Page 25 of Bound to the Mafia Guard

“Rowan, it’s for your own safety—for the safety of our child.”

“And how long exactly is this going to last?”

“I don’t know, but I think this is the best decision.” I was getting nowhere fast with this discussion.

“No,” he said. “This is not going to be like the house, where we divvy up rooms and make sole decisions on those. This is a joint decision, and I am not going to be cooped up in this place like a prisoner. I’ve done that before. I didn’t like it.”

I flinched at that. “Rowan, this is very different. This is for your own safety.”

The door opened, and Andro strode inside with Felik next to him. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

“Yes,” Rowan said at the same time.

Andro’s gaze bounced between the two of us. “Is this about the information Cord sent over?”

“Yes,” Rowan said. “Tell Trev I don’t need to be stuck in this house like some sort of prisoner. I’m not made of glass.”

“When your safety is in question, then there are times when it’s going to feel like you are a prisoner in this house. For that, I’m sorry,” Andro said.

Finally, I had some backing. Surely Rowan wouldn’t argue with Andro. His decision was final.

Rowan stood up, nearly knocking his laptop to the ground. “That’s ridiculous.”

Andro crossed his arms, his stare going potent. A lesser man might’ve cowered under that look, but Rowan, being one of the omegas in the family, didn’t cower under his cousin’s stare. I couldn’t say that I would have done the same.

“Andro, I’m not going to just sit here and wait for you all to find this Brutus guy and get more information. I have to be able to live my life. You are the one who told me that.”

“Yes, and you were the one who said that you were scared to go out into the world. There are things you should be scared of out there. This is one of them.”

Another good point by Andro. Surely Rowan would see the logic to this.

“Yes, but like you pointed out, I can’t let that rule my life, and I’m not going to.”

Rowan’s gaze zeroed in on me. “Why don’t we turn the tables, and instead of hiding me, put me out in the open? Plant some information out there, some rumors that I know Brutus was involved and plan on pointing fingers or going to the police or something stupid. Draw him out.”

“Absolutely fucking not!” I said, raising my voice.

Rowan flinched, and I immediately regretted it. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not yelling at you, love, but you can’t?—”

“It’s not a terrible idea,” Felik said.

I turned toward him with murder in my eyes. How could he possibly think we’d put Rowan in danger like that?

“The faster we get him, the faster you guys can truly go back to living life normally—well, as normal as you can when you’re involved in this family. I’m sorry, Rowan, but like Jeremiah, you will not ever leave this house without a guard. That is for your own safety and a perfectly acceptable compromise.”

Clearly he’d had this conversation with his own mate a time or two.

“I get that,” Rowan said, “and I have accepted it. I don’t want to have Trev leave his job and have us run off into the sunset or whatever. But I refuse to just hide. I can’t do that. Eventually, when I graduate, I’m going to get a job. I’m going to have to go to that job. Now, unless there’s an opening for some sort ofliterature expert within the mafia business, that job is going to be outside of Ferrini control.”

Andro’s lips twitched like he was fighting back a smile. “Can’t say that I have an opening for such a thing, but I’ll brainstorm some ideas. Let us think about how we can flush out Brutus.”

“Andro, you can’t possibly?—”

His stare turned on me. “We would never put Rowan or your child at risk. We could put him and Connor at a café surrounded by some of our guards after planting some information to flush Brutus out and see what happens.”

“Why Connor?” Rowan asked.

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