Page 41 of Daddy's Desire

In the meantime, their meals had arrived and were cold. Her attention turned to Ronin, who stood off to the side with a dark scowl on his face and his eyes trained on her as he talked toanother policeman.

Courtney knew she was in trouble. She just didn’t know why, but it looked like she’d find out shortly after the other men left.

Chapter Seventeen

Ronin had to keep his arms crossed because he couldn’t stop the way his hands shook. He knew some of it was adrenaline, but most of it was anger and fear. Why the hell did his little onethink it was a good idea to push the man? She didn’t know if he had a gun or knife, and there was a chance, a small chance, he’d be able to get to her before he could stop it.

He led the last cop out, and then they were finally alone.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No.”

He knew he wouldn’t be able to get a bite down without choking, so he made his way over to the sofa table and sat, facing her. He rested his elbows on his knees and looked down at his hands for a moment.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked.

“Mad is one way to say it.”

“Why?”

His head flew up so he could see her expression. “Are you kidding?”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t think I did anything wrong. I knew you were here, so I wasn’t afraid.”

“He could have still hurt you before I could have gotten to him,” Ronin said. He watched as her expression felt like she’d shut a door between them. It was blank, and her eyes were dull as she looked at her hands. That made him madder, and his first thought was he wanted to spank her until she couldn’t sit down, but this was the first night they were together, and he didn’t want it to end with her in discomfort.

He wiped a hand down his face. “Go brush your teeth and get into bed.”

“Where will you be?” she asked.

“I’ll be in later.”

She nodded, stood, and without another word, walked into the bedroom and shut the door.

He could kick himself because of the flash of pain he caught before she turned away from him, but he knew he needed to calm down before he felt steady enough to deal with her.

Ronin sat on the sofa and stared out the window at the night sky. The stars looked brighter because he’d kept the lights off. His mind kept going over what had happened earlier in the night, and he couldn’t seem to get the scenarios of her being hurt out of it.

He wiped a hand down his face in frustration. He knew he’d never give her up, but he didn’t know how to deal with this strong emotion inside of him. He wanted to call Darian or one of the other men who had littles of their own, but it was too late, and he knew he could wait until morning.

He slid sidewise, stuffed one of the pillows under his head, and closed his eyes. He’d deal with everything later.

****

The sun shining in the window woke him the next morning. He sighed, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and sat up. Fuck, he needed coffee, but most importantly, he needed to be wrapped around his woman. He had meant to go back into the bedroom after he settled a bit, but he’d slept hard through the night.

Ronin finally stood and stretched his arms over his head, hearing several vertebrae pop in his back. He made his way into the bedroom to find the bed empty and made. It took him a second to realize Courtney was not where she was supposed to be.

He walked through the rest of the suite and started to panic when he didn’t find her. Where the hell did she go?

Ronin went back into the bathroom they’d been using tofind her things gone, too, but he also caught sight of the note leaning against the mirror.

Ronin,

I am so sorry. I didn’t want to make you angry or disappoint you. I never wanted to see you sad or mad.

I think this isn’t going to work out with us. I know I won’t be able to be what you want, and I don’t want you to regret this time together. When you didn’t come to bed last night, I knew I’d made a big mistake. Again, I have to say I’m sorry.

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