Page 35 of Saddled in Secrets
“Pull over, Colton.”
I shake my head. “Just try to relax. You’ll like where we’d headed. Get back in your bubble of chaos until we arrive.”
Bianca whacks me across the chest with her iPad. “Listen to me! You can’t do this.”
“Knock it off, Princess.” My voice is the crack of a whip against her bundle of fury. “I’m driving. Think about your horses in the back.”
Her exhale sounds like a pissed off dragon. “You can’t abduct me against my will.”
“I can and your brother approved it.”
“He’s not the boss of me.”
“That makes one of us.” But this was my idea, not his.
“You don’t have to do everything he says just because he’s paying your bills.”
“This isn’t just a job for me,” I bellow. Regret tries to snatch the words back, but it’s too late. “I’d protect you regardless.”
“As a favor to Brody.”
“No, for me. The thought of you getting hurt…” I let that statement hang in the balance for a moment, strangling the steering wheel like it’s a threat against her. “Fuck, never mind. It’s unacceptable.”
“Um, okay? That’s borderline possessive.”
My nod agrees wholeheartedly. “I need to keep you safe.”
“Well, I don’t need a repeat of Germany. Please take me home.”
“Can’t do that.”
“Please,” she repeats.
My resolve almost wavers at the whine in her tone. But then I imagine her begging me for something else. “This trip is gonna be different.”
“How so?”
“I won’t steal your phone.”
Her gaze flings to her beloved device that I snatched at Brody’s request. She didn’t know the thief was me until I returned it. One more mistake I won’t live down.
As if on cue, she mutters, “I’m still mad about that.”
“Have I apologized lately?”
“No, and don’t bother. It won’t solve anything.” Her hollow tone carves into my chest.
The urge to cradle her hand in mine drops my right arm onto the space between us. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I felt really shitty taking it, but your brother gave me an order. He didn’t want anyone to interfere with his plans.”
“Yeah, yeah. Your loyalty to him is most important.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then what is?”
I chew on the answer I want to reveal, but she’s not ready yet. “Your safety.”
“Saw that coming from a mile away in the wrong direction.” She tucks her arms across her chest and glares straight ahead.“Your white knight hero complex doesn’t fix what you continue to break, Cowboy.”
