“You’re my brother. You’ll always be my brother. No one can change that,” he whispered. His voice cut through the night as commanding as if he had shouted the words. I watched him disappear inside the house and laughed when I realized he’d just threatened me.

* * *

This was by far the longest night of my life I had decided when we arrived at a hotel. I could have gone to my parents’ house, but they were a complication I wasn’t ready to deal with. By now, they would have heard of the shooting that took place along with the rest of Nevada. I swore when I realized her parents were likely notified of her disappearance by now.

“What’s going on?” Willow jumped awake at the sound of my harsh curses.

“You need to call your parents and tell them you’re okay. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go the police station and give a statement.”

I left the truck before she could respond, but I caught her groan just before the door closed. An additional security team had joined us and sat waiting behind the first truck. Fisher followed me into the lobby while the other team guarded Angel. I paid for the rooms and handed Fisher two keys for his men.

“I want you all on rotation tonight.”

“Roger.”

I stepped back into the night to retrieve a certain errant redhead who I found mumbling to herself in the backseat.

“What are you so upset about?”

“You.”

I laughed in her face and pulled her from the vehicle. “Get used to being upset, Angel. I think it’s about time you return my feelings. Besides… I have a lot of things up my sleeve that are guaranteed to make you criminally insane.”

“I can walk without your hands on me.”

“I prefer it this way.” Thankfully, the late hour left the lobby deserted except for the receptionist who never bothered to look up from her magazine. Willow silently struggled against my hand as we made our way to the elevator.

I chose a suite less obvious than the top floor just in case we were followed to the hotel. This way we would be harder to locate within the hotel.

We made it to our room, and I took pleasure in watching her back stiffen at the sight of the single, king-sized bed in the center of the room. “What is this?” she questioned.

“It’s a bed where we’ll sleep. Together.”

“I’m not sleeping with you.”

“Fine. Sleep on the couch or the floor. The choice is yours, but I will be sleeping in that bed, and you will not sleep anywhere else but in this room.”

Her face said she wanted to argue, but she thought better of it and stomped off to the bathroom. I figured she’d be in the bathroom for a while so I shed my suit jacket and unbuttoned my shirt for comfort. I sat on the edge of the bed, and I had no sooner leaned back and the door swung open as she stomped out.

Without moving from my relaxed position, I cut my eyes at her as a warning, but she didn’t seem to notice because her gaze was fixed on my bare chest peeking through my shirt.

“Yes?”

“I can’t call my parents without a phone. Where is my stuff?”

“It’s secure,” I answered simply. I pulled my cell phone from my suit pocket and handed it to her. Keep it straightforward and brief. I’m tired.”

“You know it’s unnecessary for you to control every facet of my life or to even think that you can.”

“You and I both know I can do whatever I want when it comes to you.”

“What gave you that asinine idea?”

“You did.”

“Me?” she scoffed.

“Would you like a reminder of exactly how?”

“I’d rather call my mother now and spare her a heart attack.” I shrugged, and just to irritate her, I winked and resumed my relaxed position while she called her parents.

As soon as I heard her speak into the phone, I closed my eyes, though my attention remained on the phone call.

“Hello, Mom? Yes, it’s me.” I listened to her explain to her mother what had happened, but instead of a retelling, it sounded like a fabricated story made up of half-truths and lies that filled in the blanks. The brief conversation solidified my gut feeling that Willow knew exactly what was going on.

By the time she had ended the call, I was sitting upright and was pissed off. She met my glare and looked away. “What?” she asked.

“You want to continue to tell me that you have no idea why you were taken from my apartment?”

“I told you—”

“FUCK what you told me, Angel.” She jumped at the unexpected boom in my voice. “I want the truth.”