The Dom Who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1)(63)

“And you’re not the cops?” Grace asked.

“We aren’t cops. We’re a group of ex-Special Forces that works as private security and does occasional government work on the side.”

She sniffed, a derisive little sound. “So you’re a mercenary.”

It didn’t bother Sean. He’d been called worse. “Use whatever name makes you feel better about yourself. The important thing is we’ve handled just about every situation you can think of. We can get you out of this. You just have to trust us.”

Adam had taken off his seatbelt. He had an umbrella in his hand. Sean had no doubt he would be right there ready to escort Grace inside.

“Yes, I’ll trust you. You’ve proven yourselves so worthy of trust up to this point.” Grace turned her head to look out the window.

Sean followed the line of her sight. He could see Ian’s big farmhouse coming up quickly. It had an enormous wraparound porch and the grounds were gorgeous. Ian had done very well for himself. All he could offer Grace was a crappy apartment that was far worse than her house. He had money saved up, though. He just hadn’t had anything to spend it on up until now. It would be better to put it into the restaurant he wanted to open, but if Grace needed a nicer place to be happy, he could do that. If he didn’t have to spend it all trying to keep her out of jail. “It’s my brother’s place.”

She turned and looked at him for the first time in twenty minutes. Her hazel eyes were puffy from crying. She didn’t cry prettily like some women. When Grace cried, it showed everywhere. He wanted nothing more than to press his mouth to hers and make everything go away. He forced his hands to remain still on her skin. They were restless with wanting to caress her and comfort her. Her tongue came out to moisten her lips, and he felt that little swipe in his balls. It had been too long. He had to get back into her bed. He wouldn’t feel sure of his hold on Grace until he was deep inside her.

“So your brother wasn’t a lie?”

He didn’t like the guilt that lashed through his heart when she looked at him as though he was the one at fault. “No, Ian’s real, and you’re about to meet him. I didn’t lie about everything. I was honest with you about most of the facts of my life. I just didn’t tell you my real name or what I do for a living.”

“Or that I’m some sort of suspect.”

“Yes, I left that out, too.” Once she was in bed, he could make her purr. She hadn’t faked her response to him. He just needed to reinforce those bonds, and he would have her. “When you meet Ian, don’t be scared of him. He can be intimidating. I just want you to trust me to take care of you.”

She turned away, but not before he saw the distrust in her eyes. It made him angry. He wanted to smash through that reserve of hers and force her to accept him. The car rolled to a stop. Even from his vantage point, he could see his brother, Eve, and Liam standing on the front porch. Ian had his arms crossed over his huge body. He watched the vehicle with that stare that told Sean he was in trouble. He would have to protect Grace from Ian. Ian could be ruthless. If his brother thought Grace was bad for him, Ian would do whatever it took to get rid of the threat.

The doors unlocked, and Grace scrambled off his lap. Sean would have preferred to carry her in. It was muddy and she could fall, but he doubted Grace would allow it. Sean followed her out. Adam already had the umbrella over Grace’s head. He pressed it into her hand and opened a second one for himself. Apparently Sean got to fend for himself despite the fact that it was his car and his umbrellas.

Sean raced ahead to get out of the rain. Grace and Adam took things a bit more slowly. They had cover.

Ian was frowning when Sean got up the steps. “Tell me no one saw you snag her.”

Jake was right behind Sean, shaking the rain off his hair. “Of course not. They didn’t see Sean at all. Adam and I just talked her into leaving work a little bit early. As far as anyone knows, she’s at happy hour with her friends. She’ll hear the news about Kayla sometime tonight, and that buys us some time. Trust me, the way gossip works at that office, someone will call her and leave a message on her cell. No one will expect her to be at work tomorrow.”

“She doesn’t know?” Eve’s eyes watched the ground behind Sean, probably trying to get her first good view of Grace.

“I didn’t want to tell her like that. Kayla was a really good friend of hers. She has to be eased into it.” Sean knew he should have mentioned it, but he would rather wait until they could be alone. He needed to be able to hold her when he told her someone was trying to take her life. Maybe then she would cling to him. “Is Black here?”

Ian’s head shook, and a small smile crept across his face. “Not yet. It’s a good thing, too, since our little suspect seems to be very slowly getting away.”

Sean turned and saw Grace walking, or rather slogging, down the yard. Her heels seemed to be sinking into the grass, but she kept on with her head held high. She wasn’t running, merely walking with a stubborn stride. The little umbrella was perfectly erect over her head. Adam was walking beside her. His words were muffled by the rain, but Sean was sure he was trying to convince her to come back with him. He just didn’t understand that Grace required a firm hand.

Sean jogged back down the stairs and out into the driving rain. His long legs ate the distance up quickly. He didn’t care about the rain pouring down. Grace was already disobeying and already causing trouble. “Grace!”