Page 57 of Crush (Deadly Hearts 1)

“Yes, you do. I hear you about Jake and I respect your decision to take care of this yourself, as much as I hate it and as much as I am going to worry about you until I go gray. But Declan is non-negotiable. He has been protecting you for years, and you have needed it, Ruby, even if you don’t think so.”

I gulp. Aw shit.

“Years?” she asks incredulously and turns to me. “You said you’d been here six months.”

I exchange a glance with Rex. He raises his eyebrow at me, but I look away and force myself to meet her furious green eyes again. “I have been,” I say carefully. “The man who was looking out for you was hired by me when I had other jobs to do. He was one of the best men I knew, but he was killed in action and that’s when I knew I had to give up the rest of my work and focus solely on you.”

“You mean my dad made you,” she spits out.

“No,” I say calmly. “It was my decision.”

“Ugh,” she mutters. “You two are as bad as each other. I am old enough to make my own decisions and to take care of myself.”

“Declan is not going anywhere,” Rex says.

“He works for me now, by the way,” she says. “Did he not tell you that?”

“No,” Rex growls menacingly. “He did not.”

Ah feck. Busted.

I shrug.

It wasn’t devious on my part. I wasn’t trying to get double pay; I just hadn’t had the time really to fill him in on the change of employment.

“Well,” Ruby says with a smug smile at me. “I will leave you two to discuss that.” She stalks off, scooping up her phone as she goes, dialing it and saying a moment later, “Beth. Everything okay?” before she disappears down the hallway.

Because I was too busy watching Ruby leave, I’m caught unawares when Rex takes two giant strides in my direction, grabbing my shirt and slamming me up against the wall behind me. His fist connects with my face in the next breath, smashing my cheek and snapping my head back.

“You slimy fucker,” he growls. “I should fucking kill you.”

“Do that and she will never forgive you,” I snap, shoving him away from me.

“You touched her,” he snarls. “I hired you to look out for her and you took advantage of her, you piece of shit.”

I expect it this time and allow him to get one more shot in. I deserve it.

I grunt as my cheek explodes with pain. “It’s not like that,” I mutter, clenching my fist, ready to defend myself if he comes at me again.

“It sounds exactly like that,” he grits out. “Does she know who you are? What you’ve done?”

“She knows some of it. She knew my name. It’s not surprising that she could figure it out,” I reply.

“So she doesn’t know it all,” Rex scoffs. “That is a house of cards that is going to come crashing down, Declan. If Ruby gets swept up in the crosshairs of that…”

“She won’t,” I say quickly. “I will make sure of it. I can promise you that I will keep her safe. That was always my mission and now it is something more. I don’t want money for this. I’m in love with her.”

“Fuck you,” he says with disdain. “You are not good enough for her. Don’t ever forget who dragged you out of that shithole in Finglas and gave you this life. You were nothing but a low-life scumbag until you met me, so don’t pretend that my daughter is in your league. She is way out of it, asshole. You will end, whatever it is that you think you have with her, or I swear to God, despite what she thinks about it, I will fucking kill you.”

I take the hits he fired at me. It’s all true. I owe him everything. He was my mentor, even though Teddy is the one who recruited me officially, it was Rex who gave me this life. I would probably be dead already if it wasn’t for him. But there is no way on God’s green Earth I am giving up Ruby just because he demands it.

I glare at him, and he knows. He knows that I won’t go down without a fight. It’s just a case now of who gets to tell her about my past first. Him or me?

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