“I won’t let them hurt you. I’ll protect you.”

She nodded against me, her hands fisting into my shirt.

Murmurs from the gathered crowd brought me back. With her close, we headed back toward the restaurant. The manager gave me a dirty look and blocked the doorway, but I shut him down from speaking when I pulled out my wallet. I slapped three one hundred-dollar bills into his hand and continued walking.

“Should we call someone?” Lila asked as we headed home.

I couldn’t stop scanning the street, waiting for someone to pop out at us. “Who could we trust?”

The list was short, and possibly getting shorter.

CHAPTER 22

The event alarm pinged on my computer, opening a window in the middle of my document. I cracked my neck, stretching it out. I’d been staring at my screen for more than two hours without moving and was happy for the distraction of the end of the workday.

I saved my progress and shut my computer down. There wasn’t much time, and we needed to get going. I slipped my jacket back on and grabbed my phone before heading out the door, locking it behind me.

A few feet later, I popped my head into Lila’s office. “Are you ready?” It was almost five-thirty, and she had an appointment with Darren in half an hour. It would take nearly that long with traffic to get there. “Honeybear?”

Both Lila and Owen failed to acknowledge my presence, still typing away. I shook my head and sighed.

“Yo! Wife of mine, come on.”

Her head snapped up, eyes blinking in confusion. “Fuck,” she hissed as she noticed the time. “Give me a sec.”

“It’s never a sec in this black hole.”

She held her finger up, not even looking at me anymore. I licked my lips, thinking about giving her a little spanking for that later.

Leaning against the door frame, waiting, I took a good look around the room. It wasn’t my first view since I’d vacated it months ago, but it was broken in with Owen. Not much had changed, with the exception of Owen and his personal belongings. A photo of him and his girlfriend sat next to his monitor along with a Scooby-Doo figure.

Any trace of the nearly one year I’d spent there was gone. I kind of missed that time—missed being so close to her.

She closed up the file in front of her and played with her computer before shutting it down. There was a frazzled edge to her as she located her purse and stood to face me.

“Okay, ready.”

She stepped toward me, and I grabbed her face, pulling it close as I licked her lips and kissed her. When I pulled back, her lids were heavy and she was leaning into me.

I grabbed her hand and started down the hall. She pouted.

“That was mean.”

My lip twitched. “What?”

“You know what, mister.”

We stopped at the elevator bay and pressed the button. I leaned down, kissing her neck as I squeezed her ass.

“Just wanted to show you how much I missed you.”

The moment of fun was just what I needed at the end of a long day.

During the drive, she took my right hand in hers, placing kisses on my busted-up knuckles. She swiped her fingers across mine, soothing us both.

I’d gotten a good five or six punches in on the bastard, but he matched me. The hit to the brick wall behind him had me hurting the worst.

As we pulled up to Darren’s office, three police cars sat outside with their lights flashing. Red and blue lights bounced off the building.

My stomach dropped out, and I grabbed for Lila’s hand, encasing it in mine. We walked up to the office and found Darren standing outside talking to an officer. His eyes widened, only for a second, but it was enough that I noticed.

“Darren, what’s going on?” I asked as we approached.

He spoke to the officer and turned toward us. “Someone broke into my office over lunch.”

Lila’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Did they take anything?”

His gaze flickered away from mine. “No.”

I didn’t believe him. I’d known him long enough. His poker face wasn’t that good.

“What did they take?”

He pursed his lips and looked between Lila and me, then let out a long breath. “They took your file…and Lila’s.”

Dread washed over me. “Is that all?” I needed to know the answer. Needed to know that it was just a break-in for files and not mine specifically, because I knew who it was.

“They only took yours and Lila’s.”

I cursed under my breath, my hand tightening around Lila’s as the world began to crash around me. This couldn’t be happening—not again. Maybe he’d been right. Maybe I should have listened closer. Maybe I should have run with Lila when he sat down next to me at the restaurant.

They were coming back. They were going to kill us, and every fear I’d had since I met her, since I met my Lila, washed over me, enveloping me. My hands began to shake—something that Darren noticed.

“You have to stay calm. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew this would happen.”

“Of course it was going to happen.” My stomach turned, and I pulled Lila close to me, my arms wrapping around her as my body bent in on itself.

Her hands ran soothing circles up and down my back, her nails digging in slightly, scratching. The small bit of pain reminded me she was there.

Darren put his hand on my shoulder. “Take a deep breath.” I took in as much air as I could and slowly let it out. “Lila, could you go inside and get a bottle of water from the vending machine down the hall?”

I reached out as she walked away and grabbed onto her arm. “No.”

Darren placed his hand on mine and waved an officer over. “Can you escort her inside to the break room for me?”

Lila caressed my face. “I’ll be right back.”

I whimpered as she walked away, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. “How did they know to come here?”

Darren sighed. “I don’t know, but I think it’s obvious they’re tailing you again.”

My head snapped to him. “You think?” I flashed my busted up knuckles at him. “Every f**king place I go.”

He cursed under his breath, eyes wide as he stared at my hand. “When?”

“My birthday.”

“Have you thought about hiring a bodyguard or getting police protection?”