“Sinclair?”
Her body is a dead weight as I lift her beneath her knees, cradling her to me.
“You fainted. You’re okay,” I soothe as I carry her over to her bed and lay her down on it. I place a pillow beneath her knees to raise her legs to get the blood back to her head.
“Denver?”
It’s a weak whisper that tears at my heart.
“Monty, they’re going to?—”
“They’re not going to do anything without getting through me first.”
She looks at me with wide eyes, her cheeks pale as she comes around. She wants to believe me. She needs to have that to hold on to. That hope. That trust. I’ve seen her broken before. I can’t see it again.
“I’ll go and fetch him,” I tell her.
She sits up in a rush, pulling me to her. Her naked breasts sink against my shirt and her pebbled nipples penetrate the fabric against my chest like we’re skin to skin.
“Promise me you’ll protect him over me if you have to.” Her breath skates over the side of my neck as her lips brush my earlobe. “Promise me, Denver,” she pleads.
She pulls back with shining eyes.
“Denver?” Her eyes ping-pong between mine frantically as she moves at the same moment I lift my hand to calm her.
Her nipple brushes my palm, sliding over my thumb until the puckered tip grazes the pad.
I freeze, sucking in a sharp breath.
“Promise me!” She moves closer, oblivious to her breast filling my palm before I pull my hand away.
I yank my tie from around my neck and rip my shirt open, pulling it off and wrapping it around her shoulders.
“I’ll put both of your lives before mine, I promise you.” I keep my eyes on hers as I pull the edges of my shirt around her until they meet, covering her up.
She nods, her lower lip quivering.
I fetch Monty from his bed in the bathroom where he’s fallen asleep and carry him into the bedroom. Sinclair breaks into sobs when she sees him, and he stirs and wriggles inside my arms until I put him down on the bed. He scampers straight up to her, licking and nuzzling at her face and neck as she holds him close.
I stand, ready to go into the other room. I need to call Killian and Jenson and check in with the police. See what everyone has on this guy who tried to take Monty. The boys will already be running checks on the Instagram account the comment was made from. But the chances of it bringing up anything useful are slim.
Sinclair’s hugging Monty, looking into his eyes as she lovingly rubs his ear. Sterling bought him as a puppy for herafter she lost her mom and brother.“God help us if anything ever happens to that dog.”Those were his words. And I knew he was right.
But now I see it.
If anything happens to Monty, Sinclair might never recover from it.
“I need to make some calls,” I say.
“Stay,” Sinclair croaks, her voice hoarse as she wipes the tears from her cheeks. She’s looking at Monty, so I lift the comforter over them both, tucking him into bed with her.
“Of course he can stay,” I say. “He can sleep in here with you.”
“No,” she whispers, lifting her green eyes to mine. “I mean you, Denver. Please.Just for a bit. I don’t want us to be alone.”
I falter. I’m shirtless and need to go to my car and get some clothes from the trunk. And I need to talk to the team. I glance at her bedroom doorway like it’ll give me answers.
“Please.”She reaches out and touches my hand, her fingertips like silk sliding over my palm.
