Page 43 of Mine to Protect

“Because your brother made it clear that he doesn’t want us to. And for now, I’m sort of going to respect that.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Her heart beat against her rib cage so hard, she thought it might crack one of her ribs. “He’s running from some unknown mobster, and you’re going to let him be a sitting duck?”

“He orchestrated an elaborate plan to bring you to me,” Rhett said. “So far, the only thing that hasn’t gone exactly the way he wanted is the contents of the safety deposit box. He’s drawing someone out for a specific reason. Maybe he wants some kind of showdown between Albert and Joe. Or he’s trying to prove something. I don’t know. But I trust Miles. He’s going to be my eyes and ears. And you and I are going to hang right here where we are in a gated community, and I have a state-of-the-art security system. I’ll bring my brothers and mom in when we need to.” He held her by the hips. “You have to trust me.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she didn’t understand why her brother would go to such lengths to keep her in the dark. “I feel manipulated. And I don’t like that. When Chris was using, he lied and cheated and did whatever he had to in order to get his next fix. He put me in some pretty shitty situations. This doesn’t feel all that different, except he’s not doing it for drugs. But the worst part is, I don’t know the motive.”

Rhett took her chin with his thumb and forefinger. His gaze tore into her like a wrecking ball. “I’ve worked a lot of interesting cases in my career. I don’t pretend to understand exactly what’s going on in your brother’s head right now. But I do understand love of family. And he loves you. He wants to protect you from whatever he’s battling right now. He found out about you and me and what I did for a living, and he brought you to me. My job now is to protect you. To keep you safe. Miles is going to do what he can to help your brother. You’ve got to trust me on this. Okay?” His lips brushed across hers in a tender kiss. It wasn’t romantic but it did make a statement.

“I do have faith in you and what you do for a living. But I’m scared for him. He’s not a private investigator. He’s not a cop. He’s just a guy who worked retail and now works for a limo company, which might be run by the mob.” All she wanted was for this to be over. She wanted to be able to hug Chris and Jackie and then maybe explore the idea of seeing Rhett again.

If he was open to the idea.

But that wasn’t even possible for as long as her brother was on the run.

“Come on.” Rhett laced his fingers through hers and tugged.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to sit in the living room and have a glass of wine. I’ll order some dinner, and we can chill and chat.”

“How can you be so calm? My insides are screaming.”

“Years of training,” he teased. He made his way to the small bar and pulled down a bottle of red wine.

She curled up on the sofa, tucking her feet up under her butt and wrapping the small blanket around her body. Her pulse quieted. Deep down, she knew there wasn’t anything she could do. Racing off to the state park and peeking her head into every campsite wouldn’t do any good and wouldn’t help her brother. Rhett was right about that. There was so much she didn’t understand about what was going on. It made her head hurt, and her heart ache.

“Here you go.” He handed her a glass and took a seat on the other end of the sofa. She stared at the large clock on the wall. It was in the shape of a gigantic sea turtle. She’d never seen anything so spectacular before. The background colors were sea blue and green and it had a coral reef thing on the bottom. The numbers were baby turtles. The only thing that looked out of place were the arms that told the time, which indicated that it was a little after six.

She would be spending another night in Rhett’s house. She could push to go to a hotel, but what good would that do? And it would be depressing. Besides, Rhett wouldn’t let her sit there alone. He’d be in the room with her, and all a hotel would offer was a bed and a television. At least here, she had options. Like a pool. A hot tub. A dock to sit on and drop a line if she were so inclined. She could actually get away from Rhett.

If she wanted.

Which she didn’t. And that frightened her.

For the second time in her life, she found herself wanting to do something selfish. Something that only involved her needs and desires. And that came with guilt.

“What are you thinking about?” Rhett asked in a soft, gentle voice. He had this great ability to read her moods. Not many people she knew took the time to understand her emotions. Her brother had been getting better at being more aware of those around him, but he was the first to admit that it was a struggle. He’d spent his entire life being self-absorbed and all-consumed by thoughts of drugs and other destructive behaviors.

She gave her brother a pass on most things.

Something her therapist had told her she shouldn’t do. At least, not anymore. She should demand respect. She had a right to have her needs met in any and all relationships. Nothing should be one-sided, and she appreciated Chris working on that.

Until six weeks ago when he started acting like an asshole.

“My mind is going in circles,” she admitted. “I start off in one place and end up back to six weeks ago, trying to figure out what triggered the change in Chris.”

“We know what it was,” Rhett said. “He found out about Albert. Or if he already knew, Albert’s secret was at risk, and he felt that if you stayed in Jacksonville, they’d use you to flush out him and Jackie.”

“You really believe the best thing for you to do is simply sit here with me?”

Rhett took a big sip of his wine before setting the glass on the coffee table. He inched closer to her, putting his arm on the back of the couch behind her shoulders. “That’s not what I’m doing. It might feel that way, but Miles is actively looking for Chris, and I wouldn’t send someone out there if they weren’t good.”

“How long has Miles been working for you?”

“Part-time for fifteen years,” Rhett said with pride. “Miles loves his work as a mechanic. And if you ever need someone to work on your car, he’s your man. But he’s like me and all my brothers.”

“Adrenaline junkies?” she said with a laugh. “The things you got me to do in Key West still amaze me. I was so out of my comfort zone. I barely even went into the ocean before that, other than to wade in the water. And even when I did that, all I ever heard was theJawsmovie music. I could never jump in and go snorkeling. Or surfing. Much less swim with the monsters.”

---