. An ambulance. Esme started to rise, but Tyler caught her in his arms and lifted her against his chest.

“I am one hundred percent capable of walking.” She looked down at Jorlan again as Tyler began to carry her out of that horrible place. Esme shuddered at the sight of all the blood and what was quite possibly brain matter. Esme turned her face away and curled an arm around Tyler’s neck. “But you may carry me.” He could do anything. Just…never make me fear that way again. Never make me be so afraid that I won’t see you again.“You should have told me what you had planned. Keeping schemes secret is not cool.” Mentally, she vowed to never keep a scheme from him again.

He was walking through the grim corridor that led back to safety. “Wouldn’t have kept it from you. I didn’t knowwhat was happening. Not until the rubber bullets slammed into me. My head hit the wall. Fucking concussion. Got knocked out for a few moments.”

Her hand feathered over the back of his head.

“Kane saw Ronan without his mask and realized what was going down. The SOB has been undercover for so long. Hell, Ineverexpected for Ronan to be at that motel.”

Undercover, as a hitman.Ronan.

“Former Marine turned gun for hire.” Tyler tightened his hold on her. “We publicly cut ties years ago because of the cases he was working. And when I realized he’d taken you…” His mouth pressed against her temple. “I knew he’d send me and Kane a message as soon as he could. He might seem like the devil,” Tyler rasped, “but he’s?—”

“Really on the side of the good guys?” Esme finished.

Tyler was climbing the stairs now and still carrying her.

“Not sure we’re one hundred percent good.” They reached the landing. Tyler stared down at her. The harsh overhead light glared onto them. “I just killed a man.”

“You were saving me.” He’d killed for her.

“He was dead before I entered the room. He was dead the minute he ordered you takenfromme.”

“You say the most romantic things. Truly.” She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to hold her. To take her away from everyone and everything and…

They were outside. Sure enough, half a dozen patrol cars were also there. So was an ambulance. Kane and, uh, Ronan, were carrying Grayson toward the ambulance. Cops seemed to be swarming.

She and Tyler couldn’t disappear. There would be questions to answer. Statements to give. The press to avoid.

“How’s this for romantic?” He still held her. Wasn’teven out of breath. As if carrying her had been nothing at all.

Esme peered up at him.

“Sometimes, you meet someone,” Tyler told her, voice gruff and shredding at the edges, “and you know right away that the person is trouble.”

She swallowed. Her throat felt raw. And maybe those words made her feel raw.He still thinks I’m trouble?Not that he was wrong. Case in point…just look around.

His hold tightened around her. “The kind of trouble that you have been looking for your whole life.”

Where was he going with this?

“You meet someone, and you know the person is going to changeeverythingfor you.”

Okay, his words seemed promising.

“You meet someone, and you know right away that nothing will ever be the same again. Your world can’t be the same, because the woman you just met is gonna change everything. She’s going to change you. You will love her more than you’ve ever loved anything.”

She couldn’t stop her smile.

“You will fight for her. You will kill for her. You willlivefor her. Because nothing matters to you as much as she does.”

He truly could say the most romantic things.

“And when she smiles at you, you get lost.”

Esme had to ask, “Are you—are you lost in me?”

“I’m lost without you, Esme. And I never, ever want to be lost again.”

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