Dammit. Ryan was being nice. Such a bad sign. “Give your loyalty to her. Give your protection to her. If this shit goes sideways before we can secure Wellington, do whatever it takes to save Delaney.”
“You save her. You’re the groom. Not me.” He let go of Nash’s shoulder. Stepped back. “Had to be something pretty big. That’s what I figured, anyway. For you to give up the woman you loved? Must have been major. What was it? Did someone threaten you? Threaten her?”
How about threaten everyone in my world? But he held those words back. No point in saying them. The past would not alter.
“Everything about you changed when you separated from her.”
Ryan wasn’t wrong. Nash had changed. Because he’d needed to change. He had to become someone a whole lot stronger and a whole lot tougher in order to protect the people he cared about in this world.
“Hell,” Ryan groused, “I joined the CIA just to keep watch on you. You were the one to start hunting killers first.”
While Nash had been in college and med school, Ryan had been a Marine. Semper Fi had been his life. Always faithful. Yeah, that was his brother. Ryan had always been at his side. Always watching his back. And as for Nash…
I had to protect him. I had to protect my family. I had to protect Delaney.
Sometimes, to protect someone, you had to walk away. Even if it meant cutting out your heart and bleeding the fuck out.
“The CIA operative inside needs to leave with the van,” Ryan muttered. “We can’t keep him waiting any longer.”
The van was about to pull away, and, yes, there was an agent inside. From here on out, Nash was gonna make sure that Delaney had a guard with her. He’d wanted to personally see Jacob and Lowell get their asses loaded into the van.
And now, he was going back to Delaney. Even if she feared him.
She definitely feared him. Oh, baby, just wait until you find out that we are going to have a one-bed situation for the foreseeable future. “Still think I should aim for sweet and soothing with her?” Nash asked.
“Nope. Too late. That ship has sailed.”
Yeah, it had.
“Just try to be less scary, would you?” Ryan advised. “Maybe you could aim for semi-charming?”
Impossible. “You’re the charming one.” He squared his shoulders.
“And which one are you?” Ryan wanted to know.
I’m the one who will kill to protect Delaney.
Chapter Thirteen
“You’ll be sleeping in my room,” Nash announced.
He’d just stalked back into the cabin. The intruders had been taken away, though she was pretty sure the assailant who’d gone through the window had needed to be carried away due to his broken leg.
Lowell Vail. Delaney had recognized him, too. Both intruders had been on Kurt’s payroll. Their presence just reinforced the fact that Kurt was not going to let her walk away. He would keep hunting her. Hunting Nash.
“Did you hear me?” Nash strode toward her as she perched on the edge of the couch. “My room.”
Her head tilted back. “Considering that there is a huge hole where my window should have been, yes, I did figure that I would not be sleeping in that particular bedroom tonight.” She tapped the couch cushion near her. “But there is no need to sacrifice your bedroom. I can sleep right here.” If she slept. “The couch is perfectly fine.” Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she was terrified that, even if she did sleep, she’d just wake up to dark shadows near her. Shadows who wanted to take her away.
Nash eyed the couch. Then the floor. “If you insist on sleeping in here, then I’ll bunk on the floor next to you.”
“Why would you do that?” She craned to look toward the front door. An agent had been inside with her while Nash and Ryan made sure the intruders were secured. An agent who’d given his name as John Doe. Sure. Whatever. But John Doe was gone, having stepped out just as Nash entered.
“Because you’re not going to be away from me again,” Nash said in his deep, rumbling voice. “Where you sleep, I’ll be sleeping. No one is going to sneak in and try to take you. Not happening.”
Her stare whipped back to him. He could not be serious.
Nash nodded. “I believe you would call this a one-bed situation.”
