Page 58 of Craving Francesca

“I know.”

I smiled.

“Especially with my ears covered.”

The closer we got to her house, the more antsy she became. She shifted in her seat. Took ibuprofen without anything to wash it down. Straightened the hood on her sweatshirt. When she began to tap the center console with her fingers I reached out and covered her hand.

After a moment she turned her hand over and laced her fingers through mine.

I was playing a dangerous game.

Nothing had changed. Frankie was fun as fuck, and I liked pretty much everything about her, but she was still part of the Aces community, and things could get messy quick if I went there again. I’d already overstepped the line I’d drawn too many times to count. I needed to get my shit together.

Frankie was healing. A man she’d been dating had flagrantly abused her trust, and it had serious consequences that she’d dealt with alone. He continued to harass her. From the way she’d spoken about the situation, she hadn’t even realized yet that none of it was her fault. It would be a long time before she was ready to mess around with anyone else.

Starting something with her would be selfish and stupid as fuck.

Knowing all that, I still tightened my hand around hers.

When we pulled up in front of her house, Frankie let out a long breath. There weren’t any familiar cars out front beyond the ones that belonged there.

“Are you coming in?” she asked as I let go of her hand so I could parallel park on her street.

“You want me to?”

“No, that’s okay,” she said quickly.

“Francesca.” I waited until she looked at me. “You want me to walk you in?”

“It’s not like they’re going to attack me or something,” she said dryly, throwing open her door. “I’ve already taken over your entire day. It’s fine. You can go home. Thank you so much for—”

I shut the truck off and hopped out mid-sentence.

“You’re coming?” she asked in surprise when I met her on the other side of the truck.

“Let’s go,” I murmured, taking her hand as I locked up. I tugged her forward and led her up the sidewalk. I couldn’t exactly be her getaway driver if I didn’t know whether or not she needed one.

Lou was standing in the doorway by the time we reached the porch, her eyes puffy and red-rimmed.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she breathed, catching Frankie around the waist. “I thought—I don’t even know what I thought. No one could find you.”

“I’m sorry,” Frankie whispered, curling her arms around Lou’s shoulders. “I figured you’d be at work and wouldn’t even realize I wasn’t here.”

So, she was still intent on hiding things. The whole reason she’d come to my house was because Lou had been home.

“I had a headache, so I came home early,” Lou said with a groan.

“I’m really sorry I worried you,” Frankie repeated as they pulled apart.

I followed them into the house and found Cian and Myla sitting on the couch.

“What the fuck is going on?” Myla asked, jumping to her feet as she looked between me and Frankie. “Decided on a little afternoon delight and couldn’t answer a single message?”

Shit.I knew before Frankie said a word that shit was about to go sideways.

“So now I need to be available to you twenty-four hours a day?” Frankie asked. “When did that start?”

“Don’t be an asshole.”

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