Page 58 of Protector

Oh, Bear was going to have a field day with that one. I doubted Molly would be able to sit for a week.

My neck cracked as I looked up at the water-stained popcorn ceiling before shaking my head. “Molly knew about this? You recruited Molly for this plan? This ain’t a game, Celia! You go up against these guys and they will kill you!”

“And what about you?” She moved closer, standing toe to toe with me. “Do you think you’re immune?”

I knew I wasn’t, but if anyone deserved to be on the front line, it was me. I swallowed and stared down at her feet; my mouth suddenly dry. “I fucked up, and you got hurt. I couldn’t live with myself if it happened again. Why can’t you let me handle this?”

“Because I can’t!”

Celia was the only one who pushed me, the only one who dared to stand up to me and fight for control. When she didn’t elaborate, I threaded a hand through her hair, lightly tugging her up against me. She lowered her eyes to the floor, forcing me to tighten my hold until her chin lifted.

She watched warily as I brought my other hand up to rest at the base of her neck, her throat bobbing up and down in a nervous swallow. “Let me go.”

My girl was bold, I’d give her that, but she knew nothing about the underworld I called home. The path I’d been on since I was sixteen led only one place, and I wasn’t willing to drag her down with me, even if she was my greatest weakness.

I nodded. “I will. Just as soon as you let go of this idea that you can take these guys on your own—”

Her lips curled up as she bared her teeth and snarled, “You’re just stupid enough to get yourself killed, aren’t you? What makes you think you can stop them? If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have even known where Manny was!”

“If it weren’t for you?” I chuckled, having moved past anger and into amusement. “That’s fuckin’ cute. Wrong, but cute.”

I’d tried patience and gentleness, but her goddamn stubbornness pushed me beyond rational thought and ignited my temper. I was hanging on by a thread, and I knew that if it snapped, she’d never recover. The monster would devour her whole.

She sucked in a breath, her eyes brimming with homicidal rage as she dragged her claws down my face. “They want you dead! Don’t you know that?”

I released her hair and grabbed her wrists, stopping the assault. “And why the fuck do you care? I chose this life, princess!”

With a deep breath, she dropped her hands and backed away. Any relief I may have felt was gone the minute she opened her mouth.

“You may have chosen this life, but I was forced into it, and I’m not willing to sit at home. You want me to believe that you’ve got it all under control, but you don’t. You’re still running into situations without thinking them through.”

She was starting to sound like Wolverine. Instead of listening, I studied my wounds in the mirror. The red streaks started just below my eyes and disappeared into my beard.

She’d done worse.

Didn’t mean she wasn’t gonna pay for it. I’d let her push me past the point of sanity. Fuck niceties. Now, I wanted to fight.

“Explain to me how tracking a gangbanger’s movements is considered ‘running,’ Celia. Way I see it, me showin’ up here saved your ass—”

Her chin raised defiantly, and I almost became convinced that she didn’t need to be handled carefully. What she needed was to be taken over my lap before I fucked the opposition out of her.

“They were baiting you, Grey. And if they were bold enough to do that, then they must think they’ve got the numbers to take you.”

“Baiting me how?” I ignored her use of my club name, focusing instead on the idea that the men who hurt her would be stupid enough to try to again.

The green eyes that had been narrowed at me in anger, now widened in surprise, as if realizing she’d revealed more than she wanted.

“Celia,” I tried again. “Baiting me how?”

Her arms went around her torso, holding herself together before she quietly admitted, “He—Manny, showed up at Dakota’s school a few weeks ago. He gave her a photograph of Kate. They were going to use her as bait to get to you. I wasn’t going to let it happen.”

Saliva flooded my mouth, and I clenched my hands into fists, relishing in the sound of my knuckles cracking under the pressure. “How?”

Her eyes flashed with something, but it was gone as soon as she blinked. “There was a message on the back of the picture—”

“Do you have it?” She shook her head, and I pushed, “Where is it? What’d it say? Goddammit, Celia! Just fuckin’ tell me!”

I’d take Manny to the brink of death and then bring him back. Maybe I’d do it over and over again.

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