Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(38)

Gray chuckled. “I didn’t think you would, but seriously . . . I see myself in the way you look at her.”

“How’s that?”

“Like you’d sooner cut off your own arm than do anything that would hurt her.”

“That’s about right,” Arrow muttered.

“You gotta go slow with her,” Ro warned.

Arrow glared at his other friend. “I know that, asshole.”

“No, I mean it. She’s doing amazingly well. I can tell she’s strong, but there’s something behind her eyes that worries me. Remember that albino woman we rescued from Nightingale’s sick human zoo?”

“Yeah?” Arrow asked, frowning. He remembered all too well how sadistic Gage Nightingale had been. He’d tortured the women he’d kidnapped and forced them to cater to his every whim. The woman Ro was talking about had been born without pigment in her skin and hair, and Nightingale had “collected” her, and done his best to break her. “Last I heard, she was living at home with her parents in South Carolina and doing well.”

“She killed herself,” Ro said bluntly. “Rex heard from her mother while you guys were down in the Caribbean. Even her mom thought she was doing okay, but they read her journals after they’d found her. On the outside, she looked like she was coping just fine, but she was utterly broken inside.”

“Morgan’s not like that,” Arrow insisted, his eyes going to the kitchen to reassure himself that his words were true.

“I think if anyone can help her get through what happened, it’s you,” Ro said softly. “Give her space when she needs it, let her talk when she wants, but don’t let her shut you out.”

Arrow’s shoulders slumped. “How am I supposed to do that? I’ve only known her a few days. She’s most likely going to Albuquerque to live with her mom. My life is here.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Gray said. “Allye’s life was in San Francisco, but now she’s here. We have no idea where this case is going to go in the next couple weeks and months. If you really want to give whatever is going on between you two a shot, you need to make sure she knows that you’re not giving up on her. Call. Text. Take weekend trips to see her. New Mexico isn’t that far.”

Arrow straightened. “You’re right,” he said, more to himself than his friend.

“I know,” Gray said arrogantly. “I’m always right.”

“Ass,” Arrow said as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Be careful, though,” Black added. “She’s got some demons behind those pretty green eyes of hers.”

“I know. I see them,” Arrow said. And he did. He remembered the first time he’d seen her, defending Nina with a knife she’d somehow pilfered from her kidnappers. She’d looked determined . . . and desperate.

He was going to take it slow with Morgan. Slow but insistent. He planned to make her his in every way, but he’d give her whatever time she needed to be ready for the more intimate parts of a relationship.

Arrow realized he wasn’t freaked out by the direction of his thoughts. He’d seen how quickly both Gray and Ro had fallen for their women. Instead of seeing their relationships as a hindrance to what they did, he knew it made them better mercenaries. They were even more careful when on a mission . . . because they had someone to go home to.

And Arrow wanted that.

Wanted Morgan.

Gray stood up and went into the kitchen. He wrapped an arm around Allye. “You ready to call it a night, sweetheart?”

Arrow had joined the others in the kitchen, and he stood near Morgan. Not touching her, but close enough that she definitely knew he was there.

“Yeah. Morgan looks wiped out. I think she’s ready to go home too,” Allye said gently.

Arrow’s eyes whipped to Morgan’s. “Home?”

She nodded. “If that’s okay with you.”

“Just to clarify, you want to go to my apartment with me?”

“Yeah. Allye said I could stay here with her and Gray, and Chloe also invited me to stay with them, but . . . if it’s okay, I wouldn’t mind going with you.”

“It’s definitely okay with me,” he reassured her, reaching out and taking her hand in his. He turned to Allye and Gray. “Thanks for having us over tonight.”

“Yes. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so . . . relaxed.” Morgan hesitated before the last word, but no one called her on it.

Allye leaned forward and hugged her, and Chloe followed suit. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Chloe said.

“Yeah?” Arrow asked.

“Yup. After the press conference and after you guys have your meeting, we’re comin’ to The Pit to play pool. Morgan said she’s pretty good, so we challenged her to a game or two or three.”

“You play pool?” Arrow asked Morgan, raising one eyebrow in surprise.

She blushed and shrugged. “I used to. I’m not sure if I’m still any good, though.”

“I have no doubt you’ll kick some ass, beautiful,” Arrow said.

She grinned and turned her attention to the opening of the kitchen when the other guys wandered up to join the conversation. Arrow wouldn’t have noticed Morgan stiffening if he wasn’t standing right next to her, holding her hand. She didn’t let any discomfort show on her face, but she was definitely not happy with being penned in by several large men.