Page 51 of Savage Protector

She shook her head, the wet skin of her cheek brushing his jaw.

“Look at me, Isabella.”

Her head jerked up at his use of her full name. “You know who I am, don’t you?”

He nodded.

“And you still came for me?” Some of the fear from her eyes slid away as her face softened.

“I did what I had to. Don’t make that out to be more than it is.” He hardened his jaw and his voice. “I don’t tolerate innocent women getting hurt.”

“You saved me,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Seriously, babe. This isn’t what you think. I’m no knight and I sure as fuck don’t have shiny armor.” He was trying to harden his heart, but the glassy look of unshed tears in her eyes was about to undo him. “I got you out. Now we gotta move on.”

The subtle jerk of her body and release of her hands on him made his stomach clench. The thought of hurting her now made him angry all over again. But he had to do this or she might cling to something not worth clinging to.

“Axel here is going to take care of you. You can trust him.”

A little more alert, her eyes narrowed. “Where will you be?”

“Gone.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What do you mean gone?”

Houston stretched his neck and paused before he spoke something that would lead her on.

“It means my job here is done. Now I move on to the next one.”

Her eyes widened to the size of quarters and her fingers curled into fists. He half expected her to take a swing at him.

“We’ve got to go now,” Axel said, reminding them both they were not yet out of danger. He started to slide the door closed when her hand grabbed the metal and blocked it open.

“What kind of asshole rescues me from hell only to dump me with strangers? Where are they taking me?”

“Somewhere safe. That’s all you need to know. Now unless you want us all to die tonight, sit down and shut up, princess.” He was being harsh, but it felt necessary. It didn’t matter that it twisted his gut like a vise to do it. The sooner she forgot about him the better.

“You’re so right about the rescuing knight bullshit,” she hissed.

Houston barked out a vicious laugh. “At least I’m honest, right? And I honestly hope you’ll understand one day that I did what I did because it was the only thing I could do. Now be a good little girl and quiet down.”

He didn’t care how much of a cliche it sounded like because if looks could kill hers certainly would. She settled in her seat and faced forward, apparently done talking. Good. He couldn’t take much more without hauling her out of the van and stealing her away.

Axel began sliding the door closed, but Izzy had one more parting shot.

Without looking at him, she spoke to the seat in front of her. “You didn’t save me. You were too late.”

Houston lunged forward to grab her and the door shut in his face.

Axel grabbed him and tackled him to the ground as the tires spun and peeled away.

“Get off me,” he bellowed.

“Let her go. You know you have to. She’s damaged goods.”

He shoved Axel off him and stood. “You think I give a shit about that? She deserves better than this.”

“Maybe so. But you made a deal and you will live up to your end of it. You want her pining after you the whole time, unable to recover?”

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