Page 81 of Finding Home with You

“A hit,” I confirm.

“Jesus Christ, Ryan,” she says, sitting up, wide awake now. “He’s put a hit out on you?”

I shrug. “Yeah, but we can use it to our advantage.”

“How?” she half shouts.

“Because now we have someone who’s between Anthony and your dad,” I tell her. “And if we reach out to him about speaking to Anthony, then we’ll be able to get him and end all of this,” I continue. “Before anything bad goes down,” I add, trying to reassure her even though I have no idea if that’s how this will all play out.

“But there’s no way this Hamish guy will talk to you or set anything up with Anthony,” she says. “You’re the police, they know that.”

“I know,” I say, knowing this is the part of the plan I hate. “But you’re not.”

“Wait, what?” she asks, surprised.

I sit up now, taking her hands in mine. “I don’t like this at all, Erin, but I can’t let it continue either,” I tell her. “And if you can somehow help us get to Anthony and end this shit, then I have to consider it. You’ll be protected the whole time, I promise. There won’t be a second where you’ll be alone or unguarded.”

Erin’s staring at me, an unreadable look on her face as she takes in my words.

“So,” she eventually says, jutting her chin out a little. “Does this mean I get my gun back?” And already I can see her mind ticking over with how she thinks this little scenario is going to play out.

“No, Erin, you don’t get your gun back. This isn’t a movie, you know?”

She lets out a loud huff. “I do know how to shoot, Ryan,” she says, annoyed. “I can defend myself.”

I pull her against me now so she’s resting against my chest. “That might be true, babe, but you’re still not having a gun.”

“Not fair,” she murmurs and I can’t help but smile. I thought she’d be terrified of what we’re asking her to do, but in reality, she almost seems excited. “So what exactly do you want me to do then?” she asks.

“Well,” I start. “We want you to call this Hamish guy. Tell him you got his number from your dad and you’d like to set up a meeting with Anthony to sort things out.”

“You really think he’s going to believe that?”

“Hamish?” I ask. “Yeah, he’s too much of a kiss ass to your father to not believe it,” I tell her.

“What about Anthony?” she asks. “He and I didn’t exactly end things on good terms and judging by how pissed he was the other day when he showed up here, how can you be so sure he’ll want to speak to me?”

I take a deep breath, knowing this is the one part of the plan we can’t guarantee. “We can’t,” I admit. “But if I had to put money on it, I’d say he won’t be able to help himself.”

Erin tilts her head so she’s looking up at me now. “Because of you and me?”

I lean down and press a kiss to her lips. “That, but mostly because of you and him.”

“Me?” she asks.

I nod, brushing her hair back. “He won’t be able to resist, Erin, trust me, it’s a guy thing,” I say, knowing that no man can resist the pull of their first love. God, just the thought of this guy having been with her infuriates me. And now, asking her to act like she wants to see him again, what he will think of that. How the fuck am I going to control myself when all of this eventually gets put in motion?

“And then what?” Erin asks, squeezing my arm and bringing me back to the present; reminding me that it’s me who’s with her now, not him.

“Then we’ll have you meet Anthony at a pre-arranged location and when he shows up…”

“You take him out,” she says and I swear she almost sounds excited by the idea, as though this is all a movie or TV show or something.

I roll my eyes, even though she can’t see me. “Has anyone ever told you, you watch too many movies, Red?” I ask, nuzzling her neck.

“Whatever,” she says, shrugging.

I press a kiss to the top of her head. “In any case,” I continue. “We don’t take him out, we arrest him and if I have anything to do with it, he goes to prison for the rest of his life.”

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