Page 74 of Under an Endless Moon

“Never go too hard.”

My brow arched in disbelief, and River let go of a guilty chuckle before he reached out and squeezed my hand. “Just want you happy and safe, Raven, and if that’s what moving out makes you, then Isupport you. I’ll always support you. Will always love you. And I want you to know how damned proud I am of everything you’ve accomplished.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Eyes that were the same color as mine creased at the corners. “Pretty sure you would have. Pretty sure there isn’t a damned thing in the world that could stop my baby sister from soaring.”

Love filled me so full I wasn’t sure my ribs could contain it.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Mean it,” he said. Then he curled me in his arms and kissed the top of my head. “Just need you to promise that if anyone bugs you…if you get that sense…the intuition that something is off, don’t ignore it. Don’t take the chance. Especially after what happened this morning. Trust your gut, and you call us.”

Pulling back, I gave him a shaky nod. “I will.”

Mischief tweaked his mouth. “You gotta know we’ll still be watching over you.”

Clearing the roughness from my throat, I stepped back and tried to shake off the emotion, my voice wrenching with the ribbing. “As if I expect anything less. I’m sure you’re going to post one of the guys outside my door for the rest of my life.”

“Obviously.”

I could only hope he was teasing.

“All right, I’ll let you get back to it,” he said. “Just needed to make sure you were okay. Be careful, Raven. Don’t think you know what you mean to all of us.”

Emotion swept me in a soft, undulating wave. “I actually think I do.”

A puff of satisfied air heaved from his nose. “Good.”

When there was movement out front, our attention swiveled to the big window that was now squeaky clean to find Otto whipping my little white BMW into an open spot at the curb. He climbed out, looking as if he’d barely been able to squish himself behind the wheel.

Obliterating reason and sight as he drove the fingers of both hands through the crop of his hair as he came striding for the door.

Right then he was all grins.

The casual, easygoing guy back in full force.

A teddy bear rather than a grizzly bear. I wasn’t sure which version of him I liked best.

He pulled open the door with that smirk tacked to his face and did some bow with a flourish of his hand. “My lady, your chariot awaits. As good as fuckin’ new. Took it upon myself to pay the mechanic a little visit to make sure of it.”

He wagged his brows.

Crap. I bet he worked out some of his worry from earlier by busting some balls. Throwing around his massive weight. I was never going to be able to show my face in there again.

“Always going the extra mile for our baby sister,” River rumbled.

Otto glanced at me. My knees knocked with the sudden storm that raged in his sea-blue eyes.

“That’s right. No one is going to take advantage of her.” He didn’t look away from me when he said it.

Silence weighed heavy before River shifted on his heavy boots. “All right, I need to go pick up Nolan and get home.”

Broken out of the severity, I gave my brother a soft nod. “I’ll be by this evening to get some more things.”

“You better. Nolan was about to lose his mind when you didn’t come home last night. Mostly because he was jealous that you got to have a sleepover atUncle Otto’s, and he didn’t. He might stage a revolt when he finds out you’re going to be staying there for a while.”

Wistfulness tugged hard at my heart. “It’s going to be so hard not living with my little man.”

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