After he went back through, she turned the deadbolt and leaned against the door. Outside, she could hear an engine roar and tires squeal. The sound faded quickly into the distance.
Two knocks on the door. “It’s me.”
She let Hunter inside.
“The driver helped the others,” Hunter said. “They were gone in under thirty seconds.” He went to the sink and began washing his hands.
Brie’s teeth were chattering, and she couldn’t make them stop. “They were going to…”
“I know.” He dried his hands, then turned to face her. He looked rattled. “This won’t happen again. I’m not leaving you alone.”
Chapter
Ten
Brie stood frozenin her apartment doorway, keys biting into her palm from gripping them too tight. Hunter brushed past her, his shoulder grazing hers. She stepped inside, locked the door behind her, and sank into a chair at the kitchen table.
He disappeared down the hall without waiting for an invitation. The sound of her closet sliding open felt like a violation of her private space. A moment later, shower curtain rings scraped against the rod.
Each noise made her chest tighten. He was treating her home like those men could be hiding behind her winter coats or crouched in her bathtub. He emerged from her bathroom, his eyes scanning the main living area.
“How long have you been watching me?” she asked.
“Since the morning after I came to your office.”
The words hit her like cold water. He’d been out there for a week while she’d checked her phone every night before bed, wondering why he hadn’t contacted her again.
“You’ve been following me for a week?” Her voice cracked on the last word.
“Not following. Protecting.” He set his duffle bag by her couch. “There’s been surveillance on your bakery. A black SUV with Nevada plates.”
Her head spun. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You refused protection.”
Brie stood and walked into the kitchen, her hands finding the familiar edge of the counter. The smooth granite under her palms helped steady her racing thoughts.
“How long are you going to stay here?”
“Until we neutralize the threat. I’ll take the couch.”
“I have to be at the bakery at four.”
“Then we go in at four.”
We. Like they were a unit, like they were together. Except they weren’t. They were a bodyguard and his assignment, a wolf and the bear he’d never wanted to find.
“You should get some sleep,” he said. “It’s been a long day.”
A long day. Like she’d had a tough shift at the bakery, not nearly been zip-tied and thrown in a van. She wanted to laugh at the understatement, but she was afraid if she started, she might not stop.
She turned back toward him, legs unsteady. The apartment felt too small with Hunter in it, his presence filling every corner even from his position by the couch.
“Bathroom’s yours if you need it,” she managed, not quite meeting his eyes.
“I’m good. Already checked the window locks in there.”
She nodded and moved down the hallway, hyperaware of his gaze on her back. Her bedroom door had never felt more significant as she closed it between them, the soft click of the latch a relief.
