Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 92(@200wpm)___ 73(@250wpm)___ 61(@300wpm)
And I knew that he needed to hold me. Touching me was the only thing preventing him from turning around and beating the crap out of the guy who’d dared to grab me.
I relaxed in his hold, resting my cheek on his shoulder with a relieved sigh. The last of the tension finally left my body, and I put my full trust in him to carry me away from the awful incident.
We walked back to the hotel, Joseph murmuring soothing words while Marco remained stiffly silent. He couldn’t seem to unclench his granite jaw yet. I brushed my fingers along it, and he relaxed a fraction beneath my tender touch.
He didn’t say anything until we were back in our opulent suite, Joseph locking the door behind us.
“Why were you alone in the bar?” he demanded in a gravelly rumble.
I squirmed in his iron arms, sensing that I was close to earning a punishment for my carelessness. “I was about to text you to pick me up,” I protested. “I wasn’t going to walk back on my own.”
“You should’ve stayed with Jayme and Kelsey until we got there,” Joseph admonished, the stern note to his tone making me shiver.
My men were seriously displeased. They couldn’t handle it when I was unsafe. I loved their protectiveness, but something occurred to me, unease nipping at my mind.
“Wait. I hadn’t gotten a chance to text you yet when you saved me from that creep. How did you know? Were you watching me with my friends?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
I was grateful for the rescue, but we were going to have to lay down some boundaries.
“Yes,” Marco said, completely unrepentant.
“You can’t do that,” I countered, my own voice uncharacteristically stern. “You have to give me time with my girlfriends. They wouldn’t like being watched.”
“They don’t have to know,” Joseph said firmly. “Do you really think we’re going to let you travel around Europe by yourself?”
I gasped. “You’re planning on watching me the whole time I’m travelling with Jayme next month? It’s a girls’ trip. I promised her that we would spend time together, just the two of us. She’s my best friend. I love you both more than anything, but you can’t be with me all the time.”
Marco’s dark brows drew low over his eyes in a forbidding expression that made me quiver inside. “And what would’ve happened if we hadn’t been watching you tonight?”
I sighed, recognizing that my error had only reinforced their determination to shadow me everywhere I went. I looked from him to Joseph, ensuring they both read the sincerity in my eyes.
“I promise I won’t go anywhere without Jayme again,” I swore. “I made a mistake. I won’t repeat it.” A delicate shudder rolled through my body at the memory of the man’s groping hands on me. Marco tensed.
“How about this?” I said quickly, trying to avoid an argument with compromise. “You can travel to the same cities as Jayme and me, but you won’t watch our every move. You’ll just be a few minutes away if I need to call you for anything. I promise I’ll be more careful, though.”
My men were silent for a long, stony moment. Finally, Joseph said, “I don’t want you to end up resenting us. I get that you need time with your friends. We just worry, angel. After everything…”
He trailed off, and I reached for him. I wasn’t the only one who’d suffered trauma. I knew they had their own nightmares that haunted them.
He stepped toward Marco and me, and I was instantly surrounded by their strength and warmth. I released a shuddering breath, soothed by their nearness. I touched Joseph’s cheek, linking him to Marco and me with a tender touch.
“I understand,” I said softly. “I don’t like being away from you either.”
He leaned into my hand, and I threaded my fingers through his dark curls in a gentle caress.
“Okay,” he rumbled. “We’ll give you some space while you’re with your friends.”
Marco growled, but Joseph speared him with a steady stare, aquamarine eyes glinting.
“Fine,” Marco bit out. “But I don’t like it.”
“I know,” I reassured him, pressing a kiss to his tight jaw. “Thank you.”
He leaned into me, relaxing a fraction when he touched his forehead to mine. “We’re still going to have a talk about your recklessness tonight, princess,” he warned.
“I really was about to text you,” I said, but it wasn’t a protest. He needed to know that I would obey his order to stick with Jayme, and after the scary moment with the handsy guy at the bar, I needed my Daddy to hold me.
“I believe you, babygirl.” He brushed a kiss over my cheek. “But it’s my job to protect you.”
“I think your Daddy’s going to spank you, angel,” Joseph whispered in my ear, the heat of his subtle threat fanning over my neck.