Page 20 of Reluctant Surrender

Either way, that complicated things even more. Sammy wouldn’t let that go unchecked. Even if he could forget the hustle, having someone shoot at him in his own home—never.

“Do you have any other guns?” I asked, unbelieving that I even had to ask.

“One more, it’s in my bag.”

The roar of my bike came up from behind the car as Andrezj pulled in. I reached over her and popped the door open.

“Let’s get inside.” I waited for her to hop down from the SUV before I climbed out my side. Andrezj tossed me my keys and then took the driver’s seat. After grabbing Maggie’s bag from the back, I laced my fingers with hers and tugged her toward the front door of the house.

Her fingers gripped onto mine, but I could sense the tension, the frustration in her. I punched in the key code to the door and let her inside.

“I don’t need to stay here, Lukas. I can go to New York. I’ll stay with Amelia for a little while, maybe get a job up there and find a place to stay. Or I can go somewhere else.” She turned her stubborn blue eyes on me as soon as I locked the door.

“Amelia’s pregnant, do you really think Christian would be happy about you hiding out there?”

“Then I’ll—”

“Where’s your dad?”

She turned her eyes away from me, an angry blush hitting her cheeks. Anger rose up in me at what I suspected to be true.

“He has a security team, why not go stay with him?” I put her suitcase down and folded my arms over my chest, settling a firm stare on her. There was a lot this girl was hiding from me, and it was time I got down to it all.

“Lukas,” she whispered my name with a plea. Whatever was going on, she didn’t want to say it out loud. Too bad for her I didn’t really care about what she wanted at the moment.

“Where is he?” I asked again more firmly. Her father was no stranger to my family; he’d come to us more than once looking for help to deal with a situation too dirty for his own hands.

She raised her chin. “He’s with his wife in Europe.”

“And when will he be back?”

“In the spring.”

“He left you for that long?”

“I’m twenty-four years old, Lukas. I can handle myself.” She shook her head.

“Then why aren’t you living in your condo? What happened?”

A new blush appeared on her cheeks, one of embarrassment. “His wife had him cut off my allowance. The money I was making at the time wasn’t enough to pay the mortgage on the place, so I had to downgrade. But I couldn’t afford anything in that part of town, so I had to move. Where I’m working now pays a bit more, and I can afford my place.”

“Does he know you’re living there?”

She looked away. “I haven’t spoken to him since he left two months ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this was going on. I could have helped.”

“No. You would have butted in and taken over. And that’s the last thing I wanted. I don’t need you or anyone else to handle this. I have a job. I have a place to live. When I hit twenty-five, I’ll get the trust my grandparents set up for me. It’s not huge, but it’s enough so I can move to a better place.”

I stared at her a long moment. Her father had simply cut ties and left her dangling in the wind. For what? A pretty little bride? Fucking prick.

“Seriously, though, Lukas. I’ll be okay on my own. I don’t want my mess to get thrown on your doorstep.” She rolled her shoulders back, her jaw firmed up. The tiny moment of insecurity had passed, and she’d locked it back up behind that damn wall of hers.

“I’m not letting you try to hide from Sammy. He’ll find you, and he’ll make an example of you.” I picked up her bag. “You’ll stay with me until it’s solved.”

“Lukas—”

“You’ll stay here, where I can protect you, until Sammy ends this. Once that’s done, when it’s safe, I’ll let you go. You can go do whatever you want wherever you want. But until then, you are going to follow my rules, and you’re going to let me protect you.”

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