Claiming Felicity (Ace Security #4)(37)

They’d changed positions a few times in the last hour, and currently he was propped up on an elbow, holding his head in his hand next to her. He ran his free hand over her head and leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Then he turned to lie on his back and pulled her back into his side. “You’re welcome. She sounds like an amazing woman.”

“She was.”

“He’s going to pay for what he’s done,” Ryder said, knowing his voice was too harsh but not able to tone it down. “He’s going to pay, and then we’ll go back to Chicago and you can properly pay your respects to your mom. No hiding at the cemetery this time.”

Felicity nodded against his shoulder. Ryder knew about grief. He’d grieved when his own mother was sick and when she’d died, but it wasn’t the same. Felicity hadn’t gotten to say goodbye. Hadn’t seen her mom or felt her arms around her for the last decade. Joseph would pay for that and more.

“I’d like that.”

Surprisingly, he felt the tension leave her body. As he’d hoped, talking about her mom had released some of the stress she’d bottled up since she’d been to Chicago.

“Has he done anything else?” he asked softly.

She nodded against his shoulder once more. “I got a note in the mail a couple of weeks ago. About the same time you came to town.”

“Do you still have it? We might be able to get DNA or something off it.”

She shook her head against him. “I threw it away.”

Ryder forced his body to stay relaxed. “Anything else?”

“A newspaper clipping of Colleen’s death. And of course the picture in my apartment tonight. And your slashed tires.”

Ryder’s thumb brushed back and forth on the warm skin at the small of Felicity’s back. She hadn’t protested when he’d slipped his hand under her T-shirt. In fact, when he’d begun stroking her, she arched into his touch and seemed to melt farther into his side.

He nodded. “Believe it or not, this is a good thing.”

“It is?” Her words were almost slurred.

With the emotional turmoil she’d been through in the last couple of hours, Ryder wasn’t surprised she was losing the battle to stay awake. “Yeah, love. The more he tries to mess with you, the better my chance of finding him and killing him are.”

The last part slipped out. He hadn’t meant to admit to her, again, that he was going to kill Joseph, but she didn’t tense in the slightest.

“Good,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, good,” Ryder agreed. He said nothing else, letting Felicity finally sleep.

He stayed awake for a long time, simply holding her in his arms. She snored slightly, and even drooled a little on his shoulder, and he loved every second of it. This was the Felicity he wanted. The one who let all her shields down around him. Her leg shifted and hitched over one of his, and Ryder closed his eyes.

Yeah. He liked this. Loved it.

In her bed. Surrounded by everything that made Felicity who she was.

Joseph was a dead man walking. It was only a matter of time.





Chapter Eleven

A week later, Felicity wasn’t sure she’d done the right thing by telling Ryder everything. She’d woken up the morning after she’d spilled her guts and had thought things would be awkward between them, but they hadn’t been. When her alarm went off at its usual time, letting her know to get up so she could get her workout in, he’d simply kissed her on the forehead and slipped out of bed.

When she’d wandered out of her room after getting changed into workout clothes, he’d met her in the kitchen, looking as hot as ever, with a can of V8 juice, her usual morning beverage, and told her he’d meet the locksmith to take care of changing her lock and Cole would meet her downstairs for their usual workout.

Just when Felicity thought Ryder was going to ignore the intimacy they’d shared, he’d grabbed her hand when she turned to walk out of the kitchen and pulled her back into him. He’d kissed the hell out of her, and then had gently pushed her toward the door, saying, “Better not be late. Cole’ll kick your ass even harder if you are.”

The smile he’d bestowed upon her had carried her through the butt kicking Cole had given her in the gym.

She hadn’t met the locksmith, but now had a brand-new shiny lock on her apartment door and a permanent shadow. If it wasn’t Ryder or Cole, it was one of the Anderson triplets. She wanted to be pissed, but couldn’t. She felt safer with them watching her every move. Safer, but not completely secure. Especially when Grace had called that morning and told her that the cops had turned up at Ace Security to question Logan about a tip they’d received about a report of excessive force used against a client’s ex-husband.

She knew it had been Joseph. Of course it was. It was how he operated. When she’d told Ryder, his jaw had tightened, but he hadn’t blown up. Hadn’t lost his shit. He’d merely shrugged and said, “Logan will handle it. From what I understand, my brothers are pretty close with the cops around here. If he needs backup, I’ll call my handler and have him step in.”

“Just like that?” Felicity had asked.

“Just like that,” he’d returned.

That had been seven days ago. Now she was standing in her apartment with Ryder. She’d showered after her workout, and he’d made them a breakfast of omelets and bacon. She’d thought telling Ryder everything would make him stop obsessing about what he didn’t know about her past and move their relationship along like any normal couple, but now it seemed like all he thought about was protecting her. And she didn’t want that. She was ready for more. More than ready. But wasn’t sure where Ryder stood.