Page 72 of Justified Fear
He sighed, frustration and sorrow filled the lonely sound.“I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have threatened you with your father.”
She set her cup under the basket and hit the brew function.
“No, you shouldn’t have.I do not like anyone who curries favor with my father.”
There was a long beat of silence.“The fuck?”
She blinked.In the short time she had been around Ryan, she hadn’t heard him cuss much.
“Look at me.”
She sighed, but did as he ordered.The anger Keely saw almost had her taking a step back.
“Don’t be scared of me.”
“I’m not scared.”
“What kind of assholes have you dated that you would assume that’s what I was doing?”
“I don’t think there has ever been a man in my life who wasn’t trying to get in good with my mother or father.”
His gaze studied hers.He had the most amazing blue eyes with flecks of gold.The hard look seemed to soften the longer he looked at her.It did something to her insides.It was as if she could almost feel her heart turning over.
“I want you to understand one thing and one thing only.I threatened you with your father because I was scared.”
She snorted, but he didn’t smile in response.
“The first thing I was thinking about was getting you to safety.We still have no freaking idea what the hell is going on.We can’t detect who might be after you since the three assassins are dead.At the time, we had no fucking leads.We needed to get you out of your house and into a safe house as fast as we could.The faster we got you out of there, the better.If I thought bribing you would work, I would have done that.I would have done anything to get you to safety, Keely.I can’t have you hurt.”
The backs of her eyes burned.
“I hope I didn’t screw everything up with you, since you’re the first woman in a long time that I’ve wanted.Hell, I can’t remembereverwanting a woman as much as I want you.”He stepped closer to her, crowding her up against the counter.She didn’t feel scared.She felt…safe.“But I would rather get you pissed off at me than risk your safety.You are important to me.”
A lump rose in her throat, and she couldn’t speak around it.No one had ever said things like that to her.Chad had never told her she mattered so much that he would risk losing her for her safety.Ryan cupped her face with his right hand.She felt the calluses on his fingers as he smoothed them against her face.Then he rested his forehead against hers.
“I will always put your safety first, Keely.Always.”
She opened her mouth to respond, to tell him that he didn’t need to always do that, when Emily called out.
“I know you two are trying to make up right now, but how about coming over here so we can go over all the information, including the info that Mix just got from his favorite source.”
With a grimace, Ryan dropped his hand, but Keely grabbed it.“To be continued.”
Relief shown in his eyes.She might be making a mistake, but there was something sincere about his explanation.He nodded, then stopped long enough for her to grab her coffee.He led her into the living area with her hand in his.
Emily had a computer set up on the coffee table, but the TV screen seemed to be showing the same thing.
“Have a seat,” Mix said with a sigh.“This is all going to take a bit to go through.”
“These are the three bad dudes who were hired to kill people at that party.We still don’t know why,” Emily said.
The three men flashed on the screen.They were the same pictures that she had been shown.Then a video popped up.
“They are not regular Oahu residents.They arrived on the island in the days leading up to the dinner party.Seemingly not together.Different flights, yada yada, but we know these three dicks?—”
“Emily,” Mix said.
“No, they are dicks,” Keely said with a nod to Emily.The other woman beamed at her.
