Those words hit me right in the heart.
She trusts me.
Not just in a bodyguard way.
She trusts me. Landon. The man.Herman.
I reach out and pull her close, lowering my head to lightly kiss her. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Trusting me.”
“I imagine lots of people trust you—with their very lives, no less.”
“Yes, but this is more important. You’re trusting me with your heart.”
“I am.” She winds her arms around my neck and buries her head in my chest. “I hope you trust me with yours.”
Before I can answer, there are steps on the stairs again.
“Are you two decent?” Rage’s voice. “Silver and his men are here.”
“Talk about a mood breaker,” she mutters.
“We’ll have our talk later. Promise.”
“Okay.”
I tell Rage we’re on our way and take Allora’s hand as we go down the stairs. Just before we get to the door leading to the hallway, I pause to smooth down her hair.
“Am I a mess?” she asks worriedly. “Our friends are one thing—my dad is another.”
“You’re a little…rumpled. Beautiful, but you’ve definitely just been fucked hard.” I grin in spite of myself.
“Landon.”
“There’s a bathroom right when we get out of the stairway. Freshen up. I’ll entertain the Demons.”
“Thank you.”
I walk toward the lobby, and sure enough, Silver, Tex, and a few of the other guys are all there. All in their leather vests and biker boots and bad attitudes.
“Where’s Allora?” Silver demands.
“She’s mad at me,” I say, knowing it’ll distract them from how well-fucked she looks.
“Why?” Silver asks, his voice dropping an octave.
I roll my eyes, playing into his overprotectiveness. “She wants to use herself as bait to draw out the kidnappers. I don’t.”
No one says a word.
“I don’t like it either,” Tex says, folding his arms over his chest. “Silver, you need to?—”
Silver eyes him. “Stop telling me how to handle my daughter.”
“None of this would’ve happened if you’d handled her!” he snaps.
