Page 58 of The Billionaire's Rival (Bad Boy Billionaires)

When we entered the living room, Carter was seated, but Jay was up, pacing. I moved to stand beside him, and Miles glared at him again.

“I’m not walking away,” Jay said.

“Not now, while you need our protection.” When Jay didn’t respond, didn’t deny that he would leave when things were over, I tried to tell myself that was fine. That was what I’d expected all along, but the thought still made my chest ache.

“We need to get you both somewhere safer,” Carter said.

Miles nodded. “Ford, we were thinking you should go visit your grandparents’ place, and we have a safehouse where Jay can—”

“No. Jay stays with me.”

Carter frowned. “We can get you both someplace safe without anyone following us, but it works better if there are multiple targets, and our enemies’ attention is split.”

Jay glanced at me, then back to Carter. “How am I supposed to keep doing my job? I have other cases. I can’t just go hide somewhere.”

“You can work from my grandparents’ estate in Bedford.”

“Ford, I don’t think—”

“I do. You’re mine, and I’m going to protect you.”

“Damn,” Carter said. “I didn’t know things had gone that far.”

Miles’s eyes were wide. I think he finally realized that this thing between me and Jay wasn’t what he thought.

“Nothing has gone anywhere,” Jay protested.

No way in hell was I going to let Jay deny what was happening, not in front of my friends, not after I’d been defending him. I grabbed his arm and yanked him toward my office which opened into the living room. “We’ll be back.”

“You can’t just…claim me,” he said once the door was shut.

“Yes, I can. Is that too much for you? Do you have to be in charge of everything?” I hated that we had to keep our voices down. I really wanted to yell at him.

The way he looked at me, I wasn’t sure if he wanted to run away, punch me, or kiss me. “I’m here, aren’t I? If I needed to be in charge, I wouldn’t have agreed to this.”

“Wouldn’t you? You wanted me. You wanted a chance to fuck me every night.”

“You’re….” He ran a hand over his hair. “This is crazy.”

“Then leave.”

“There are men who want to kill me.”

“If you don’t want my protection, that’s your own problem.”

“I didn’t say that,” he growled. “I didn’t say I don’t want protection.”

“You just don’t want to be possessed?”

“You shouldn’t be able to possess me. What are you? A demon? That would explain a lot, because I can’t fucking stay away from you.”

“Do you wish you could?”

He shook his head. “No. Fuck me. No, I don’t.”

“Then come with me to see my grandparents and let me take care of you.”

“That’s not how things work. I….”

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