Page 51 of Hide Little Traitor

Indecision flickers through his eyes, giving Ronan the chance to wrap his hands around the weapon and flick the safety on.

Before I have a chance to breathe a sigh of relief, I’m in Ryker’s arms. His distinct scent wraps around me, and I can’t help but relax into his hold.

I never thought I’d see him again, and until right now, I hadn’t let myself consider how much that hurt. In such a short space of time, he’s come to mean so much to me.

Hell, after a decade of keeping my distance from everyone, he’s the person who knocked down my walls. He’s the one I went to for comfort when I didn’t trust anyone else. And he’s the one I knew wouldn’t give up on finding me, even when my mind tried to tell me no one was coming.

“I missed you, Siren,” he murmurs against my hair as a tattooed hand comes to rest on the back of my head, holding me in place.

“I missed you too.” I wrap my arms around his middle, holding him just as tight as he is me and ignoring the glares I’m certain we’re receiving from the other men in the room.

I didn’t realize it before, but Ryker gives me something I never knew I needed.

A deep sense of safety.

The last few weeks have been some of the worst of my life, and yet when I’m in his arms with his steady heartbeat against my ear, none of that matters.

Long before I’m ready, he takes a small step back, his eyes moving over my body in search of injuries. “You’re not hurt?”

“No, she’s not hurt,” Kingston snaps. “You think I spent the last decade keeping her safe and sent my best employee to personally guard her just to harm her the second she steps into my care?”

“Not all injuries are physical, boss.” He spits the word before turning his attention back on me, brushing the hair at my temple back to look at the cut that’s almost completely healed.

For the first few days I was here, I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. The memories of what Ralph almost did to me were too fresh. They still are, but at least I don’t have the reminder each time I catch sight of my reflection.

It’s a miracle my dreams haven’t been plagued by the feel of his filthy hands on me and his weight pressing down on me.

“I’m fine,” I assure him as I lean into his touch.

He may be a killer and a remorseless one if the things I’ve been told are true, but he’s never looked at me with anything less than softness, and if I had to choose one man in this room that could never harm me, it would be him.

“That’s enough,” Kingston rumbles, stepping up behind me.

Before he has a chance to grab me, Ryker turns us, putting me out of his reach.

“Nope, you’ve been hoarding our girl for a week. If you didn’t want to share, you shouldn’t have brought us here.” He says it so casually, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, but it makes my heart skip a beat.

I bite down on my bottom lip to stop the smile that tries to appear. I can’t let myself get my hopes up, not when I know how possessive Kingston is.

“Lombardi.” Ryker jerks his head at Ronan, and with just a single word of invitation, he rounds the island and tugs me into his arms.

The way he holds me is different from my tattooed bodyguard. Tentative even. But I soak up every second of his arms around me.

I know what it’s like to not know a hug could be my last, and I’ll never take the simple gestures for granted.

His lips ghost across the top of my head. “You gotta stop disappearing on me, Sparrow.”

I half laugh, the sound broken by the sob that forces its way out. “It’s never been by choice, Ro.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

RYKER

NOW

Iturn away from Chloe and Ronan, allowing them to have their moment, albeit with Damon’s attention locked on them with a grimace.

If there’s someone on earth that could benefit from smiling more, it’s Damon fucking Lombardi.