Page 15 of Protected Hearts

Without those files, nobody would believe her, and she hadnoprotection against William.

Far too soon, she felt the jet begin its descent. A new fear took hold of her. She had no idea where they were going or what she was about to walk into…but at least she wasn’t doing it in that feathered nightmare of a wedding gown.

The plane landed smoothly. Oaks put her in the back seat of a black SUV without a single glance spared for her. With his brother and the girlfriend up front, Oaks sat in the back with Shiloh.

She didn’t even know where they landed until she spotted a sign for Cheyenne. Wasn’t that in Wyoming? Or was it Montana? She should have paid more attention in geography class and spent less time on computers.

When they turned onto a sprawling ranch with a gorgeous mountain range in the distance, she stifled a gulp.

After being with William, she knew what things cost. And this ranch was worth a fortune.

This family had money. Big money. They owned a private jet and lived on a fancy ranch.

Oaks even paid a massive amount of cryptocurrency for her.

Her ex had money like that too—the jet, all the cash to buy her. She didn’t want to become another pawn in a wealthy man’s game.

The vehicle stopped, and Oaks opened her door. She met his stare with one of her own, lifting her jaw a notch higher. She refused to let him bully her around.

“This way.”

The big ranch house was quaint on the outside while being modern and updated on the inside. Dark wood floors gleamedwith a fresh coat of polish, and everywhere she looked, she saw dollar signs.

Oaks ushered her into a space set up like a conference room with a long table. She looked around, trying to findanyclue as to what these people did for a living and why they needed so many conference spaces.

Oaks sat across from her. And when that man sat, he didn’t just sink to the chair like other men. No, his muscles uncoiled and took over every spare inch of the leather seat. His thick forearms swallowed the chair arms, and those powerful thighs looked about to burst the seams of the jeans he wore.

“Time to talk, Shiloh.”

She eyed him. “Before I say anything, who are you? I see top-of-the-line tech. About ten thousand dollars’ worth of equipment in this room alone.” She tipped her jaw toward the costly monitors and the computer system along one wall. “You have a jet at your beck and call. You used facial recognition software to run a check on those photos.”

Oaks’s stony expression gave nothing away. “Valid observations.”

“I told you how I was taken by my ex—”

“There’s more to the story, Shiloh.”

She wasn’t giving upanythinguntil she knew she was safe. Nothing about this felt safe.

But two men who looked as big and scary as these ones could make her talk. She had to give them something. Oaks’s brother and his girlfriend also sat at the table, within touching distance of each other.

Shiloh let out a breath. “Look, I’ve been hiding from cameras for months.”

“Why, Shiloh?” Oaks had a drawl. When he said her name, he rolled the syllables on his tongue as if he was tasting them like a good whiskey.

She looked down at her hands twisting in her lap. Could she trust him with her secrets? Hehadgotten her away from the Russians. He had given her small creature comforts like a drink and a blanket on the plane, and he’d unlaced that bloody gown so she could breathe in the van.

On the flip side, he’d stolen a vehicle. He threw around a lot of money. He’dboughther.

She dragged in a deep breath of air that smelled faintly of the wood lining the walls and the leather she was sitting on.

“I first went to New York City to hand over information to a handler in the CIA.”

She felt shock ripple through the men more than saw it. Their exteriors gave nothing away. Not even the corner of one gray eye twitched in this room.

“The handler contacted me,” she rushed to say.

“You’re working with the CIA.” Oaks’s stare riveted on her face like a human polygraph. She knew that stare would detect any lie she told, even though he didn’t know anything about her.

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