Chapter Eight #2
Kayne kept his voice calm and controlled, the exact opposite of the fury boiling in his veins. “We’re almost home. Hang on a little longer, all right?”
She swallowed. “Kayne, what if they’re still out there?”
“They won’t get close again,” he promised. “Not while I’m here.”
She didn’t say she believed him. She didn’t have to. Her hand stayed in his. Maybe he shouldn’t have let that happen, but he didn’t let go.
Kayne drove the rest of the way as if he were shepherding royalty through a war zone.
Eyes everywhere, muscles coiled, adrenaline spiking every time a car drifted even slightly into their lane.
He might’ve terrified a little old white-haired woman with his aggressive horn.
He offered a sheepish wave she definitely couldn’t see through the tinted windows. Not his finest moment.
Chloe stayed quiet, but her hand stayed in his.
When he finally turned down her block, the relief in the passenger seat was palpable. And short-lived.
A dark car sat parked too close to her building, engine running, exhaust drifting like lazy fog.
Chloe stiffened. “Is that the car?”
“No.” He narrowed his eyes. Wrong model. Wrong damage. “Not the same vehicle.”
But his instincts didn’t settle. Not entirely.
“Wait—how did you know where I live?”
“Leo.”
She muttered something about overprotective brothers as he guided the SUV into a spot in front of her place and killed the engine. For a second, neither of them moved. The silence outside felt tight as a tripwire.
Chloe broke it first. “Thank you for . . . whatever that was. NASCAR stunt driving? Jedi reflexes? I don’t know.”
He glanced at her. Couldn’t help it. “Just keepin’ you alive, cher.”
Her lips parted slightly. “You make it sound so easy.”
“Darlin’, if it were easy, you wouldn’t need me.”
Her laugh was small, breathy, and entirely too effective.
He unbuckled, stepped out, and got to her door before she could even move.
She climbed out carefully and he suspected her legs weren’t entirely trustworthy yet.
He hovered close enough to catch her, but far enough not to spook her.
Chloe looked up at him as if he was the only steady thing in a collapsing world.
“Kayne?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad you were there.”
Oh, hell. That tone. He felt that in his bones.
Her breath puffed white in the cold, her eyes bright despite the ordeal. The urge to pull her in, shelter her, warm her, kiss her senseless, hit so fast he had to actually clench his fists.
“Me too, cher,” he murmured. More than she knew.
He walked her inside, a barrier between her and the world, already aware of one absolute truth: he wasn’t leaving her apartment that night.
Not a damn chance.
#
Kayne’s enormous body was a comforting buffer against all evil as he ushered her inside.
Chloe’s hand still tingled from holding his big, strong one on the drive home.
She knew she should’ve let go, but her body had decided to unionize and override management.
She almost shuddered thinking about the feel of his warm, calloused palm, but willed herself not to.
The man had instincts like a bloodhound with a PhD; he’d know what the tremor meant. Attraction.
Though unwelcome, it was a better emotion than the terror she’d experienced lately.
And the helplessness. Kayne had kept throwing her those worried, sideways glances, his thumb drumming against the steering wheel, probably to keep himself from pulling her into his lap and bubble-wrapping her himself.
To distract herself from remembering that someone had tried to merge their sedan with the side of his SUV, she said, “I haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping this week. I hope you enjoy Greek yogurt and frozen berries.”
“As tempting as that sounds,” he drawled, “how about we order a pizza?”
She didn’t usually indulge, but cheese and pepperoni and grease sounded like medicine right now.
Kayne scanned the parking lot with a focus that made her pulse trip over itself.
“Stay behind me, Chloe,” he ordered in a voice that had no business being that sexy when she was in fight-or-flight mode.
Chloe bristled. “I’m not helpless.”
“Never said you were.” He stepped in front of her anyway. “I’m still not letting you be the first through a door someone might be hiding behind.”
Well, when he put it like that.
She followed him up the stairwell, fists balled at her sides, adrenaline fizzing through her veins as if she’d mainlined espresso.
Her hands were still trembling when Kayne eased her apartment door shut behind them. She willed away the jittery hive under her skin. She also disliked, just a little, the way Kayne watched her as he would a fragile vase one carelessly placed move from shattering. She was strong, damn it.
“I’m fine,” she announced to the room, which was technically true except for the parts of her that were still remembering headlights bearing down on her. Twice.
Kayne didn’t buy it. Shocker. “Sit down, Chloe.”
“I don’t need to sit.”
“Then humor me.” He tapped the back of her sofa. He fully expected compliance and was no doubt prepared to pick her up if he didn’t get it.
She huffed, but she sat. Because she wanted to. Not because a six-foot-five Cajun demigod told her to. Obviously.
Kayne crouched in front of her, forearms braced on his quadriceps. Up close, she could see the darker ring of green around his irises, and great, now her heart was doing gymnastics.
“Talk to me.”
She swallowed. “It all happened so fast. Both times. I’d finally recovered from the first attempt when he came at us again.”
“It’s okay to be scared. You held up.” His voice softened. “I’m proud of you.”
Proud of her.
He’d practically wrapped two warm hands around her heart and given it a reassuring but emotionally inconvenient hug.
Chloe forced a smile. “Thanks. I still feel like a vibrating phone on a glass table.”
Kayne chuckled. “Pretty accurate description.”
A knock sounded on her door.
Kayne’s head snapped toward it so fast she was surprised his neck didn’t crack. “Expecting company?”
She shook her head. Leo would’ve texted. She checked her phone. No Leo, but several from Danica.
Chloe peeked out the window and then wished she hadn’t.
Danica breezed inside in a cloud of perfume.
“Oh, my God, finally. I’ve been texting for an hour.
One of the construction workers saw you almost get run over, then your car was in the lot but you weren’t, and honestly, if I have to drag information out of this family like a dentist doing medieval tooth extractions—”
Her rant screeched to a halt when she spotted Kayne behind Chloe.
“Kayne, I didn’t know you would be here.”
Kayne straightened to his full height, the picture of a polite Southern menace. “Evenin’.”
Danica practically melted into the floorboards.
“You know, it’s been bothering me since we met, how familiar you look. You remind me of a romance-novel cover. Of course she’d hide you.”
Heat crept up Chloe’s neck. “Danica, stop.”
“I’m just saying,” Danica continued, hands flying, “he could pass as a bodyguard, but like, the sexy kind who ends up shirtless by chapter three.”
Kayne’s lips twitched. Possibly amusement. Probably an urgent desire to evacuate the building.
Chloe folded her arms. “Why are you here?”
“To check on you! I thought you might be dead. But clearly you’re alive. And clearly you’ve upgraded your dating pool.”
Kayne shifted slightly in front of Chloe. “We’re fine. Just rattled.”
Danica’s eyes narrowed shrewdly. “So it was bad.” She pivoted back to Chloe. “Are you okay? Really?”
Chloe felt her throat soften. “I’m fine. It was just scary.”
“And he saved you, didn’t he?” Danica tipped her chin at Kayne.
“Look at him. He screams, ‘I save distressed women for breakfast.’ He’s basically a human shield with cheekbones.
” She leaned around him. “So how serious is this? Should I be picking out bridesmaid dresses? Do you need me to vet him? I’m amazing at spotting discrepancies. ”
“Danica,” Chloe groaned.
“What? I’m being supportive of my sister.”
“You’re being . . . you.”
Danica beamed. “Exactly.”
Kayne’s eyes glittered with amusement as he glanced between them. “She’s somethin’, cher.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Chloe muttered.
“Oh, please do,” Danica twittered cheerfully. “I really like him.”
Chloe’s pulse jumped because Kayne’s gaze slid to her. He seemed to enjoy hearing that more than he should have.
Danica clapped once. “Fantastic. Now. Who wants a drink? This screams a wine situation.”
Kayne lifted a brow at Chloe, silent question clear: Is this normal?
She sighed. “Unfortunately, yes.”
Danica sauntered into the kitchen. “And you love me.”
“I tolerate you,” Chloe corrected, which made Danica cackle as she rummaged for glasses.
Kayne leaned down, voice low enough to weave beneath her defenses. “She’s trouble.”
“She’s family.”
“Mm.” His mouth tilted. “Same thing sometimes.”
And despite the adrenaline still humming through her, Chloe felt her shoulders loosen.
Kayne was here. Danica was being Danica. And for one fragile, improbable second, the world felt almost normal.
#
Danica stayed to eat pizza and drink too much wine. Kayne was about to confiscate her keys when she finally called a rideshare.
The apartment went quiet when Danica flounced out with a breezy, “Text meeee,” and a wink that promised trouble later.
Kayne watched the door click shut, waited a moment to make sure she wasn’t boomeranging back, then exhaled. “Lord help whoever marries that one.”
Chloe snorted, tired but amused. “She’ll either improve someone’s life or ruin it. It’s a coin flip.”
He turned to her fully now, letting his tone shift, letting the protective edge slip through. “Chloe, we need to talk.”
Her spine straightened with a subtle shift of someone bracing for impact. He hated how familiar that reflex already felt.
He tipped his head toward the hallway. “C’mon.”