Page 63 of Ruthless Keeper
She nods slowly. “I like strength. It makes me feel…” her eyebrows touch. “Safer, I guess. Like I have a protector.”
“You do,” I tell her. “I’ll always protect you.”
She glances away, uncertainty flashing across her features. I gently take her chin and turn her to face me again. I pull her necklace out of my pocket and carefully wrap the jewels around her neck, locking them behind her.
“These should tell you more than my words will.” I finger one of the teardrop-shaped diamonds tickling the dip in her neck. “I treasure you, and I will protect you.”
The door to the gym opens with a beep. I turn around, my blood heating when I seeCainstanding in the doorway. As usual, his hands are in his pockets, his expression is blank, and his posture’s relaxed. I’m not fooled by his calm demeanor—odds are, he’s here to stir the pot and try to antagonize me and Scarlett.
“Greyson,” he says after a few moments of staring at me in silence. “How’s healing coming along?”
From the near-death experiencehecaused? “Fine.”
He nods. “Good. And your relations with your property?”
Mother. Fucker.“Fine.”
He arches an eyebrow. “For your sake, I’m hoping they’re better than justfine.” He turns to look at Scarlett. “How areyou feeling about Greyson, Sharpe? Word has it you’ve been doing a very good job taking care of him.”
She swallows. “Fine.”
I hide a smile when Cain’s jaw clenches.
“You’re returning to active duty next week,” Cain tells me. “There’s a backlog of administrative work that needs to be done, and—”
“No, there isn’t,” Scarlett interrupts. “Greyson’s been getting everything done.”
Cain arches an imperious eyebrow, but doesn’t berate Scarlett since she hasn’t said anything offensive. “How would that be? As I understand it, he’s spent the last month lying on his ass—or front, as it were—and doing nothing.”
“I read over all the work as it came in, and had Scarlett organize and assign caseloads under my supervision,” I say sharply. “If you were paying attention, you’d know this.”
Now, both of Cain’s eyebrows are lifted. “You trusted her with that? You gave her an internet-connected device?”
“She was sitting beside me in bed, holding a laptop with the screen tilted in my direction so I could read and instruct,” I respond calmly. “I had eyes on her the entire time, and she didn’t try anything nefarious.”
“I do hope that’s true,” Cain says. “I would hate to break up the…bloomingrelationship the two of you seem to be forming. Watch yourself, Grey. You’re still on thin fucking ice.” He folds his arms over his chest. “Eric’s been in touch, asking if we have any information on his sister.”
Scarlett gasps; my eyes flutter shut. The world around me feels like it turns into one huge sinkhole.
Fucking. Damnit.
I’ve been dancing around the topic of Scarlett’s brother, not broaching it. I didn’t want to have this conversation with Scarlettbefore I was at full strength, a conversation that could screw up the last month of us bonding.
And, of course, fuckingCainhad to go ahead and break the news that he knows. That I know. That all of fuckingleadershipknows.
Scarlett turns to look at me with wide eyes, panic swirling within her fear-stricken orbs. Her lips part and shut; my heart clenches in my chest. All the progress we’ve made might’ve just been upended by Cain being his usual, bastard self.
Cain zeroes in on the sign of weakness from Scarlett. “Oh, he hasn’t told you, has he?” he releases a cruel chuckle. “Yes, Scarlett, Grey found out our business partner’s relation to you weeks ago. Strange that he hasn’t brought it up yet, isn’t it?” he drawls.
Scarlett’s still staring at me, and now, there’s betrayal and devastation written into her expression. “Business partner?” she whispers. The fear, thegriefin her words eviscerates me. I want to gather her in my arms, hold her close, and explain everything, but I can’t—not with Cain here.
My heart pounds away painfully, adrenaline makes meitchwith an ache to kill Cain, and the wounds on my back begin to prickle and sting. Scarlett’s horror is affecting me on a physical level. I’d do anything to take this pain from her.
Either Cain doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up, or more likely, he wants to antagonize Scarlett as much as possible, because hekeeps talking. “Soon, you’ll need to call your brother and tell him that you’re here voluntarily. Happily. That Greysonsavedyou.” He lets out a cruel chuckle. “If you fail, you’ll turn into leverage against your brother. Succeed, and you’ll strengthen the Nighthawks relationship with your brother… once he’s gotten over the initial shock.”
I turn to glower at Cain, my eyes shouting threats I know I can’t deliver on. I hear Scarlett swallow. Right now, Cain’s behaving like acrueler, more calculated version of Boyce—and that could become a serious fucking problem.
“Here are my suggestions for what to say to your dear Eric Sharpe—I strongly recommend you heed them. Tell your brother that we took you in, and that you were using a fake name with us to protect both you and him,” Cain says. “You recently discovered that the Nighthawks are partnered with Eric, so you decided to reach out. You didn’t do so earlier because you didn’t want any contact with your brother to be traceable, but we’ve assured you that we have the best encryption in the world. As for how you’ve been earning sanctuary with us… I’d suggest saying you were helping form the agricultural branch of our fortress, and in doing so, you ended up forming a romantic relationship with Greyson.” Cain smiles. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to cover your bases. Otherwise, your brother will be more useful dead than alive.” He turns and leaves without another word.
