asked you to do, or next time, we get even closer to your girl.”
Heat washes through me. “You. Will. Not. Fucking. Touch. Her.”
He smirks. “You can’t be with her all the time, X. It was all too easy to track her down and get right up next to her. Don’t think we can’t do it again.”
“I’ll kill every fucking one of you. I swear to God.”
He laughs, and my chest puffs up as I curl my fingers into fists at my sides. I lunge forward, and the smirk falls off his face as he lifts his shirt in one quick motion.
A gleam from the bar’s sign shines off the solid steel tucked into the waistband of his jeans. “Don’t fucking try it.”
My eyes zero in on the gun, and then I glare at him. “If you think that will stop me from ending you, then that proves you don’t know my reputation very well.”
“You’re not quicker than a bullet, X.”
I fix my stare on him. “You don’t want to test that theory. I can fucking assure you of that. If you know what’s good for you, you’d walk away right now.”
He takes a step back. “Last warning, X. Do what Bishop says, or we’ll be back.”
My top lip curls of its own accord. “If you come around again, it’ll be your fucking funeral. No one will touch her. No. One. You run and tell Bishop that.”
The tension hangs in the air until the man backs away and hops into a black car. He squeals the tires as he pulls out of the parking lot.
The moment he’s gone, my hands begin to tremble as I come down from my adrenaline high.
It seems as though I need to make good on my promise to be Anna’s personal bodyguard and keep eyes on her twenty-four/seven anytime she’s in Detroit. Whether she knows it or not, she truly is incapable of handling every problem in this city on her own, and she will need me to watch over her.
After waiting in the parking lot for Quinn’s shift to end, I take care to follow Anna and Quinn home while keeping out of sight. It comforts me to know who’s around Anna, and if she refuses to come back to the house on Sycamore with me, then I’ll be forced to make sure she’s safe in other ways. And that starts with finding a place to park my bike where the girls won’t see it in her aunt’s backyard because I plan on spending the night out here, so I can keep watch over the house.
Chapter 17
Anna
Xavier behind the wheel of Quinn’s compact Honda would be almost comical if he didn’t appear to be so tired this morning. He’s so tall and broad that he barely fits in the seat, but it was necessary to borrow her car to drive me to the airport. Suitcases don’t exactly fit on the back of a motorcycle.
He’s wearing the same clothes he had on last night, and judging by the bags under his eyes, he hasn’t slept a wink.
I know the feeling because I tossed and turned all night, wondering if refusing to go home with Xavier last night was the right thing to do even though I needed to make it clear that I demand honesty from him.
After we go to the house on Sycamore to pick up my suitcase, we head to the airport. We haven’t said much to each other. Some tension from the things we said last night is clearly lingering between us, and it seems neither of us is going to budge to compromise.
Xavier parks the car next to the curb in the passenger drop-off area. “Guess this is it.”
“I don’t want to leave you, but this is the best thing for us right now. I want to be by your side when this is over.”
The sadness in his eyes is unmistakable, but surprisingly, he hasn’t asked me to quit my job with Tension in order to stay with him. It’s like it’s finally clicked with him that I need to keep this job, so we can be together when his suspension is lifted.
He reaches over and touches my cheek. He opens his mouth, like he wants to say something else, but he quickly closes it. Instead, he sighs and then flips open the door handle of the car. “Better get your bag. Planes don’t wait.”
I swallow hard when Xavier leaves me alone in the car. It’s hitting me that I won’t see