Page 31 of Protected Hearts

He paused in the living room to slip his boots back on, but he didn’t make it two steps toward the front door before his brother’s voice stopped him.

“Need to talk to you, Oaks.”

He turned to see Carson’s back as he walked away.

With little choice but to follow, Oaks braced himself to learn about some shit hitting the fan surrounding Shiloh.

As soon as they entered Carson’s office, his brother turned to him. “Willow told me you just made some new purchases on the company card.”

He cocked a brow. “I got Shiloh some clothes since she came wearing a wedding dress.”

His brother folded his arms. “At an electronics store?”

“I picked her up a laptop and phone too.”

“You did what?” Carson’s raised voice boomed through the house far too loud for Oaks’s peace of mind.

He strode to the office door and started to shut it, but their younger brother Colt appeared, amusement gleaming in his eyes.

“Did I hear our brother bellow?”

“Ugh. Get in here. And shut the door.” Oaks whipped around to face down Carson.

His legs were braced wide and his arms folded.

Colt chuckled. “What did you do to piss off Papa Bear? Don’t hold back now, Carson. It’s bad for the constitution.”

Oaks shot him a glare that would powderize any other man’s testicles.

“Don’t call me Papa Bear.” Carson shifted his glare from Colt to Oaks again. “Go on. Explain to me and Colt why you bought a woman with a background in tech, a computer and a phone.”

“A burner phone,” he clarified.

Both brothers narrowed their eyes at him, not reassured.

“To give her more freedom. She’ll feel more comfortable having a computer of her own, and it will give us a chance to monitor it and her through our security system.”

Colt sank to the leather sofa lining one wall, elbows on his splayed knees. “What do you think she’ll do on her own device that she won’t on ours? Are you trying to catch her at something?”

Oaks rubbed a knuckle between his brows where a tension headache was forming. “I think she’s trying to hide something. Bury it. Most likely it’s the intel she was attempting to pass off to the CIA agent she claimed was in touch with her.”

“And we’re going to wait and see what that looks like? Do you realize what a risk that is?” Carson leveled him in a look.

“I trust her. She’s not going to threaten us.”

Both of his brothers fixed their attention on him.

“You’ve known her for one day, Oaks.”

Colt nodded in agreement.

“Doesn’t matter. I have a feeling that she hasn’t lied to us. She just needs time to learn to trust us so she can share the rest of the story.”

“We may not have time.”

“Look, you both know I run off my instincts more often than not. I saw that she needed help so I helped. And I will continue to help until she is safe.”

“Hope you signed a prenup for when that day comes.” Colt’s quip had Carson heaving a sigh.

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