Page 65 of Hunted Hearts
“Of course Rachel should be involved, but she can handle her part remotely,” Theo said. “All her communication stays digital. No face-to-face. No paper trail.”
“I don’t want her hurt because of this,” she whispered.
All the air was sucked out of the room. Silence throbbed.
Juliette’s gut clenched. She looked at their faces. “What’s wrong?”
“Juliette…” Theo broke off, scrubbing a hand over his face.
Fear took hold of her. Leaning in, she demanded, “What happened?”
“Henrik was attacked near his home.”
“Oh my god!” Her mind spun, and her stomach dropped out. “Is he all right?”
“He’s in the hospital.”
She choked. “This is my fault. This never would have happened if I’d just noticed those warnings sooner!”
He reached out and rested his hand over hers. “It wasn’t your fault. This is the work of bad people. You’re not responsible for their actions. Henrik knows that too.”
Her gaze leaped to Theo’s. “You spoke to him?”
He gave a single nod. “We’ve sent someone to guard him and the others too.”
She melted in her seat. “Thank god.” Her voice wobbled. No one spoke for a long minute, giving her time to process everything.
“No one’s going to get hurt,” Denver said firmly. “Not if we do this right.”
“And we always do.” Colt sat back, arms folded over his broad chest.
Aspen took in her significant other’s pose and glanced around at the other guys, who wore similarly cocky looks on their faces. Including Theo.
Willow groaned. “Okay, this room is starting to feel like a testosterone sauna. The ladies can take the event from here, and we’re moving this to the dining table. We can plan with snacks.”
Aspen and Willow pushed away from the table. Juliette threw Theo a glance, and he nodded.
“Go on. We have things to hammer out here.”
Willow swung toward Juliette. “See? The guys want to pound everything into submission while women just want to sip some hot tea…”
Theo squeezed Juliette’s fingers before he released her. She stood and started out the door.
Aspen skirted past Colt, but he pulled her in for a kiss as she passed by. She smiled against his lips, and he gave her waist a playful squeeze before turning to leave.
Juliette watched the exchange, her chest pulling tight.
What they shared wasn’t just attraction, it was fierce devotion. The kind that didn’t waver. That grew deep roots and stayed.
She looked up—and found Theo watching her.The same way.
Her breath caught. Her stomach pitched.
He could feel something for me…
The realization hit like a tuning fork striking a high, clear note. And it resonated with sorrow. Because when this was over, she’d have to leave. She would walk away from him…from all of the people she’d come to care about.
The concert wasn’t just a trap for criminals. It was a countdown clock on whatever was growing between them.
