Obsessed (The Protectors #13) - Sloane Kennedy Page 0,54

no discernible proof that I'd gotten a reaction out of him. In fact, all Ronan did was sigh. "You're a man who likes the facts, right, Matias? You don't like it when people beat around the bush. So let's do it this way. You want to keep looking on your own for the man who betrayed you, that's your business. But protecting my family is my business. And like it or not, the moment you and your brother agreed to join my team, you became a part of that family. Now, I don't give a fuck if you want to be the batshit crazy, black-sheep cousin who lives in a hut in Timbuktu and wears a tin foil hat on his head, but you're still family. Just like your brother is family."

For the first time since his arrival, Ronan seemed to be losing a hint of the iron grip he had on his control. It made me envious of the man. If I'd been him, I would've already kicked my ass for the dig about his relationship with his husband.

"That man in there"—Ronan pointed in the direction of the house—"may just be a casual fuck to you, but are you so certain he feels the same way?"

"Yes," I responded, even though I’d intended to keep quiet. But something about Ronan suggesting that my relationship with Sam meant more than it did made my chest hurt.

After spending every night with Sam for two weeks straight, I'd expected my need for him to wane, but the opposite was true. I couldn't get enough of him. And worse, I was absolutely terrified that it wasn't just the sex that I couldn't get enough of. It had been getting harder and harder every night to leave him all warm and content in his bed. There had been a few nights when he'd fallen asleep before I’d left and I’d found myself actually watching him sleep like we were in some cheesy romantic movie or something.

If that hadn't been bad enough, when Cruz and Elliot had come to my apartment the night I’d abruptly left town and I’d learned they were going to Sam's house for movie night, I'd all but invited myself to go with them.

And I’d loved every moment of that night. The only part that had made that familiar restlessness crawl beneath my skin had been the mere fact that I hadn't been able to touch Sam like I'd wanted. Watching him enjoy his children had left me with a sense of longing I still didn't really understand. I'd been waiting eagerly for the hours to go by so I could get Sam alone and show him how much I hated not being able to put my hands on him whenever I wanted, but then my phone had beeped and the present had ceased to exist. I'd gotten nothing more than a vague location on a possible sighting of Bishop from a random contact and that had been it. My entire brain had shifted and focused in on the hunt. Of extinguishing the threat to my brother and the people who were becoming a real family to him.

"Yes," I repeated firmly. There were a lot of things I wasn't certain about, but I knew one thing for sure. Sam had feelings for only one man and that man wasn't me. Even if I'd wanted to, I wouldn't have known how to compete with Mac’s memory.

"Then explain to me why Sam has been running Internet searches on you."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Not just on you, but on how to report a missing person anonymously."

I shook my head in disbelief. Had he really done that? Had he tried to find out more information about me? Why? It made no sense. "How do you know all this?" I asked.

"You and I made a deal when you and your brother came on board. I'm keeping up my end. You may not want my help in finding the man who hurt Cruz, but that doesn't mean I'm not looking. You and I both know that while you’re hunting Bishop, he's hunting you. It's just a matter of who gets the upper hand first. I have Daisy monitoring any searches related to you and Cruz. Your name popped up on a Google search a couple of weeks ago. She traced it back to Sam's computer."

"Fuck," I muttered.

"Yeah," Ronan said, his voice full of irritation. "If she was watching, it's possible Bishop was too. Daisy did her best to