Page 50 of Ignite

Tears burn behind my eyes. “Last night. He barged into my house, saying I had to get back with him. Said he couldn’t protect me unless I did. He was ranting, completely paranoid. I think he was high.” My breath catches. “He scared me. I hate admitting that, but… he came into my house. I was alone.”

Conan pulls me into his arms. I collapse against his chest, letting the tears fall.

“You should’ve called me, baby. I would’ve sorted him.”

I shake my head, voice muffled against him. “I didn’t want to bother you. I’m not your problem.”

He pulls back, cupping my cheeks. His face is softer now, but no less intense.

“You’re my friend. I don’t have many outside my family. Let me look after you? It’s what I’m good at.”

I nod slowly, eyes searching his. I trust him. I do. “Should I be worried he’s going to come back? I can’t keep staying at Lily’s.”

He brushes his thumb over my lip, gaze locked on mine. “I’ll fix this. I’ll make it safe for you to go home.”

“Thank you,” I breathe.

“You’re welcome. I want to take you somewhere. My safe haven. A place you can go if you ever need to.”

Something about the way he says that… “Follow me there?”

“Yeah.”

He releases me, and my chest tightens with the loss of his warmth. But then he laces our fingers together and leads me outside.

To his brand-new McLaren parked next to my Beast.

“Holy shit. That is what you got to replace the Bugatti?”

I run a hand over the fresh black paint. Ugh. It even has black alloys.

“Replace? Not so much. You’ll see soon enough.”

“She’s beautiful. Like… makes me horny, beautiful. Is that a thing?”

He folds his arms across his chest, grinning. “Yeah. It’s a thing. Wanna drive her?”

He tosses me the keys. I just about catch them.

“What? You’d let me?”

He nods. “You saw what happened to the Bugatti. You probably won’t smash this one worse than that.”

I rummage through my bag and hand him my keys. “You take mine?”

“Oh, fuck yeah. Now that’ll get me hard—listening to her purr for me.”

I laugh, and he squeezes my shoulder.

“Friends?”

His tone is light, but his eyes are searching.

I nod. Heart pounding. “Yeah. I think we can say that now.”

“I’ll race you there?”

He tips my chin up, nudging his nose against mine. Not a single one of my past ‘friends’ ever did that. But I’m not pulling away.

---