She blinked, processing my words, and then said, “I meant why would you be an awful hitman?”
“Oh, far too messy.” I tested out a grin, but it was hard to pull off with her shaking on my lap. “Hitmen need to be tidy and discreet, not leave a massacre behind them.”
Belatedly, I realised that might scare the ever-loving shit out of her, but Jessia just blinked again. “Does it count as a massacre if it’s just one person?”
“With what I’m going to do to him? Definitely.”
She peered at me, and I jolted to realise shesawme, the emptiness gone from her eyes. “I try to be a good person, but I think I’d like it if you killed him.”
“Then consider it done. We’ll tighten security. Pres has probably already given the order. And when we find Pierce, I’ll make him regret every second of his life that he made you feel afraid.” I hesitated, but since she was speaking… “Why did you run away, angel?”
When she was quiet for long seconds, I thought she wouldn’t answer, but I kept my arms around her and my mouth shut,knowing damn well more violent threats to her ex would spill out.
“He hurt me,” she said after a while. Quiet but—angry. “I had to run, or he’d have beaten me to death.”
There was no trapping the growl that rattled my chest this time. It vibrated through my rib cage and into her side where she rested against me, and for some inexplicable reason she sighed and softened against me, her head settling on my shoulder.
“I didn’t read the letter,” she confessed. “I was too scared to open it. But the envelope, it—” Her hands flexed in her lap, and I felt it through the explosive fear—a burning coal of rage. “It has my old name on it.”
I had to force air into my lungs, had to grab my fury in an iron fist and shove it down. She’d been so afraid of this Pierce motherfucker that she changed her name?
“I can read it for you.”
She nodded.
“And I’ll come back to your room with you, show you it’s safe now. Consider me your bodyguard.”
A semi-smile quirked her lips as she slid off my lap, her hands steadier, her expression afraid but not hollow. “My bodyguard.”
“Yep. I’ll even get a fancy suit and a jaunty hat if you like.”
She gave me a wry look that made me grin. “What bodyguards are you thinking of? The ones I’ve seen don’t wear hats. They wear really tight black shirts.”
“That, I can make happen.” I got to my feet and held out my hand, my heart tumbling over itself when she placed her palm in mine. “I’m sure I’ve got a black polo two sizes two small. The only problem is… it’s so short, it might be a crop top.”
Her smile sank deeper, rounding her cheeks. “I’m sure you’ll cope.”
“Me? Sure. You? You might be overcome with lust at the sight. Me in a crop top? Hottest thing you’ve ever seen.”
She slanted a look towards me. “Okay, Mr Confident. If you say so.”
She stiffened as we left the dining room, but she kept her head up, her back straight, and walked with me across the clubhouse without baulking. “Fil.”
“Yeah, angel?” I worked to stifle my growl when Winner crossed our path, my protective instincts on high alert.
“Thank you. For protecting me.”
“Always.”
She might have said something else, but the sanctuary doors came into view and she turned quiet, holding tight to my hand. When I got my hands on the fucker who made her feel unsafe in the one place she was supposed to feel the most protected… I didn’t know what I would do yet. It required thought, required time to dream up the most painful, torturous punishment.
“Hey! What the fuck,” Thora shouted when we strode through the main room. “You can be in here, prick. Get out.”
“It’s okay,” Jessia said, angling herself closer to me as if she’d protect me, too. “I asked him for help.”
Thora crossed her strong arms over her chest, her mouth in a flat line. “You’ve got ten minutes, then I want you out of here.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” I said, halting myself mid-salute because I’d like to keep my teeth in my mouth and not see them on the carpet.
