“I didn’t drag your sorry ass. I carried you. There’s a difference.” A half-smile lifted War’s lips, only to vanish in a blink. “He could be close. Make sure you don’t lower your guard.”
Odin’s stare shifted to her. “And you’ll have her?”
“Yes. I will have her.” When War’s gaze turned to Rose, it was hot. Determined. Possessive. “Count on it.”
***
“You don’t have me,” Rose announced as they made their way to War’s waiting vehicle. The waves slammed into the shore. “That was some weird alpha BS that just will not play with me—”
He angled toward her. “I meant that I was seeing to your protection. You won’t be hurt while I’m here.”
“Then…you could have just said that.”
It was what he’d said. “Odin understood.” Though War most certainly would like to have her, too. That was on the agenda. Having her in any and every way imaginable.
Without another word, she climbed into his vehicle. He slid in after her. Started the car. Had them on the road in moments. She rattled off directions, and he nodded because he knew the area she was talking about.
“I’m sorry…for the scene with Odin.” The words felt rusty. He wasn’t used to apologizing. “He was trying to look after me. Odin thinks he owes me.”
“I got that part.” He could feel her gaze on him. “Did you really carry him two miles?”
“No.”
“Oh, he seemed—”
“It was six, but I would have carried him sixty if it meant I could get him help. Odin and I go back a long way.”
“You…never mentioned him to me before.”
He turned right. Glanced in the rear-view mirror. Dawn hadn’t come yet, and no headlights showed in the darkness behind him. War wanted to make sure they weren’t being tailed. He was not in the mood for surprises. “Before, whenever I was with you, I was ripping off your clothes. Making you scream with pleasure. Driving us both crazy. There weren’t always lots of moments for talking.”
“You wouldn’t let me get close.”
Now he laughed. “Baby, you were plenty—”
“Physically close is one thing. I always felt like you were blocking me off from anything else.”
Trust wasn’t easy for him. Never had been. And someone had used that against them both. You will pay. “I never knew my mom. She skipped out after I was born. My dad stayed around a few more years before he vanished, too. Odin’s family…they are the ones who raised me.” Did she get what he was doing? He was trying to share with her. “I didn’t have the picket fence and the perfect home like you did. I liked hearing more about you and your life than telling you the mess that mine had been.” He risked a glance her way.
Her head was turned toward him.
“But then you started to pull away. At the end, you were keeping secrets, and I could tell. That last night, you didn’t show for our date…you didn’t call for hours. I just had that fucking photograph to drive me crazy.” To make me wild with jealousy because you were mine. “I didn’t know…what was happening. You didn’t let me in.” If I’d known you were in danger, nothing would have pulled me away. Nothing. He cleared his throat. “How about for the rest of our time together, you don’t hold info back from me. You tell me exactly what is happening. If you don’t…” Because he was worried she still had secrets. Secrets that might get her killed. “I will break our deal and hand you over to the cops,” he finished grimly.
“What? No, War, you promised—”
“Don’t hold out on me, and we won’t have a problem.” Simple enough.
“I am not holding back.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Good.” He wanted to believe her, he really did but…
When he risked another glance at her, she’d turned away. Whenever Rose lied, she always turned away.
Chapter Six
“You sure this is the spot?” War eyed the dark house before him. “It looks like no one has been here in months.”
“Appearances are deceiving. Billy lives here. He likes to stay off the radar, and he’s not exactly big on landscape work. So the yard is overgrown.” Overgrown was an exceedingly kind understatement. The grass was about two feet high, and the springing branches from the bushes covered the house’s front windows. Her previous check by the house had been fruitless. Rose was hoping Billy had returned home now. She wet her lips. “What’s the plan? Are we going to knock on the front door? Are we going to sneak in the back? Are we—”
“We’re going to grab the asshole who is running for the motorcycle right now.”
Wait—what? They were going to—
Before she could question him, War had jumped out of the car. She scrambled after him. She hadn’t even seen the motorcycle until that moment—it was camouflaged by the bushes, too. And, sure enough, there was a hooded figure hurrying toward the bike.
“Billy!” she called.
He whirled toward her, and he brought up a knife.
She froze.
War didn’t. He jumped in front of her. “Put the knife down, now.”
“Who the hell are you?” Billy’s voice shook. Billy was around twenty-two. Muscled, but nowhere near War’s size.
“I’m the man who is giving you three seconds to put down the knife before I lose my patience and I take it from you.” He took a step forward. “One.”
“Billy, it’s me! Drop the knife!” Rose urged him.
“Two.”
Gah! This was not the way to calm down a tense situation. “War, your counting is not helping!”
Billy’s hand was shaking, but he hadn’t dropped the knife. She couldn’t let this scene get worse. “He’s with me, Billy. He’s not a threat!”
“Looks like a threat,” Billy muttered.
Okay, fine, granted, War looked like a threat on most days, but—
“Three.” War ripped the knife from Billy’s hand. Like it was nothing. Then he threw the knife toward the bushes and slammed Billy back against the side of the house. “I don’t think I like you, Billy.”
She crowded closer to them. “Billy, why did you come at us with a knife?”
“Just saw him at first…not you. When some big bastard comes at me, I need to defend myself!”
War easily held him pinned. She didn’t point out that Billy didn’t appear to be doing a very good job of defending himself in that moment. Her gaze raked over him. “You don’t look injured,” she noted. That was a good thing, of course. She was glad he was okay, but unease still slithered through her. “I was worried something had happened to you when you didn’t make our meeting at Finch’s.”
“Yeah…about that…” He strained against War.
War shoved him back with what appeared to be no effort.
“Something came up, all right?” Billy snarled. “Couldn’t make it. No big deal.”
“It’s a very big deal,” War assured him. “So big that it makes me want to kick your ass.”