Page 50 of Deadly Oath

“I—Kian, you’re scaring me.” Her voice trembles slightly. “What’s going on?”

“One of my officers saw a couple of guys similar in description to the man I caught outside your house roaming around town. He said they left, but I’m concerned now as to who else might be out there.”

I hear her draw in a slow, shaky breath. “So what should I do?”

“Stay inside,” I say immediately. “As much as possible. Just stay home until I can figure out what’s going on. Don’t go to your book club, or out to eat, or anything that you don’tabsolutelyhave to do until I can get some more information on who these guys are and what they want. Okay?”

She hesitates, and my irritation spikes immediately. “Sabrina, I need to hear you say yes. That you understand me.”

“Kian—that’s not reasonable. I can’t just hide in my house?—”

“You can, and you will.” The thought of one of these men getting their hands on her makes me feel murderous. Possessive anger sweeps over me—but there’s something else there, too. An unexpected feeling of protectiveness. Not just that she’s mine, but that she’s mine to keep safe.

You’re losing it,I tell myself firmly, forcing myself to refocus on the conversation at hand. “Sabrina, I’m not kidding about this.”

“Neither am I,” she replies back sharply. “I’ve spent my whole life being sheltered and caged and hemmed in with rules, Kian. You’re not my father, and you’re not even my boyfriend. And I?—”

“Then listen to me in an official capacity,” I snap. “You could be indanger, Sabrina. Don’t let your stubbornness put you in a situation that you can’t get out of?—”

“I’m not being stubborn,” she shoots back. “I’m trying to live my life. How long are you going to keep me cooped up, Kian? I’m just starting to make friends and settle in here. What excuse am I going to come up with for Marie and the others? That I keep hearing things go bump in the dark, and so I’m hiding in my house?”

“I found a manoutsideyour house?—”

“I don’t want them to know about that.” Sabrina’s voice is taut, and it’s clear that she’s not going to back down easily. “Kian, this is insane?—”

“No, it’s not. You need to listen to me. Just give me a few days.”

“I have a book club meeting tonight?—”

“No, you don’t,” I snap, and I hear her go very quiet on the other end. “Just listen to me, Sabrina. Please.”

Thatpleasestartles me as much as I think it did her. I hear her take a long, slow breath, that silence drawing out for a few moments more before she finally exhales.

“Alright,” she says finally. “But only a few days, Kian. Then I’m going back to living my life.”

“Understood.” I pause for a moment, feeling as if I should say something else, but she doesn’t give me a chance. The line goes dead, and I realize she’s hung up on me.

One step forward, two steps back.Making Sabrina fall fully under my spell has proven more challenging than I expected. But I can’t do anything if she puts herself in danger.

I’ll deal with her being angry with me later. Right now, I’m more concerned with making sure that these men, whoever they’re affiliated with, don’t get their hands on her.

20

SABRINA

By the time it’s been a full twenty-four hours since Kian all but put me on unofficial house arrest, I’m so restless that even Agent Caldwell’s scheduled visit is a relief.

I’d actually forgotten that he was due to visit me. Between my rapidly escalating relationship with Kian, my efforts to actually fit in with the people here in town, and the worry over who is sneaking around my house, Caldwell had ended up in the very back of my mind. But when he knocks on my door, and I see his black town car outside of my window, my stomach clenches with mingled anxiety and relief. Relief, because there’s something to break up the monotony. Anxiety, because I don’t know how much of what’s been going on I should actually tell him.

My ‘relationship’ with Kian?Unlikely, considering I don’t know how to even begin describing this thing between Kian and me to someone like Caldwell without turning bright red and wanting to die from embarrassment.The man sneaking around the house and the ones Kian has seen around town?I know Ishouldsay something about that. Theoretically, Caldwell could help Kian find out who, exactly, these people are. I can’t imagine that having the FBI assisting him in this would be anything other than useful for Kian.

But the truth is that I don’t want Kian to know about Caldwell. I’m already on edge, worried that Kian might drive by or show up unexpectedly, and then I’ll have to explain all sorts of things about myself that I’m not ready to share—and don’t even fully know if I want to. I don’t want him to know the truth about my family, or why I’m here. He might already know that I’m in witness protection, given that he’s the sheriff here, but I don’t want to tell him more than that if I don’t have to.

Giving Caldwell that information will result in Kian knowing about all of that. And worse still, if Caldwell decides that this new threat means that I need to be relocated again, I’ll be moved away from Kian altogether.

As much as I disliked Rivershade when I first arrived, I’ve started to grow fond of it. I’ve made a friend. I have Kian, and everything he’s opening my eyes to. And while I can’t say I wouldn’t go back to Chicago if I were able to, I can certainly say that I don’t want to start over again, in a completely new, strange place.

“Are you alright?” Caldwell asks as I let him inside the house, clearly picking up on my mood. “Are you still having difficulty settling in?”

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