Page 7 of Hidden By His Side

“Was he after you, Ram?” Her brow creased as she searched his eyes. “Are you in trouble?”

He let his thumb swipe her other cheek dry. “That’s not for you to worry about.”

Summer frowned, her lips twisting into almost a pout, one he imagined nibbling on. He was a fucking asshole. There was a dead body in the other room, and she was recovering from a shock.

Maybe a distraction would help, the devil inside him whispered.

She sighed, her expression easing. “I know. You don’t want me to get caught up in this any more than I have.”

His hand covered hers, lifting it and pressing a kiss into her palm. “For your own protection.”

She nodded, but there was a tightness to the smile that formed, proving it was fake. Her hand tugged back on his grip. “I’m fine now.”

Ramiro released her, and she scrambled off his lap. Her gaze drifted toward the reception area, and her face paled.

“It’s okay to not be fine,” he reminded her. He stood, blocking her view of the body. “In fact, I think you should take tomorrow off.”

Her head snapped up, and her eyes locked on his. “That’s not necessary!”

“It’ll take at least that long to get this place tidy how you like it.” He wanted to reach for her again, touch her, but dug his fingers into his slacks instead.

“I could—”

“You’re not helping with this, Summer.”

Her chin dropped.

“You shouldn’t be alone, though, not after a scare like that.” It was on the tip of his tongue to invite her to his place, but that would only end one way.

“I’m going out with Derek tonight. I’ll stay over at his place after.”

Ramiro didn’t like that idea at all. “Are you sure you want to go there? Weren’t you two having problems?”

“He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ramiro reached out, nudging her chin up so she’d look at him. “The truth.”

She pushed his hand away, making his skin cold. “That is the truth. He wasn’t a jerk or anything. I just…” A small shrug tipped up her shoulders as she wrapped her arms around her torso. “I’ve been stuck in my head lately. You know how I can get. I can be hard to be around sometimes.”

Ramiro felt even colder. It almost sounded like the nightmares were back. “You’re never hard to be around. If he’s making you feel that way, then he really is a prick.”

She smiled again. “It’s not about him, not really. This will give us a chance to talk things out.”

“Summer, if—”

“Ram!” Diego shouted.

Ramiro turned in time to catch Diego’s glare down at the corpse. “What are you doing here?”

Diego lifted his hand, his cell phone gripped in it. “I heard the scream. Thought you could use some backup.”

“You’re treating me like Naz. I don’t need protection, Diego.”

“Fuck off,” Diego said. He was still a little sore that the kid had gotten so badly injured not long ago. Diego had a soft spot for the asset he’d brought in. “It looks like I arrived for cleanup. Who was this fucker?”

Ramiro stared at the dead asshole. It was the middle of the afternoon, which would be a pain in the ass for disposing of the body.

Summer made a noise in her throat as she peered around him. Her face was back to being too pale.

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