Page 92 of My Secret to Protect

Standing abruptly, he starts to pace.

‘You think that was a coincidence, meeting you in that club? Like I hadn’t approached you a hundred times already before you finally gave me the time of day.’

What? ‘Nolan, I don’t understand.’

‘Arghh,’ he yells, his hands flying into his hair and tugging on the strands as he still paces. ‘I didn’t want to tell you the whole story yet.’

‘Nolan,please. I need to understand,’ I beg, pleading with him to help me with this.

‘Eight years, Bree,’ he says, stopping and turning to me, hands on his hips. ‘I fell in love with you eight years ago, and you didn’t even know I existed.’

‘That’s not possible.’ My words rush out of me with my breath.

‘The convention, in Denver. You spoke about setting up your department and arranging the funding yourself. You were so beautiful and smart. You took my breath away.’

My lips part as I try to steady my breath.

‘I didn’t look like this then. I was a mess, stuck on desk duty because I was so out of shape. I couldn’t pass a physical, but I had family in high places.’ He laughs. ‘I shouldn’t have even had my job, but my father pulled the right strings to get me in and pulled them again to keep me there. He can’t wait to meet you, by the way.’

He drops to sit in a chair, and I see that he’s in the story now. He needs to tell it as much as I need to hear it.

‘I know I was sent to the convention just to get me out of the way for a few days, but then I saw you. I knew you were the love of my life when I heard you up on the stage, and then you smiled at me, you said hello, and I knew I had to do whatever it took to win you. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Bree.’

I stay silent, waiting for more.

‘I went to my father. I told him I’d met the woman I was going to spend forever with, but I wanted, no, I needed, to change. He was overjoyed, Bree. You were everything he wanted for me. He got me a chef and a trainer and pulled in his little puppet, Chief Cane. You remember him? My father is a powerful man, Bree, he was able to put the chief right where he wanted him, for me. He put someone he could hold the strings for right where he wanted him so he could give me everything I needed to be able to win you. The chief is a kiss ass, and for a man like my father, he will happily kneel and open up.’ He chuckles like this situation is funny to him, and it adds up: the photos, the politicians, and his golfing buddies. One of those crooked, powerful men is Nolan’s father. ‘Cane basically put me through the academy again, but in private. He made a real cop out of me, got me in shape, fit, healthy, then got me a stylist who fixed my appearance. It took time, and I knew that it would, but I also knew I couldn’t lose track of you while I got myself straight, so I started watching you.’

Eight years. The lump in my throat is unbearable as his words sink in. He’s been watching me for eight years.

‘You dated a lot. I hated that.’ He shakes his head like the memory makes him mad. ‘But I knew you were just getting what you needed until we could be together, so I made peace with it.’

He stands again, starting to pace, but slower now.

‘I watched you with your family, dancing at the bar, eating breakfast at Merv’s.’ He grins wide like these are shared happy memories he’s recalling, but I feel sick. ‘It was easy to watch when you didn’t know who I was. I loved sharing your joy as I watched you become an auntie.’ He laughs now. ‘Bowie is a little firecracker. I can’t wait to get to know her better.’

‘No,’ I snap at the mention of my niece. ‘You don’t bring my family into this.’

‘I am your family now,Bree!’ he yells, all warmth and happiness gone in an instant. ‘If you want to see them again eventually, you’ll need to accept that I’m your future. I’m connected to them now.’

‘I don’t love you, Nolan. This obsession you have isn’t love, and it’s one-sided. Let me go, find somebody who does love you.’

‘You will love me!’ he screams, and I flinch at the unhinged look in his eyes, the shrill desperation in his voice. ‘I became the man good enough to get your number, good enough to date you and find a way into your bed, and I will become the man you love in return. I don’t care how long it takes.’

‘I want to go home,’ I sob.

‘Then get on board, fast.’

He turns and stomps away, frustrated, and I cry, huge sobs that wrack my body as tears pour from my eyes. He isn’t going to let me go, and the reality of that is terrifying.

They’ve Got Her, Arlo

Arlo

‘Fuck,’ Dad mutters beside me when he sees who’s guarding the cottage. The club’s men…hismen, men he’s trusted with his life.

I know he was hoping I’d got it wrong, that there would be another explanation for them being here, and maybe there is, but right now I don’t fucking care. They took my girl, and I’ll make them pay for that.

‘Hang back until we know what we’re dealing with,’ dad says quietly, ‘you see any of them reachin’, you put a bullet in them.’

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