Page 77 of Shattered By the Currents

Her smile slipped.

Well, the next thing he said wouldn’t make her any happier. “I have to tell you something.”

Her brows flickered. “Okay.”

“Xander was in the parking lot last night.”

She shot up, tugging the blanket with her to cover her chest. “What?”

“He left when he saw me coming.” Connor sat up too, but slower. “Any idea how he knew you were here?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Rob found a tracking device on my car but he?—”

“Hewhat?”What the fuck?“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She squirmed a bit where she sat. “He removed it.”

“It was still important information.”

She remained silent.

He knew why she hadn’t told him. Because that would have brought up more questions about her ex. Questions she didn’t want to answer.

“I should have told you,” she finally conceded.

“I’m supposed to be meeting Joel for coffee and a run, but I’ll cancel and go to work with you today.”

She was shaking her head before he finished speaking. “No. Keep your plans. There are no sessions at the center, so I can just work from your house.”

That made him feel slightly better. He cupped her cheek. “I care you about you, Raven. I want you safe.”

“I care about you too.” She leaned into his palm. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“At the last town meeting, Lottie said something. It was probably just her trying to get under my skin, and I shouldn’t care, but…”

“What?”

“She said she heard the guys talking about how you have a savior complex. That you tried to save an ex but couldn’t, and now I’m your new…project.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He was sure the guys hadn’t said those exact words, but they may have been talking about his ex. They did it because they cared about him. They were worried. And yeah, the conclusion of his last relationship had hurt him.

“I know you already told me a bit about Margaret?—”

“You’re not a…project.” He sucked in a sharp breath before sharing the next bit. “After the first year of dating, I found out her father was in prison for selling illegal weapons on the black market.”

“Wow.”

“She told me she was never involved. I believed her. I even believed her when she told me she’d cut off her family entirely because she suspected they were still running the business. I protected her from them when they showed up unannounced a couple of times. Even pulling a gun on her brother and demanding he leave.”

“What happened?”

Just thinking about it made a band tighten around his chest. “Turned out, she didn’t need protecting. She’d been involved in the family business for the last two years of our relationship, and in the last year, she took over.”

Raven gasped. But as well as shock, there was something else in her eyes. Something he couldn’t quite place. Maybe fear? But that didn’t make sense. Why would this story make her scared?

“She was arrested and I was investigated,” he continued. “I almost lost my position on the team. But more than that…I was lied to. I knew she had secrets, but I was blinded by how I felt for her and my need to protect her, and it stopped me from noticing signs. Signs I’m trained to see.”