Page 89 of Healing the Heart

“It’s my job to know.”

None of the Rossi men disagreed with him.

“Fiona is on lockdown until we find him,” Noah announced.

When they all nodded in agreement, she asked, “I haven’t been already?”

Her question went unanswered because Axyl proposed a different approach. “We could put her out there.”

Noah erupted. “No fucking way!”

“What does that mean?” she asked Eric seated beside her.

“He wants to use you as bait to lure him out of hiding,” he replied.

“And, I repeat. No fucking way, so get it out of your head.”

“But, Noah, I can’t go on living this way, looking over my shoulder and jumping at every noise. At some point, I’m going to have to sleep again.”

“We’ll find him another way, without putting you at risk,” he stated firmly, completely inflexible. “I need increased security at my place,” he told Keiran. “Cameras at all doors, alarms at the windows—”

“You’re on the fourth floor, Noah,” she reminded him.

“We’re not going to lose her like we did the others.”

“What others?” Fiona asked.

A tense silence fell over the room.

She stood and faced Noah, repeating, “What others?”

“We had another serial case targeting lookalikes,” Keiran told her. “It happened not long after we opened. He targeted and kidnapped several of our submissives.”

“And killed them,” Fiona concluded. He didn’t come out and say it, but serial and refusing to lose her like the others kind of gave it away. She sat down because her legs wouldn’t hold her any longer.

“How is lockdown different?” she asked.

“It’s exactly how it sounds,” Noah said from behind her. “You stay put, under security and surveillance, and don’t give him an opportunity to get to you.”

Lockdown equaled prison, she concluded.

“What about work? I’ve got bills. A lease, student loans, and a car payment.”

Noah spun her chair around and crouched in front of her, taking both her hands in his. “Do you think for a minute I’d risk your life for a fucking credit score?”

“But what about after? I’ll still have to live.”

“I’m more concerned about you having an after. We’ll sort everything else out once he’s no longer a threat to you. And you’ll live with me, like you have been for weeks.”

That didn’t erase her concerns. She knew he meant it now. That he cared for her wasn’t in doubt. But, not so long ago, he’d been unwilling to agree to a second scene with a submissive, much less a future, a relationship, or love again, especially an enduring love like he had for Claire and Leah. Now, out of danger and tragedy, he’d suddenly changed?

He had cautioned against making decisions during high-stress times, and they’d had nothing except stress and drama from the very beginning.

When a tear escaped, he immediately wiped it away.

“I’m scared, Noah.”

He gripped her hands tighter.“I know you are, kitten. But I’m going to do everything in my power to hunt him down and have him locked away so he isn’t a threat to you ever again.”

---