Page 49 of When He Protects

That crap wasn’t funny. “Don’t call her a criminal again. You do, and we’ll have a problem.”

Clay edged toward him. His eyebrows beetled down in concern. “Did you hit your head at some point today?”

“Fuck off.”

“Huh. Okay. Maybe not your head. Are you just thinking with your dick all of a sudden?”

Tyler sucked in a breath. “We’re about to have that problem I mentioned.” He’d warned Clay, but if the other man chose to ignore the warning—that was just on him.

“Look, we both need to take a minute.” Wisely, Clay took both a minute and a step back from Tyler. “I’m confused as hell about Esme, too. She saved Kady Jo! You know I freaking love that kid. I’m trying to convince her mom to marry me, but so far Vanessa has resisted my charms.” He blew out a breath. “So I’m now grateful to a crimin—okay! Jeez, breathe!” He’d retreated fast whenTyler surged toward him. “Didn’t mean to say the c-word. It slipped out!”

It had better not slip out again. “Esme could have been hit by that truck. She could have died.”

“Bobby was driving too damn fast. It was a parking lot, for goodness’ sake. He was rolling through there like a dumbass, and he could have seriously hurt someone. If your Esme hadn’t been there, hell, I don’t want to imagine what I might be doing right now.” Clay raked a hand through his already disheveled brown hair. “So, whatever else she’s done, for the moment, definitely consider me on Esme’s team.”

“Like you weren’t on her team before?”

Clay waited a beat. “Likeyouwere? Like you are not seriously working an angle and trying to manipulate that woman so you can get intel for your federal buddies?”

Shit.

And a door opened and then immediately clicked closed upstairs. Sonofabitch. He’d been afraid of that.Esme was listening to us talk.The first time she’d shut the door, it had just been a ruse. To make him think she’d gone into the bedroom. When, really, she’d lingered to eavesdrop. Of course, Clay had just blurted out the worst possible accusation. “I am on her team. She’sit.My goal. I keep her safe.”

“Because she’s the assignment.”

“Because she’s Esme.” There’d been a dramatic shift in their relationship. And he didn’t even know how to process everything that was changing inside of him. All he knew was that…

Esme isn’t going to die. Esme isn’t going to be hurt. I will never rush toward her prone body again and feel fear and anger and grief pour through me because I think she’s gone.

“Aw, hell. Like that? Seriously?”

Tyler rolled back his shoulders. “Are we back to our problem?”

Clay swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “You know I’ve followed you to hell and back before. I’ll do it again. But, let’s try to avoid getting burned as much as possible, okay?”

It was hard not to get burned when the fire was so tempting.

After Clay left, Tyler secured the front door. Then he glanced upstairs. Did he hear the faint sound of running water? Had Esme climbed into the shower? He pulled out his phone and made a quick, necessary call.

Gray answered on the first ring. “Tell me that we don’t have a problem already.”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Good.” A relieved sigh. “Because I need that woman to continue being alive and to continue cooperating. The stuff she shared before leaving with you? Freaking gold mine already. The CIA is about to piss themselves. And I know that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what she knows. We need her talking and cooperating fully. You have to break through her walls and get her to tell you every single secret that she has.”

His jaw ached because he’d clenched his back teeth so hard. Did everyone think he was just going to seduce Esme to get intel? With an effort, he forced himself to relax. “What’s happening with the hit on her? You find out who put up the bounty?”

“Look, I’m still trying to find out who the hell killed the bastard in our custody. Kinda got a lot of work going on here, my friend. I’ve been grilling suspects all day, and let me just tell you, the other Feds don’t like it when youquestion them. That kind of thing makes you very unpopular at the office.”

“Too bad. I don’t like it when other Feds are dirty.”

“You and me both.” An exhale. “Jorlan came to visit me, did I tell you that already?”

No, he damn well had not.

“Guy was pretty pissed. Kept demanding to see Esme. Got to say, for someone who had his diamonds located, he sure seemed real twitchy.”

Tyler waited. He knew there would be more. With Gray, there always was.

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