At that moment, Ekatia walks in with Hanna. She’s wearing jeans and a pretty red top that shows plenty of cleavage, and her hair is done in low pigtails.
“Good morning.” She looks from me to my brother and then smiles just for me. “Did you see what happened to Pete?”
“Yeah. Unbelievable.” I shake my head in mock horror. “Who would do such a thing to a nice, innocent doctor?”
Declan points at Ekatia. “Dina told me you went out with a doctor last night.”
Dina joins us again. She’s wearing a red dress, and I can tell my brother likes what he sees because he’s momentarily sidetracked. Dina slides next to him and winks.
Nothing beats a player with a sister-in-law in his corner. “I’m so glad I have a man who listens to my rambling.”
“I listen to everything you say.” He kisses the top of her head.
Dina knows damn well that Declan and I solve our disputes with fists, and she hates that about us. If she’s hugging my brother (or doing anything with him), she can restrict his movements and soften him so he won’t argue or get violent with me.
Naturally, I won’t attack him if she’s attached to him, so she knows what she’s doing.
Declan gives me the evil eye. “Who’s on your security team?” He asks the same question I asked her only a moment ago while he was watching the news.
“Connor,” I answer as if I’m a third person.
Declan sizes up Ekatia again, and I know he linked what I did to Pete with her. “That was the doctor you went out with, I presume?”
Ekatia nods.
Declan locks eyes with me. We’ve always been able to communicate without speaking. It’s not telepathy. It’s being born the same but different. Declan understands I protected Ekatia because she’s Dina’s friend. But he also knows me well enough to know I’ve taken an interest in this woman that goes beyond her ties to us.
“You didn’t have to wear the red clown nose.”
This city knows our father as “the clown.” He’d wear the red nose and sometimes even dress as the clown. Declan is right. I didn’t have to put on the red nose. “What’s done is done,” I say and walk out with a wave. “I’m going dress shopping, brother dearest. I’m a busy guy. No time for your big-man tears. Send Pete flowers if you feel sorry for him.”
“Stay out of trouble, dickhead,” he calls after me.
“Will do.”
Chapter 16
Renne
Connor Crossbow nailed Pete to the door of a restaurant. Because of me.
I appreciate the fact that he stuck up for me and is extending his protection to me, but in its current form, Connor’s protection terrifies me. The fact that he can get away with murder in this city reminds me of how the man I’m running from got away with murdering all those people on the yacht.
I’ve witnessed the horrors caused by unhinged men. I’m desperately trying to avoid one of those men, only to find protection with the mirror image of him? Pete didn’t deserve to have his hands dislocated and fingers broken, or to have a hole in his palm where the knife that pinned him to the door of his friend’s restaurant went through it.
Trouble is, I can’t summon any sympathy for him.
Pete has been asking me out for months. All he really wanted was to get laid. If he’d approached me that way, I’d have said yes a long time ago. Essentially, Pete and I wanted the same thing. But instead of being honest with me, he played the role of a caring man who really liked me and couldn’t wait to go out withme. That is duplicitous. My first boyfriend in high school played me that way, and when he dumped me after taking my virginity, I was devastated.
That experience, along with some others, taught me a lesson. Now, I go into relationships with no expectations at all. In fact, I guard my heart and use guys before they can use me.
I digress.
There’s no way Connor can justify what he did to Pete. At the same time, I don’t owe Pete an apology. He could’ve chosen to be a decent human and taken care of me on our date. Instead, he chose to be a dick. That’s an expensive lesson to learn about how to treat a woman.
If the man I’m hiding from finds out where I am, he won’t teach me a lesson. He’ll shoot me and dump me where nobody will find me. My hope is that he’ll never find me and if he does, Connor won’t protect a snitch. Nobody loves a snitch.
I fix Hanna’s dress just as Dina turns in her seat beside Connor, who’s driving. She styled her hair in voluptuous curls today, and her makeup makes her brown eyes appear brighter. Dina looks like a woman about to marry the man of her dreams.
