Page 97 of Ruthless Savior
“I think I miss you, too.” I mean to just tease him back a little, but as I say it, I realize that I do. I like having Ronan around. I don’t enjoy the complications of how he makes me feel, but I like his presence, his solidity. As confusing as he can be, there’s also a comfort to having him there, I realize.
“This is more complicated than I meant for it to be,” he says after a moment, and I blink, squeezing the phone. I hadn’t expected this kind of conversation, and I wonder if the barrier of the phone between us, the distance, is helping to pry this honesty out of him. “I’m sorry about what happened before I left. I?—”
“I had fun,” I blurt out, my throat tightening. “At the pub. Dancing. I’m glad you took me.”
“That’s not what I’m sorry for.” His voice deepens, and I feel that familiar shiver run down my spine.
“I—” I swallow hard. “It’s okay. I know we, I know this isn’t?—”
The weight of the secret I’m carrying presses down on me, and I suddenly, desperately want to end this conversation. “I need to go,” I manage. “Colin is waiting on me to get me back home.”
Ronan pauses. “Of course,” he says, and his voice sounds more neutral again. It makes me wish I hadn’t put a stop to the conversation, as if I’m the one who rejected him this time.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I say quickly. “I hope everything is okay there.”
“It’s as good as it can be,” he says after a moment’s pause. “I’ll see you soon, Leila.”
The phone clicks off, and I’m left with my head spinning. I slide into the car and drop my head back against the seat, trying to think of what to do—how I’m going to tell Ronan about this. How he’s going to react, what I want or don’t want… it’s all a tangled mess in my head, and I’m so lost in my thoughts that it takes me a moment to notice that Colin is checking the mirrors repeatedly, the other guard in the front seat unusually tense.
“Is everything okay?” I sit up, and Colin glances back at me.
“We’re fine,” he says, his voice clipped.
“That sounds like we’renotfine.” I swallow hard, twisting around. There’s a black sedan following us. Colin takes a left turn, and it does, too. “Is that car following us?”
“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Mrs. O’Malley.”
That means it is. I bite my lip, watching as we take another turn, and then another, the black sedan still on our tail. Colin takes another right, pulling into a parking lot, and my stomach clenches as I wonder if there’s about to be a confrontation. I see the guard in the passenger’s seat twitch his hand toward his jacket, and I know there must be a gun there.
The black sedan keeps going, breezing past the parking lot. I let out a breath, but I don’t really feel that much better. Someone was following us. Someone wanted to know where I was, what I was doing.
My instincts tell me to call Ronan. I’m sure his security will fill him in, but the moment we’re back at the manor, I run upstairs to the bedroom, still feeling shaky as I find his name.
It’s in that moment that I realize how much I trust him. If something bad happens, I know he’ll take care of it.
I know he’ll take care ofme.
“Ronan.” I blurt out his name the moment he answers.
"Leila? What's wrong?" He sounds as if he can hear the fear in my voice, his answer quick. “Did something happen?”
"I think someone followed me today. Colin said it's probably nothing, but?—"
"What do you mean, followed you?" His voice is sharp now, all business. "From your doctor’s appointment?”
“There was a black sedan behind us. It seemed like it was following us; it took the same turns, and then Colin pulled into a parking lot, and they kept going.”
"I'm coming home. Tonight. I'll have additional security sent to the house within the hour." His voice is clipped and urgent, and I feel guilty for dragging him back in the same moment thatsomething in me thrills to the idea that he’s so quick to come to my rescue.
"You don't have to?—"
"Yes, I do." His voice is fierce, protective in a way that makes my chest tight. "If someone's watching you, I need to make sure you’re safe. Colin will probably notify me shortly about what happened—did you just get home?”
“Yes. I don’t think he’s had time to call you yet.” I bite my lip, not wanting Colin to get in trouble. Ronan sounds like he’s about to murder anyone who might stand in the way of keeping me safe, or just isn’t doing a good enough job. "Ronan, I'm probably just being paranoid."
"Maybe. But I won't take chances with your safety,” he says firmly. “I’ll be there tonight. I’m calling Colin now. Stay inside until I get back, Leila. Please.”
He hangs up, and I sit there for a moment, my pulse racing. I press my hand to my still-flat stomach, the realization of what this means hitting me all at once.
