Page 16 of Safe Haven

Audrey’s brows lift. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen anyone put one of those on.”

“I’m a trained professional.” Leaning close, I lower my voice and remind her what else I’m capable of. “You should see how fast I can break a man’s arm.”

The claim is probably a pretty decent explanation for why I struggle so much when it comes to women. I lead a simple life. I don’t have hobbies. I don’t have friends. I don’t socialize. I work, and that’s about it, so the topics I have to converse about are limited and mostly involve violence of some sort.

And right now the difference between Dane the Charmer and me is pretty glaring.

“I’m not opposed to seeing that, but if you’re breaking limbs in front of me, I’m going to assume it’s because someone’s trying to hurt me. Seeing as I’m not extremely excited about that prospect, I’m going to choose to take your word for it.” Instead of being horrified by my admittedly terrible attempt at pulling her attention away from Dane, Audrey seems amused, her smile holding as she says, “For the record, I would also really love it if you don’t make any sort of bloody messes in here. I’m pretty sure that would go in my file.”

I relax a little at her response, feeling like maybe she gets me and my sense of humor. “No bloodshed in the workplace. Got it.”

“I’m not completely nixing the option, I just would really like to avoid it if at all possible.” Audrey steps a little closer to me, her voice barely above a whisper when she says, “You do what you have to do, and I’ll deal with the fallout.”

The more time I spend with Audrey, the more I’m seeing how brave she really is. How strong. It’s not obvious or blatant like many of the women I work with. Everything about Audrey is quiet. Understated. And damned if that doesn’t make me wantto protect her even more. Just so she doesn’t feel like she has to change.

“I know people who’ll deal with the fallout, so you don’t need to worry about that either.” Without realizing it, I’ve got my hands on her again, palms resting high on her shoulders. “You just worry about staying alive.”

The shirt I’m wearing tightens as her hands grip the fabric across my stomach. “That’s what I’ve been doing for the past year, and it’s starting to wear me out.”

I study her face for a second, wondering how accurate her math is. “Only a year?”

Audrey’s eyes drop mine, but not before I see the trace of shame that flashes over them. “No. Not only a year.” She swallows, the delicate line of her throat working through the motion. “It’s been much longer than that.”

“How long?”

I came from a happy family—my parents still have a great relationship—but have dealt with enough shitty people to know abuse is a slow build. It inches along in forgivable increments until one day you look up and realize they’ve slowly dug you to the bottom of a pit so deep it’s nearly impossible to climb out of.

I want to know how long Audrey was in that pit. Because if I’m ever lucky enough to cross paths with her ex-husband, I’m going to reclaim every inch he sent her sinking.

Unfortunately, I don’t get an answer because Dane’s voice comes blaring through my earpiece and Audrey’s.

“Hey, Aud. I’ve got a guy up here who says he scheduled an interview with you for this morning.”

Audrey’s brows pinch together as she activates her microphone. “I don’t have any interviews scheduled for today. Is he sure it’s this location?”

I move to the line of monitors Audrey turned on when we first arrived. Scanning the displays, I find where Dane is standing just inside the doors he opened only seconds ago. What I see has me grabbing Audrey as she starts in that direction. I drag her deeper into her office and close the door, locking us in.

“It’s the guy who came to your apartment this morning.” I point to where he stands on the surveillance screen. “Are you sure you don’t recognize him?”

It was the first question I’d asked her when we reviewed the footage. At the time, she was confident she’d never seen him before, or if she had, didn’t remember it.

I was hoping Intel would identify him before our paths crossed again, but facial recognition software takes a long fucking time to come back with a list of possible identities, and this guy seems to be on a tight schedule.

Audrey’s skin goes pale as she stares at the screen. “Why is he here?”

“You’re sure he’s never been here before?”

“Positive.” Audrey reaches for me, her hand gripping mine. “Is he here to kill me?”

I tug her against me, wrapping both arms around her shaking body. “If he is, I’m going to apologize in advance, because he’s about to end up a little bit of everywhere.”

And I feel bad about it. Not about killing the guy—that doesn’t fucking bother me—but about the possibility killing him couldmake Audrey’s life more difficult. The whole store will have to basically be cleared out. Mountains of merchandise will have to be trashed. The two employees that are here will likely be traumatized enough she’ll have to replace them.

“You stay here.” I pull my weapon from the holster hidden in my waistband, checking it before putting it back in place. “I’m going to talk to him.”

Audrey’s fingers grip tight, holding on till her knuckles turn white. “What if he’snothere to kill me?”

That question makes me pause. “What else would he be here for?”

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