Page 18 of When He Fights
“That doesn’t sound like a neighbor,” she whispered.Fear flashed on her face.
And then?—
He heard the back door opening.Flying inward.A door that he’d locked, and hell, no, it wasn’t a neighbor.Whoever had just entered the back of her house hadbrokenin.Without another word, Kane took off running for the back door.
A man had already hurried inside the house.His back was to Kane as the guy quickly shut the door, flipped the lock, and then he?—
“Bastard,” Kane growled as he slammed to a stop.The gun was still gripped in his hand.
The man turned toward him.Slowly.With his hands up.A smart move.But the guy flashed a cocky grin his way.“Hi, there, Kane.”His gaze flickered to the gun.“How many times do I have to tell you, friends don’t point weapons at friends?”
Kane’s teeth snapped together.
“I knocked.”A shrug from the man.“No one answered.Figured I’d better let myself in with the spare key I happen to possess, just in case something bad might be happening.”Keys dangled from his fingers.His head cocked to the left as he peered to the side of Kane.“Hello, Ana.You hung up on me before I could say?—”
“Grayson,”Ana snapped the FBI agent’s name like the curse that it was.
“Before I could say,” Gray continued determinedly, “I am in the area.Right in Gulfport.”He smiled at her.Then at Kane.“The gang is all back together, how about that?”
Kane growled at him.Then, he lowered his gun and, biting off each word, he gritted, “Ana wants to know why she can’t leave town.”
“Oh.”A grimace from Gray.“Sorry but…I’m afraid it’s because you’re going to be bait.”
“What?”Utter shock and horror from Ana.
Kane put the gun down on the gleaming, white marble countertop in the kitchen.
Then, when Ana tried to lunge past him and attack Gray, Kane wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her back against him.He held her easily in the air.Her legs kicked, and her hands fought at his unbreakable grip.“Sorry, sweetheart,” he said, meaning both the apology and the endearment.“But I can’t let you kill him.”
ChapterThree
Grayson slappedthe keys down on the counter and held his hands, palms out, toward Ana.“I’m not here to fight.”
She heaved and twisted but Kane was not letting her go.He didn’t hurt her.The man had complete control of his strength, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to break free.Her feet dangled in the air because he’d lifted her up, and she kicked back at him, aiming for his shins, but Kane didn’t even grunt at the impact.“Why do you have keys to my house?”she snapped at Grayson.
He winced.Looked vaguely guilty.“In the event of an emergency, I thought it best to have backup keys and to know your alarm codes.”
“This isn’t an emergency!”
“Well, how did I know that?”His hands fell back to his sides as he appeared disgruntled.“I mean, I talk to you on the phone.You seem panicked.You don’t let me fully explain.I call in Kane, and he basically hangs up on me.Then I’m at your back door, I see your car and his motorcycle, but neither of you respond to my polite knocks.”
Polite?It had sounded as if the person on the other side of the door had been trying to pound his way inside her home!
“So I got worried.”A roll of one shoulder.Grayson wore a crisp, white shirt, black pants, and gleaming, black dress shoes.His dark hair was shoved back from his face.“Being the concerned friend that I am, I decided to let myself in the house to make sure you were both all right.”His gaze dropped to take in Ana’s heaving body and her kicking feet.“How about you promise not to try ripping off my head?If you make that promise, I bet your new bodyguard will let you down.Sound like a plan, hmm?”
“Fuck yourself,” she enunciated clearly and precisely.Like any refined lady would.“And, Kane, if you don’t let me go right this minute, you will be sorry.”
“Can’t let you kill him.”Kane’s breath blew over the shell of her ear.
A tremble slid through her.
“He’s annoying,” Kane added, “but he’s useful.”His breath teased her again, and, oh, damn, had she just felt a lick of his tongue against her?Surely not.
Surely.Not.
“I get that you’re stressed,” Grayson announced.
“Oh, you get that?Fantastic.”She rolled her eyes at him.“Give yourself a couple of cookies.”
