“Yes. Time is essential,” Caden stressed.
“We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” The phone disconnected.
“What are you doing?” Brooklyn demanded.
“Playing Prince Charming.”
Never in herlife had anyone taken charge of everything like Caden did. Pissed off at first by his insistence in helping her, Brooklyn’s emotions shifted almost instantly to gratitude and amazement. Now standing in her empty apartment, Brooklyn checked her watch. Twenty-two minutes. That’s how long it had taken for the buff men to pack her things into her car. The van hadn’t been necessary. She’d wanted to have her possessions in her vehicle in case she needed to leave quickly.
“What have we missed?” Caden asked, walking through the place, opening cabinets and doors.
“Nothing. I can’t believe how fast you all gathered my things. Thank you.”
“If you’d let us pack your clothes, we could have shaved five minutes off the time,” he said with a smile.
She pressed her hands to her cheeks to cool them off as she blushed again. The flashback of seeing her cotton panties in a stranger’s—Caden’s—hands as he efficiently folded them into her suitcase still horrified her. Thank goodness she didn’t wear scraps of lace butt floss like other fancier women did.
“Could we not talk about that?” she whispered.
“Of course, little girl. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
He looked so concerned that she rushed to reassure him. “I’m being silly. Thank you for your help. I can’t believe you brought your team here to help. Everyone was so nice.”
The minute she finished thanking him, his words replayed in her brain. Little girl? That phrase sent a shiver of excitement through her. But he couldn’t mean that like a daddy would say, right?
Caden stepped closer. Brooklyn’s skin tingled as if he were magnetic. What was it about this guy that attracted her so viscerally? His powerful body and self-assurance lured her toward him. His attitude screamed, “I can protect you from harm.” That wasn’t real, of course. Brent had erased any illusion of safety from her world.
“Do you have somewhere to go?” Caden asked, running his hand lightly down her arm.
Brooklyn loved the light touches that he used. A warm hand on her back as he ushered her into a room. The brush of his arm against hers when he relieved her of a heavy box. This reassuring contact.He can’t be this wonderful.
Taking a step away from him, Brooklyn missed his warmth immediately when his hand dropped to his side. “I’ll go turn in my keys, and I can be off. Let me lock the door and then you can go back to training.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” he reminded her as he walked into the hall with her.
“What question?” she asked, hoping he’d drop it.
“Go turn in the keys, and we’ll figure it out.”
“Oh, you don’t have to wait for me.” Brooklyn hustled toward the office, calling her thanks to the team who’d helped.
“Take care, Brooklyn,” Jerico called.
She’d enjoyed meeting the guys. Caden had an amazing team. Jerico, who looked like a hot, ripped Boy Scout. Who was she kidding? They were all handsome as hell and built like they could wrestle a bear and win. Koa, with his island handsomeness and savage tribal tattoos. The team medic was tough as nails in a safeguarding way. The massive Max, who bulged with so many muscles Brooklyn bet he could bench press her car. He had stowed her belongings in her trunk with a precision she’d never understand. Brooklyn wished she had a phone to take a picture of the arrangement so she could attempt to recreate it.And Hank. Slightly distant, Hank had an air of sadness. She’d wondered about his backstory before pushing the mystery out of her head. Brooklyn wouldn’t be around to figure it out.
Coming out of the office with the receipt for her payment to end the lease, Brooklyn studied the building she’d hidden inside for several months. Her apartment had provided a refuge for her to heal and regain her strength. It was time to move on now. Not only because of Tom and the skirmish with Giana; Brooklyn had a weird feeling that Brent was zeroing in on her location. She hadn’t spotted his silver sports car since she’d moved here, but had studied a warning posted by the mailboxes of a fuzzy image of a man with brown hair. Something about the image triggered a warning inside her. Could it be Brent?
The truck the soldiers had driven had disappeared, signaling they’d left. A sigh eased from her nostrils. Brooklyn hadn’t understood how alone she’d felt until she’d had people around again today. Hearing the men ribbing each other and working together to empty her apartment had provided companionship.
CHAPTER 2
Walking back to her car, Brooklyn replayed the interactions of the day. Fleeing with Giana, meeting the guys, and packing up her belongings hadn’t been on her schedule for today. And she’d just lamented her boring life yesterday when she sat alone in her apartment for the umpteenth day in a row.
“Bitch! I knew I’d find you.”
Brooklyn stopped in her tracks, and her blood turned to ice as she recognized that voice. She turned to dash back into the apartment office, but froze when he spoke again.
“If you run, I’ll hurt them as well. As far as I can tell, one woman is alone in there. She’ll be easy to hurt before I drag you away.”
