Page 29 of Snowed in with My Protector

“Come on in,” I step back into the cabin and nod toward the living room, “Fallon is beside herself.”

Blake’s face falls and he nods. “I hope you assured her that I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t good news. I’d still be out there and working on a solution to the problem.”

“I did,” I assure him, “but she’s still worried.”

He glances toward the living room, his voice dropping again, “How’s she holding up with everything that happened the other night?”

“She’s fine.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was worried that she would see me differently, even without knowing all the details.”

“I have a feeling you didn’t need to worry,” there’s a knowing in Blake’s voice that has me nodding.

He shoots me another grin before we head into the living room. When I see Fallon and the way she’s practically vibrating with fear and worry, I move toward her quickly. I don’t hesitate to pick her up and sit down with her on my lap.

As I run my hand up and down her back, she relaxes into me even though I can still feel the tension coming off her in waves. Her eyes are wide and a little wild as she looks over to where Blake has sat down in a chair. He leans forward and clasps his hands together, his gaze soft and filled with kindness.

“How are you doing, Fallon?”

My woman swallows hard before clearing her throat. “I’m,” she pauses like she’s really assessing how she’s feeling, “okay. I’m kind freaked out about whatever you’re here to tell me. Am I safe? Have you figured out a way to get them off my back? I don’t want Hutch to have to go out there in the middle of the night again and have to face fucking mercenaries intent on killing me,” the words rush out of her.

I press my lips together to stop myself from laughing because she’s turned bright pink now that everything has tumbled from her mouth. She’s so damn cute.

Instead of laughing, I kiss the side of her head. She glances at me, embarrassment coloring her features.

“I understand,” there’s a hint of amusement in Blake’s voice that has Fallon letting out an exasperated sigh. “I won’t beat around the bush because you’re clearly on edge here and that’s the last thing I want.” I swear Fallon leans forward like she’s hanging on his every word. “You’re safe,” there’s a resonance in his voice that has my woman relaxing further against my chest.

There’s disbelief in her voice, “I am?”

Blake nods and gives her a small smile. “You are,” there’s a promise in his voice. “The men who came after you were the key to ensuring you’re protected. We were able to use them to backtrack and prove that men high up in Luxe Notes hired themto come after you. That was enough leverage to approach them and put a stop to it.”

“You blackmailed them,” Fallon sounds more resigned than surprised.

Blake shrugs one of his giant shoulders and smirks. “I certainly threatened them with exposure.”

“You’re still going to expose them,” I rumble and Fallon glances back at me in surprise.

“Of course,” Blake grunts. “They need to be held accountable for their actions and not just the ones the company took.” His grin turns scary. “Duncan found a lot more evidence of their lies and bullshit as he was investigating the company. Everything has been turned over to Echo.”

“Oh,” Fallon gasps, “good. She deserves to break a story this big. She’s a great journalist but hasn’t been given the opportunity to really shine.”

“She’s been getting the recognition she deserves,” Blake agrees while nodding sagely. “We also ensured that the appropriate evidence found its way to the right people across the alphabet agencies. Luxe Notes, its board and upper management is going to be plenty busy dealing with all the people coming for them.”

Fallon closes her eyes, and I watch as an array of emotions cross her face. Relief. Joy. Acceptance. Anger. Resignation.

When her eyes open, she looks up at me and so many questions swirl in her eyes. My heart starts to pound in my chest. Is this when she tells me she’s leaving?

“That means you’re safe, Fallon,” Blake’s voice pulls her attention back to him. “You can go back to Seattle.”

I see red and the only thing that keeps me from launching myself at him, mountain of a man or not, and beating the hell out of him is the fact that Fallon is sitting on my lap. She fidgets and my hands come down and grip her hips to hold her in place.

“Fallon isn’t going anywhere,” I snarl the words and Blake smirks. “She might be safe, but she’ll be staying right here with me.” I can’t seem to stop the words now that I’ve started talking. “She’s mine and I’m not letting her go.”

I’m probably being too rough with her, but the idea of her walking away from me has fear clawing up my throat. She turns just enough to take my jaw in her hands. When I’m staring down into her blue grey eyes, the red haze coating my vision starts to clear a little.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Fallon softly coaxes me.

It takes some effort, but I force myself to relax my grip on her hips. She leans into me, and I take a deep breath. Her rose scent has my shoulders dropping.

Home.

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