Page 25 of Unraveled Love

She rolled her eyes. “You’re…decent company, I guess.”

“You guess?” I arched brows on my forehead. She hadn’t been playful in days. If this was her new outlook, I’d roll with it.

She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee before moving to the counter to refill it. “Yeah. I mean, you’re all right, but I just feel like I’m going stir crazy. I’ve felt like I couldn’t leave my house for weeks.”

“I’m all right,” I muttered. “You sure do know how to stroke a man’s ego.”

“Please, the last thing you need is your ego stroked.”

Yeah…there were definitely other things I’d prefer she stroked. I let that thought shine in my expression and eyes and reveled in the way she blushed before turning away.

“I’m not sure it’s safe to go anywhere,” I admitted, hating to kill the mood. I’d have to assess the risk depending on where she wanted to go, but with work, it could be managed.

“I figured.” Addi turned, putting her back to the counter, cupping her fresh cup of coffee in both hands. “But I’ve been thinking…about what Luca said…”

“About what?”

“When he left the hotel, he suggested I take self-defense. And, well, you mentioned you’d give me shooting lessons. I figured we could go do that.”

Her chin wobbled then. All playfulness was wiped from her expression, and fear began to slither back in. The coffee cup shook in her hands.

“Addi—”

“No,” she snapped, so firmly I sat up straight in my chair. “You said it’d be smart, so did Luca. I won’t be helpless again, Shawn. I can’t…” Her eyes squeezed shut, lids clamping down. “I can’t be helpless while I watch someone get hurt in front of me, because of me again. Charlie—”

I shoved out of the chair and rushed to her. Carefully extracting the mug from her clenched hands, I settled my hand at her back and pulled her to me so her forehead collapsed against my chest.

“Charlie is fine. You know that. And Mason is out of the hospital. Everyone was hurt doing their job, and they don’t regret it.”

“I don’t want it to happen again.”

“I know.” I tried to soothe her, holding her in my arms while she fought against fear, while terror and demons battled for her strength. “I’ll call Jaxon, see what I can set up, okay?”

I’d give her anything, and if helping her feel strong made her feel better, it was a small risk.

It took a few hours, mostly because I needed her fully awake, not still fighting back the dredges of her nightmares, to know she was steady and ready for what she wanted.

At almost noon, we were pulling up to Hayes Security in the back of an SUV. Addi’s hand was clasped tightly in mine. Her nerves had left her unsettled, and yet her determination kept her face etched with sharp lines and an awareness in her eyes.

God…she’d spent too much time around us and was starting to act like us.

Pride suffused my blood at the thought. As much as I didn’t want this life for her, it was damn awesome how quickly she could adjust.

The door opened and I slipped out. Briggs was standing steady, scanning the parking garage, eyes lit with focus. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Get inside. Gun range is ready, and Mason’s already pulled guns out for her.”

Awesome. Outside of the very real threat to her safety and why she wanted to do this, I was getting a hard-on at the thought of teaching Addi how to shoot a gun. She was always so terrified when I’d remove mine from my holster, and I couldn’t wait to see her fear change to excitement once she pulled the trigger that first time.

9

Addi

Arapid beat pulsed at the back of my neck, and I couldn’t shake it. I’d never seen a gun in real life until Shawn first set his down on my kitchen table. The next time I saw a gun, it was aimed at my head.

I might have grown up in the land of the Second Amendment and vaguely still remembered shotguns strapped to the backs of pickup cabs, but as far I knew, my father had never owned one.

Now, I was being escorted into a double-doored chamber, vents blasting me with a burst of air so cold I shivered.

---