Last night had been everything. Not just physical. Something deeper had passed between them. He’d known from the start that Harper was meant to be his—the problem had been convincing her.
The muscles in his forearms coiled at the memory of spotting her father inside the bar last night. When the man looked at Harper, there had been something akin to hate on his face.
He was relatively tall, maybe six-one. And muscular, probably from years of prison workouts. Cody had glimpsed cheap-looking tattoos on his arms and a few more snaking up his neck. The guy looked like the cliché of an ex-con.
But what really gutted him? The fear on Harper’s face.
He forced himself to gently untangle his body from hers. Her soft hum almost had him reconsidering his decision to get up rather than staying with her and holding her for just a bit longer. But he needed to get in contact with Kayden to find out how lastnight went. Had her father put up a fight when Kayden told him to leave?
Cody had wanted to kick the guy out himself, but Harper came first. Always. And he’d needed to make sure she was okay.
Once he was on his feet, he tugged the sheet up to cover Harper’s body before pulling on some sweats and grabbing his phone.
He’d just reached the kitchen when his brother picked up. “Cody. I’ve been waiting for your call.”
“Did the asshole leave quietly?” He opened the fridge door and pulled out the eggs.
“He did.”
Wasn’t a surprise. Ex-cons had certain rules they were forced to live by. If the guy started a fight, it would violate his parole. One call and he’d be headed right back to jail.
“I went up to him,” Kayden continued, “told him he needed to leave and he wasn’t welcome back in the bar. He said he wanted to speak to Harper, but I told him that wasn’t going to happen. There was a moment where he seemed to size me up, maybe trying to decide whether or not it was a fight he could win. He’s obviously smarter than he looks, because he turned and left.”
Why’d that feel too easy?
“Although,” Kayden added before Cody had a chance to respond, “I did see him waiting in a car on the street after I closed up. When the guy saw me, he drove away.”
“So the fucker was waiting for her.”
“It appeared that way.”
Cody lowered the eggs to the counter and gripped the edge. “I need to find out where he’s staying.”
“Why? So you can go threaten him?”
“So I can tell him to stay the hell away from Harper.”
“And if he says no—which is the most likely outcome—what will you do?”
Cody ground his back teeth together. “I’ll tell him exactly what will happen if he goes near her.”
“And that’s whyyou’renot going anywhere nearhim. You can’t just threaten people when they’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Nothing wrong? He went to prison forhurting her. For keeping drugs in their home when she was a child. He shouldn’t be here.”
“I know that.”
“Tell me what the hell I’m supposed to do then. Wait for him to find her again when we have no fucking clue what he wants? The next time, maybe when she’s alone and defenseless?”
“No, I expect you to stick with her and make sure she’s never alone and defenseless. Then, if he approaches her or threatens her, you’re there to protect her and you can make a report to Eastern.”
“He’s dangerous,” Cody ground out.
“Exactly. So let him fuck up, which you know he will, then let Eastern take care of him.”
Cody remained silent. He wasn’t agreeing to shit, and his brother knew it. Mostly because he knew a man like Harper’s father didn’t abide by the law—exactly why he’d gone to prison in the first place.
At Cody’s continued silence, Kayden sighed. “Just don’t do anything to get yourself into trouble, okay?”
