Page 84 of Forbidden Protector

“Roisin.” She laughs lightly. “You might not need me anymore, but my darling, I have missed you so much.”

There’s something about her caring voice that pierces through my innate fear. It soothes me somewhat, and the itch in my head begins to subside.

Her hand reaches out to me again, but she hesitates and pulls back again. “I know you may not remember our time together, but I will never be able to forget it. You’re a very special girl.”

For once, I don’t know what to say. There’s nothing about her that’s remotely threatening. She’s just a woman with wrinkles around her laugh lines and a soft spot for lost causes, apparently. Her kind words seem so earnest, yet for some reason, my entire body seems to reject them.

“I would love to get to know you better,” Eda presses, looking down at her lap. “I’ve missed out on so much of your life these last five years, and I’d like to remedy that.”

It feels like I’m being torn in two. My instincts are still begging me to walk out the door and not look back. But I can’t deny my curiosity. There’s so much about my life that I’m rediscovering at the moment, but no one has told me as much about what happened that night as Eda has.

Not even Aimee.

“What do you say?” Eda presses warmly. “I’d love to take you to dinner, for old times’ sake.”

I open my mouth, then close it again. Surely there’s only one answer…

Eda’s face suddenly falls.

I feel him behind me before he speaks, and my body instantly relaxes from some of the tension.

“Is everything okay in here?” Arnie says, coolly. His hand lies gently on my shoulder, offering me no small amount of comfort. It’s a possessive move and one Eda’s dark eyes don’t miss.

“It seems we have much to catch up on,” Eda purrs as she stands up. “Please, Roisin. Consider my offer.”

She offers me a final tentative smile before taking her leave.

Arnie doesn’t move until the door has firmly closed behind her. He spins me around in his hands.

“Are you all right?” he asks, scanning my face for any sign of distress.

I swallow a little and let out a shaking breath. “I’m fine.”

“What did she want?”

I look over his shoulder toward the door as I ask myself that question, too. I couldn’t escape the feeling that there was something more she wanted from me. But whether it was to reminisce or something more sinister, it feels impossible to tell.

“Dinner, I think?” I answer lamely.

Arnie deflates. “Damn.”

“What?”

He sighs dramatically, leaning his weight into me. “She beat me to it.”

“Get off me!” I struggle to hold him up. “Beat you to what?”

“Iwas just about to ask if you would like to go to dinner withme?” he says, blinking his eyes a few times for effect.

Despite the ridiculousness of his behavior, it’s an easy decision to make.

“I’d love to.”

Chapter Twenty

Arnie

After everything that happened during the meeting, it takes everything within me not to go after Eda Romero when she leaves the room. The way she looks at me puts me on edge, like she’s sizing me up, assessing me for weakness.

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