Page 28 of Ruthless Protector

I heard the sound of boots pounding up the front steps before someone thumped on the door. Somehow, I knew who it was instantly. I didn’t like the way my heart gave a little flip when it opened and Jude came barreling in, or the way my breath caught in my throat. I also wasn’t happy about the instant relief I felt at seeing him, of having him here.

I took him in, unable to help myself. He looked wild-eyed, like he was ready to fuck someone up. I hadn’t seen him since my first night at Stilettos a few days ago. His head swung to us and I watched as he sucked in a breath, his wide shoulders looking even bigger, before he let it out on a rough exhale.

His brown eyes were sharp, focused, when they locked with mine. “You okay?”

For some reason, the look on his face, the tone of his voice, God, the genuine concern he had for us, had my eyes and nose stinging.

Pull your shit together, Willa. “We’re fine,” I said, not able to hold his stare any longer. Things between us had been rocky from the start. Then there was the kiss, and what I’d accused him of…

I inwardly winced. I didn’t need to be thinking about that now. I’d done enough of that, going over and over what happened backstage, already. But despite our differences, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to think that maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy. Maybe his actions, his kindness, were actually genuine. The idea was so foreign, I didn’t know what to do with it.

Just the thought of letting down my guard, of putting trust in someone, lifted the hairs on the back of my neck, like a cornered wild animal lifting its hackles. The automatic urge to push back, to tell him we didn’t want or need him here, was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. He didn’t deserve that. The man had come to our house in the middle of the night to make sure we were okay. He’d made the house safer.

And he’d asked for nothing in return.

So, for once, I kept my big mouth shut.

His gaze dropped to my niece, and God, it melted. He came closer, crouching low, getting down to her level. “You okay, honey?” he said, voice rough but incredibly gentle.

Tilly nodded, then her bottom lip started trembling. “I was so scared,” she whispered.

“I know, baby,” he said. “But you’re okay now. Your aunt took good care of you.”

Tilly didn’t like men that much, but she’d always been fine around Jude, since the first time he met her, when he crouched down like he was now, and introduced himself.

She wriggled from my lap, and to my utter shock, jumped into his arms, wrapping hers around his neck and holding on tight. “Will you stay here, Jude?” she sobbed. “Please stay here with us. I’m scared.”

I sat there, stunned, and feeling so damn helpless. I’d let her down. She was scared out of her mind. And I didn’t know how to make it right, how to make her feel safe.

Jude had wrapped her in his massive arms, one of his giant hands on her back, while he rocked from side to side. “No one’s gonna hurt you, Tilly, I promise you that.”

His intense stare slid to mine and I swallowed at the look in his eyes. He had questions and he wanted answers.

I didn’t know if tonight was random, or if Trent was playing games—but the sudden urge to spill my guts, to tell him everything, to unburden my mess onto those broad shoulders was so, so tempting. But I had no proof it was Trent, and if it wasn’t, and I went after him, he’d come after me even harder.

And despite how nice Jude seemed, eventually people let you down; they left, betrayed you, they fucked you over. I couldn’t let myself rely on this man. I needed to do this for myself.

I couldn’t let myself need him, or anyone.

I watched Jude comfort my niece and doused the warm fuzzies in the middle of my chest with ice. Because I’d learned early, if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was.

I stood abruptly and reached for Tilly. “Come on, Tils, you need to go back to bed.”

She came back to me, but shook her head. “I don’t want to sleep in my room. What if they come back, what if they get inside?”

I didn’t know who’d done this, but I’d never wanted to strangle anyone more in my life. “You can sleep with me.”

Tilly took another shuddering breath. “I want Jude to stay.”

I rubbed her back. “Baby, Jude has his own place, he can’t stay here. We’re safe, I promise.” God, I wished that were true. I wished I knew for sure that the threat was over. I planned on calling Trent first thing to arrange a time to hand over what money I’d managed to put aside so far. If it had been him, I didn’t want to give him a reason to come back.

“I’ll take the couch,” Jude said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“What?”

“I’m on the couch tonight,” he repeated.

“You don’t need to do that,” I said, gaze boring into him, doing my damnedest to silently express how much I didn’t like the idea.