Page 69 of When He Protects

Kane shoved his hands into his pockets. “Afraid that intel is classified, ma’am.”

“Of course. It would be, wouldn’t it?”

“But you can rest assured that I know how to watch Tyler’s six and yours. No one is gonna slip up on you while you’re in that safe house down the road.”

Tyler knew he needed to speak. “I was aware that Kane was here. Hell, he’s the main reason I decided to bring you to Asylum. Knew he would be here. Knew Clay was here. I had a ready-made operation in place. Besides, Kane is practically a one-man security team. Even better at ass-kicking than I am.”

“Stop.” Kane rolled back his massive shoulders. “You’ll make me blush.”

Nothing made that prick blush. “I trust him with my life,” Tyler added. A grim truth.

“And with mine?” Esme inquired in an emotionless voice. Then she brushed away the question. “Don’t worry, you don’t actually need to answer that. Besides, I am quite aware of Kane Harte’s impressive talents.”

Tyler tensed. Kane hadn’t given Esme his last name.

“He was with you in Paris.” She turned away from Kane and headed back toward the front of the house. “Pulled out a young mother and her son. Carried them both to safety. Incredibly brave.”

“How the fuck does she know that?” Kane fired softly. “You tell her? You don’t usually share our secrets.”

Tyler shook his head. He hadn’t told her. Esme had just been doing her research.

“Figured you would turn up, sooner or later. Just didn’t expect to see you this morning. Since you are notoriouslycamera-averse, it took me a moment to connect the dots with you. But when you gave me your name, everything clicked. A reporter caught your name at the sight of the explosion in Paris. First name only, of course. I read your name in the paper and never forgot you.”

If she’d had his name, then in Esme-speak, that meant she’d probably tried to dig up as many secrets on Kane as she could.

Esme paused in front of a bookshelf in the den. Tyler had thought she’d exit the house. Instead, she’d strolled into the den as cool-as-you-please and was poking around. “The two of you have certainly stayed in close contact over the years, and when it comes to his six, Kane is right. Tyler can trust you with his life. You’ve never let him down before.” Her fingers skimmed over the spines of the books. “Mind if I ask a favor of you, Kane? I know we just met, so feel free to deny me.”

“Who the hell is this woman?” Kane trailed beside Tyler as they closed in on Esme.

She straightened and turned to smile at him. Her double-dimple smile. The one that meant absolute trouble. Tyler knew this was the part where she would wrap Kane around her little finger. “It’s a really simple favor, I promise.”

Tyler slanted a glance at his friend. Sure enough, Kane now seemed blinded by her smile.

Her hands dropped to her sides. “If it ever comes down to a choice of saving me or saving Tyler, choose your friend, would you?”

What. The. Fuck? Tyler surged toward her.

“Easy enough to do.” She seemed so casual. “Tyler’s job is to protect me. To keep me alive. So how aboutyoufocus less on me, hmm, Kane? Can you do that? You focus onyour friend. You make sure he lives and that the trouble chasing me doesn’t take him out.”

Kane studied her. Then glanced over at Tyler. He shook his head. “Did what she just say make you feel like absolute shit? Because it should. She’s worried about your fool ass, and you’re busy cutting out her heart.”

“He’s…not cutting out my heart.” Halting from Esme. “I think you’re confused.”

“No, I think I’m right as rain. Tyler is a dumbass, but I suspect you know plenty about him, don’t you? Like the fact that trust is damn near impossible for him because of what happened to his family. Hell, I’m pretty sure there are only a handful of people in this world that Tyler actually does trust, and I’m one of those fortunate few. When your whole world implodes on you, it changes who you are. Changes the way you look at people. You expect the worst. So that’s what you see.”

She edged right next to Tyler. Her arm brushed against his. That sweet scent of hers teased him. “Do you see the worst when you look at me?”

When he looked at her, Tyler saw everything that he wanted.Fuck.His teeth ground together.

“I will take that as a yes.” Her lips pulled down. “Of course. Well,c’est la vie.”

“Esme…”

“My bad. The old saying just slipped out. Luckily, only one of your team members heard me.” She nodded toward Kane. “Do me that favor, will you? In return, I’ll be forever in your debt. And try a croissant. Tastes divine.” She looked at her wrist. No watch was there. “Got to go. Schemes to hatch, you know. But it was great meeting you. Always nice to meet a true friend of Tyler’s.”

“Very interesting to meet you, too, Esme.”

Esme ambled toward the door.

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