Chapter 10
Ego
I’m still a little pissed at the fact I got caught not paying attention on the job.
What can I say?
Something about watching my Angel walking with that little boy, holding his tiny hand in hers like it was the most natural thing in the world, did something to me.
I never considered myself a family man.
Hell, I always figured I’d go out in a blaze of glory with nothing but regrets and gunpowder residue.
But suddenly, I want that.
Her.
Holding a little boy’s hand.
Our little boy.
Fuck. Me. Sideways.
It’s not like I hate kids or anything—I just always assumed I wasn’t cut out for that kind of life. I’m a rough and tumble kind of guy. My hands are more used to breaking bones than building Lego castles.
But now?
It’s all I can think about.
I want to put a ring on her finger, tie her to me in every damn way possible. I want to fill her up with my seed, get her round with my baby.
See her body change because of me.
Because of what we made together.
And Jesus fuck, now I’m hard as a rock pulling the SUV into the underground lot at Volkov Towers.
“Wow, this place is incredible,” she murmurs, eyes wide, mouth parted like she just stepped into another world.
I nod, because yeah, it is.
Top of the line everything.
Best security. State-of-the-art architecture.
Even the air down here smells like money and exclusivity.
But me? I’m used to it. What I’m not used to is this sudden burst of pride in showing her where I work.
What I do.
What I can offer.
And I sure as shit don’t want any of the other assholes upstairs laying eyes on her. Maybe Kane—he’s got his own woman now, and he’s solid. But the rest?
They can fuck right off.
Because I’m not sharing.
Not even her smile.
That’s mine now.
I've never felt this way about a woman before. Instead of running from it, I’m heading straight into the fire.
All in.
Because this curvy little teacher from Verona?
She doesn’t just make me hard.
She makes me yearn.
She makes me think about forever in a way I never thought possible.
She doesn’t know that, though.
Hell, for all I know, she’s chalked this morning up to a blip.
A one-time oopsie between bodyguard and client.
Or worse, she thinks I’m just sticking around to scratch an itch.
And she’s not wrong.
I plan to scratch more than itch.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to fuck her.
Because I do. So bad I can taste it.
But it’s not about me.
I want to make her come again. And again.
I want to feel her pussy flutter around me while she screams my name.
I want to take my time, learn every moan, every sigh, every place she melts under my hands.
But not now.
And not with my present rock hard situation threatening to announce itself in front of my coworkers.
So I push those thoughts away and shift back into protection mode.
We walk straight to Kane’s office, and I ignore the curious stares from the rest of the team.
Why the hell everyone’s hanging around the bullpen right now, I don’t know.
But I clock every pair of curious eyes that lands on her.
I’ll pay them back for that later. Assholes.
As for my Angel? Well, Sabrina doesn’t notice them at all, which placates me some.
She’s wide-eyed, taking it all in, and I swear she steps closer to me without even realizing it.
Her arm brushes mine, and my brain short-circuits.
Yeah. That’s right, sweetheart. Get closer. I’ll always keep you safe.
My hand hovers near the small of her back.
Kane nods at us from his office doorway.
“Come on in.”
I hold the chair for her—because yes, I’ve still got some goddamn manners—and she sits.
Still wide-eyed. Still perfect.
“Miss Rosetto, I’m Noel Kane. Ego’s supervisor,” Kane says, then levels me with a look. “Now, what has he told you about the people stalking you?”
Oh. Fuck. Me.
Shit.
The second those words come out of Kane’s mouth—“what has he told you about the people stalking you”—I feel her body go still beside me.
Like a statue.
Not fear.
Not confusion.
No, this is worse.
It’s betrayal.
Her head turns slow. Deliberate. Her eyes meet mine, and it’s not the softness I’m used to seeing in her gaze.
No heat. No flirt. No play.
Just cold, quiet fury.
And fuck me twice because now I want to go back in time and punch myself in the face.
“You know who’s doing this?” she asks.
“Sabrina,” I start, my voice low, soothing.
I reach for her hand, but she pulls it back, folding both neatly in her lap.
“Sorry, Mr. Kane, is it?” she says, turning to him with a clipped, professional tone. “But I have no idea who’s behind this. And he hasn’t told me anything yet.”
“So you know nothing about your brother’s involvement?” Kane asks, eyes flicking to me. “Ego?”
“Sir,” I say, straightening. “I was going to tell her about the possibility of Marco’s involvement once we substantiated the theory. Then everything happened so quickly at the theater, and I just didn’t have the opportunity to make sense of it.”
Then to her, I add, “I didn’t want to worry you for no reason.”
“Really?” she shoots back, her eyes narrowing. “You didn’t think I’d want to know that I’m not crazy? That Marco might actually be in danger? He’s a jerk, sure—but he’s still my brother. Now, what exactly is he involved with, and who the heck is after me?”
Goddamn, I love her fire.
Even when it's aimed at me.
Kane clears his throat.
“Okay, um, well—it seems Marco is involved in a data theft operation. The people he stole from want their access keys back. We haven’t been able to locate him yet, but we’re trying to reach the people involved. Unfortunately, they seem to think you have those keys.”
“Me?” Her voice rises in disbelief. “I’m a kindergarten teacher. I don’t even know what a data access key—or whatever the heck you just said—is! And what I’d really like to know is why I had to come all the way here to hear this?”
Angry eyes snap to mine, and it hits me like a punch to the gut.
Fuck. I fucked up.
Royally.
Kane, to his credit, raises one brow at me, then leans forward, hands clasped on his desk.
“We’re aware of chatter that’s been circulating concerning a revived operation linked to an old trafficking network.
You were flagged after your brother’s name popped up in a digital sweep, likely due to his connection with a former case that was involved in a broader investigation under our cybersecurity division. ”
I tense. “Marco’s done this before?”
Kane nods.
“He was the missing connection. That case was the breadcrumb that connected Miss Rosetto to all of this. See. Marco’s pattern is that he uses those close to him, and unfortunately, that’s you.”
“He intentionally put her in danger?” I growl.
“Oh, Marco,” she murmurs, closing her eyes on a wave of pain I can see. And it makes me furious for her.
“I don’t know his intent, but he’s done this before. With your father, I’m sorry to say. Before your parents’ tragic deaths, he’d cloned Mr. Rosetto’s phone and used it to carry the stolen data from overseas stateside.”
“Our parents died a few years ago,” she whispers.
“Is that when you last saw him? At the funeral?”
“Yes.”
“He likely cloned your phone at that time and he’s just been holding on to it until now. The people he stole from aren’t the kind to play. When they discovered the theft, they traced it to you.”
“Jesus,” Sabrina breathes out, eyes wide. “I thought, I thought it was maybe a random person. At worse I suspected a stalker or something. Maybe some disgruntled ex-employee or a parent or relative I met at school.”
“What? Like who?” I ask because now I’m fucking curious.
I need to know who I’ve got to kill for even making my Angel suspect them.
She ignores me. And I let it go for now. But it’s not easy.
“So, you’re telling me I was probably being tracked for months, and I didn’t know?”
She turns her wide eyes on me. “You knew about this?”
My jaw flexes.
“Angel, I was going to tell you—”
“When?” she snaps, finally turning to me fully.
Her voice is low, shaking, but her eyes are lit with fire.
“After dinner? Before or after round two?”
I wince, and not just because we’re in my boss’ office.
Cause she’s not wrong.
I was so busy thinking about the curve of her smile, the way she moaned my name, the image of her holding a kid’s hand like she was born to be someone’s mother, that yeah, I got distracted.
Worse than that—I prioritized what I wanted over what she needed.
“I didn’t want to scare you,” I say quietly. “I wanted to be sure.”
“Sure of what?” she hisses. “That I could handle it? That I wouldn’t fall apart? Or maybe you were just waiting until I got kidnapped, or shot, or worse?”
That stings.
I lean forward, elbows on my knees, trying not to say the wrong thing and fuck this up further.
“Fuck no. That’s not gonna happen. And I’m not just protecting you because it’s a job, Sabrina. I’m doing it because I care.”
Kane clears his throat. “Maybe I’ll give you two the room.”
Neither of us responds, so he takes that as his cue and slips out, closing the door behind him.
Now it’s just us.
She stands, pacing the room.
Her arms wrap around her waist like she’s trying to keep herself together. I watch her and hate that I put that look on her face.
She doesn’t deserve fear.
Not from me.