Page 28 of Mine to Protect

At least she knew it wasn’t about her brother using drugs again. That somehow made this seem a little better in a weird way.

“Could his troubles, whatever they are, be related to Jackie?”

Her heart filled her chest with a painful pounding. Ever since her brother had gone missing, all she’d thought about were his past mistakes.

His drug use.

Ties to the mob.

Those rumors were few and far between. What little she’d uncovered was unsubstantiated and obviously wasn’t huge news because she couldn’t find too much information.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. The moment the three words flopped out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back because the last thing she wanted to do was stir up more problems. She didn’t need Rhett calling his family and telling them that Jackie and her family could be the cause of anything.

Only, if theywereconnected, her brother could be in the kind of trouble that put people six feet under.

Shelby mentally rolled her eyes at herself. Rhett and his police brothers and mom had probably already given that some thought and most likely had done some research into Jackie’s family themselves. Shelby was sure they knew more than she did.

“I’m so confused.” She inhaled sharply. “I can barely keep it together. I’m really struggling. All I want is my brother back safe and sound and all this bullshit to be over.” She felt the need to backtrack a little on how she’d initially approached Rhett. Not because she knew that Chris might be showing up on his doorstep but because she couldn’t take lying anymore. “The only thing I know for sure is that my brother hasn’t been acting like himself, and it all started when he took that job.”

Rhett set her phone down. “When did he start dating Jackie?”

“About six or seven months ago.” She thought being honest about that couldn’t hurt. She ran through the conversation with her brother. Whoever was after him, if they had the key…oh, shit. There would be some kind of showdown between Chris and the bad guys at wherever the key led. That had to be why Chris had wanted her to hold off.

She bit down on her fingernail.

“What’s going on?” Rhett reached across the counter and tugged on her hand. “Something is bothering you. And keeping it from me isn’t going to help your brother.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

She closed her eyes, squeezing out a couple of tears. The only thing she had was a fake phone number. Maybe Chris would answer. Maybe he wouldn’t.

If he did, the second he thought that something was off, he’d hang up, and he sure as shit wouldn’t tell her where he was or what was going on.

And if he knew she’d broken his trust, he’d never speak to her again.

But what was worse, she could be putting him in even more danger.

However, if she did nothing… She shivered.

“Shelby. I know you’ve been lying to me. I’ve been doing my best to be patient, but something changed. If you know where your brother is, and if he’s in trouble, I can help. But not unless you tell me what you know.”

“I don’t know much at all,” she said through a sob. She leaned against the back counter and crossed one arm over her middle. She covered her mouth with her other hand and did her best to keep from all-out crying. The inside of her nose burned from keeping it all in.

Rhett closed the gap and wrapped his arms around her trembling body. He ran his hands up and down her back. He kissed her temple with his tender lips. “I know you’re scared. I understand you want to protect your brother. I’d want to do exactly the same thing if I were in your shoes.” He cupped her face and stared into her eyes. “You’ve got to trust that I only want to help. I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere. Trust me.”

She took in a slow, shallow breath through her nose and let it out through her lips. “Someone is after my brother.”

“He told you that?” His hands moved from her back to her arms. He gripped them firmly but tenderly. There was nothing but kindness in his touch.

“He called me last night, asking about the key and the necklace. And again a little while ago. Since it’s not with his stuff, and you don’t have it, I believe he’s going wherever that key fits to have a showdown with whoever is after him. And that isn’t going to end well.” She spoke so fast it felt as if her words smushed together like mashed potatoes. When she tried to pull in a long, slow, deep breath, the air stopped in the center of her chest and wouldn’t fill her lungs. She coughed and tried again.

He took her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Relax, Shelby, or you’re going to work yourself into a full panic attack.”

She blew out a puff of air and stared into his blue eyes. They reminded her of the Mediterranean ocean. Rich. Deep. And they drew her in, calming her nerves, making her feel safe and secure. She gripped his shoulders and focused on him and only him.

“That’s it,” he whispered.

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