The man needs an assistant, but he’s too stubborn to hire one, especially because the last one spent all her time pawing all over him instead of making his life easier.
He looks just as exhausted as I feel, dark circles making him seem older than he is.
“You look like shit,” I say.
“Thanks, son.” He glares across the solid wood. “Some of us didn’t get to hold our girl through the night.”
I sigh. He’s right. I’m being an asshole. The last few months have been hard for him, seeing me be close to her when he’s the one who’s gone to the ends of the earth to make sure she was safe these past five years.
“How is she?”
“Wary,” I reply. “Her instincts are begging her to run, and I’m worried if we don’t make our move soon, she’s going to do just that.”
He brushes a hand down his face. “It’s too soon.”
“Is it, though?”
“Yes,” he snaps. “If we move too quickly, we’ll just push her away.”
“Jeffrey is going to start insisting on dates soon, and then what are we going to do?”
“He already has.”
“He what?” I shout, my heart stuttering in my chest. “When the fuck did he do that?”
“Not long after you left her place. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s got someone tailing you because you were barely on the next block when it came through.”
“Are you tracking her calls and texts again?” I ask incredulously.
“Yep.”
“You’re kind of fucked up, you know that?”
“Yep.”
I shake my head, but the humor that normally accompanies the gentle ribbing is missing. Rowan has worked hard to keep some of his more stalkerish tendencies on a tight leash, but hisneed to take care of Hannah makes it hard for him to relinquish complete control.
“Tell me about the date.”
“She told him she was seeing someone and things were getting serious, so she wasn’t interested in meeting whoever Jeffrey has lined up.”
“And I’m assuming he didn’t accept that no means no?”
“You’d be right about that. He said that it was her duty as part of the family to marry someone that he deems appropriate.”
I roll my eyes. This motherfucker is walking on thin ice with this bullshit. “Which member of the asshole brigade does he want her to meet?”
“Trent Bradley.”
I groan and drop my head back against the chair. While not the worst person on the list of prospective husbands, he’s a misogynist piece of shit who isn’t worthy of breathing the same air as Hannah, let alone marrying her. “What did she say when he pulled the family first bullshit?”
He hesitates for a second, his eyes holding mine while he decides how to deliver whatever he has to say that won’t end in me tearing apart his office. “That she would think about it.”
I shove myself out of my seat, the solid piece of wood hitting the ground with a loud crash. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
I stalk across the room before pacing back again, desperately trying to pull myself together. There’s a reason I was such a good fighter, and it’s because I can channel my anger in a way few have been able to master. But when it comes to Hannah? Everything is different.
“Asher, it’s going to be okay. We won’t let it go too far.”
