Page 43 of Rough Patch

“I can protect myself.”

“Yeah. I have no doubt, but this is not just about you or me. It’s about London. Are you really going to let your pride risk her life?”

Low blow, but she nodded. Better to give in now and try to figure out a way to stay later. “All right.” But nothing about it felt good, nothing about picking up her shit and running away made her happy. “I’ll go.” She even managed a smile when Grier leaned in to press his lips against her forehead. “Are you coming with us?”

They could call it a vacation.

“No. I can’t. You know I can’t.” He spoke softly but the message came through loud and clear. Her leaving was one thing, but she knew he would never leave as long as Tyler Sedotal was out there making his threats and causing havoc for the club.

As they continued to talk, any tenderness faded from Grier’s eyes only to be replaced by a ferocity that broadened his shoulders, made him taller and more dangerous than Fiona could remember. “I could ask Kye.” He didn’t see Fiona’s rolled eyes because he hadn’t looked at her in a while.

“Really? I threatened him, might have even killed him had I not gone into labor. That almost killed me.” She hadn’t used that card yet, but if refreshing his memory of how she’d almost died to have his baby made him reconsider sending her to some godforsaken island with a man she didn’t trust and a woman who’d almost cost the club everything, then by God, it was her card to play. “Do you really think he’s the best choice for bodyguard?”

“I do.” Grier nodded. “I can’t be there. And I need Sage and Ham here.” He finally turned to her. “Fiona, I love you and I would never do anything I thought would put you in danger. Ever. Kye will protect you because he’s… my family, and you and London are my family. And that means something to him.”

And if Kye failed, Fiona would protect her baby. It didn’t matter where she was. “Okay.”

He smiled. “You can work on your tan.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Redheads don’t tan. We freckle.” And now she’d have to buy big hats, but for Grier, she would. At least if she couldn’t convince him to at least send her somewhere else.

* * *

Grier cuddled Fiona closer. She hadn’t mentioned leaving since they’d talked with Sage, but with Fiona, silence was never really silence. More a calm before the storm. And judging by how long she’d kept quiet, this was probably going to be a funnel cloud of anger.

But if it had to be, to keep her safe, he’d weather it.

After another hour of lying silently in the dark, she squirmed out of his arms and turned to flip on the bedside lamp. “I’ve been shooting guns since I was old enough to hold one. I could probably protect myself and London. And you would be here. We would be together.”

Though she spoke rationally, anyone who knew her knew she could turn on a dime.

And Grier sure as hell wasn’t dumb enough to argue that particular point. Fiona could probably shoot straighter than he did. “I know, but if something happened to you or the baby…” His throat closed and words failed him. He shook his head hoping she understood how hard this was for him.

“We could have Ham stay with us.”

Not that he hadn’t considered it. Hamilton was a lot of man, but even someone his size couldn’t stand up against a shotgun shell or an AK. And Fiona knew it. “I need to know that you’re safe so I can get this fucker and put an end to all of this.” They wouldn’t be safe until Sedotal was out of their lives.

She narrowed her eyes. “So since you and Sage are deciding everything now, did you decide when I’m leaving?”

And here it was—the first of the storm clouds. “As soon as we can get a plane lined up with a flight plan.”

“So I should just pack and sit and wait for you to give me my orders?” She turned away. “Great.”

“There’s nothing I can do that makes more sense than this.” He didn’t want his wife and baby so far away, where he couldn’t wake up in the morning and kiss Fiona or breathe in the sweet smell of London’s hair. No. He wanted them with him, every minute of every day, but he couldn’t be two places at one time. It simply wasn’t possible and there was no one in the world he trusted more than Kye to keep his family safe. “I know you’re mad at me. And I hate it, but I love you so much, and I can’t risk losing you because I left you unprotected.”

Loving her the way he did actually caused a physical ache in his guts when he thought of losing her. And if telling her made him less of a man, then so be it.

He wanted to hold her, to absorb her, not fight. Not argue. Especially over this. Or anything else that happened in the last few days. It was all too much and this was the thing he needed to worry about right now. Everything else would wait.

She huffed out a breath then spun around to flip off her light. Then she yanked the blanket to her side of the bed and formed a tight cocoon around herself. And damned if he would let her go to sleep mad at him on what was probably going to be their last night together for a while.

He scooted to her side and pulled the blanket down to kiss her shoulder. She didn’t jerk backward and bust him in the mouth, so he took it as a good sign and moved his mouth to her throat while his hand snaked under the blanket.

When he got to her ear, he whispered, “I love you.” He ran his fingers across her belly then lower, to tease her thighs apart. “Let me touch you.”

She sighed soft and low. Not frustrated. Willing.

He closed his eyes to savor the moment she turned to face him. Her lips feathered over his jaw as she wrapped an arm around his neck. “I love you, Grier.”