Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers #9)(91)
Author: Christine Feehan

She looked Kane right in the eye when she said it. He persisted in thinking she was a fragile little flower that needed protection.

I know better, baby. It’s just that you’ve become my world. When a man’s had nothing, and he finds that one woman who owns his heart, it’s damned hard not to lock her away from any danger.

But you know better.

Logic doesn’t enter into this, he denied. “Go then, Rose. But Rhianna, you don’t leave her side. Not for one damned minute.”

Javier stirred, drawing attention, but he subsided when Rose shook her head. “That’s not fair, Kane, and you know it. Rhianna is not less than I am. We’ll all look out for each other.”

Rhianna burst out laughing. “We’re going to the market, Kane, not to a war zone. We’re highly trained professionals. They’re freakin’ drug dealers. Sheesh. Have you all lost your minds? Come on, Rose. Let’s get out of here.”

Gideon and Ethan rushed up the stairs toward the rooftops. Lucas left the room. Rose put Sebastian in Kane’s arms.

“You can do this, Kane. I’ll sometimes have to watch him while you go out without me. You have to be comfortable knowing the team will look after me, just as they look after you.”

“Damn it, Rose.”

She laughed. “You seem to be stuck on that little theme.”

He caught her chin and kissed her hard, kissed her until her heart was pounding and her knees were weak.

“Just come back to us,” he demanded. “And for your information, it’s bullshit for me to be relegated to babysitter when you’re putting yourself on the line.”

She raised an eyebrow. “For your information, it isn’t called babysitting when it’s your own child. Sebastian is far more at risk than I am.”

“I don’t think so, Rose, not anymore. I think Whitney believes I won his game by stopping him from taking both of you. But he wants you back.”

“If you really can’t stand this, Kane, then we’ll do it your way,” Rose capitulated.

Kane was far too distressed for her to try to prove a point. Sebastian would be safe with Paul. She trusted him. If it meant that much to Kane to guard her back, then she needed to concede to him this one thing. Over time, when nothing happened, he’d mellow out—she hoped.

“I really can’t stand it.” Kane jumped on that, knowing she expected him to reassure her that he would be fine staying at home. “I need to be out on the street watching over you.” No way in hell was that going to happen. She could think it all she liked, but if she walked out that door, he was going to be shadowing her every step of the way. If she really knew him, she would have known that.

Rose made a face at him and turned away without arguing, which, in his opinion, she should have done in the first place. It would have saved a hell of a lot of time. What kind of man did she think he was? He protected his own. She was his woman, and when she put her life at risk, he was going to be guarding her precious little ass whether she liked it or not.

Mack leaned close. “You have steam coming up out your ears.”

“Why the hell do they have to be so f**king unreasonable?” Kane demanded.

Mack shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong man, Kane. I haven’t figured out anything yet, and I doubt if I ever will. None of them make sense to me, but I have to give you kudos for trying to discuss it with her. There were a couple of times I thought you might explode, but you didn’t show it.”

Lucas, you in place? Javier’s voice filled their minds even as he walked beside them, trailing behind the three women at a more leisurely pace. “Personally,” he told them aloud, “I think the only answer is to lock them up. It’s a matter of sanity.”

“Then what was that bullshit about Rhianna?” Kane snapped. “It wasn’t helpful.”

“Hell. What difference did it make? It got the argument over, and everyone knew, with the exception of Rose, that she wasn’t getting out the door without you.” Javier shrugged. “It saved time. And it’s the truth, not bullshit. Rhianna can get the job done.”

Kane knew it was the stark truth. Rhianna had grown up on the street, a hard, brutal life, and she was a survivor. She grew up clawing and fighting her way through the worst kinds of criminals as a child. Her body was a killing machine and her mind cool and brilliant. Everyone underestimated her in the same way they did Javier. She looked a certain way, and they took her at face value. No one would ever think she could be lethal. It was generally the last thought they had before they died.

Kane kept Rose in his sight, strolling down the street after her. She paused, and he saw her face light up. She threw her head back and took a deep breath. Had he been keeping her prisoner? It probably felt that way to her. He hadn’t deliberately locked her away from the world. The sun was out, and her hair shone almost blue black under the blaze. He loved the way she moved, flowing silk over concrete.

Fan out a little. Mack’s voice brought him up short. He was getting lost in Rose’s wonder, in the way she absorbed the outdoors and her freedom. She actually threw her arms out once, as if to embrace the world around her.

I should have seen how much she needed this, he confided to Mack.

Laughter floated back to him, turning heads around them. His body tightened. The three women were attracting a lot of attention. His eyes narrowed and his stomach settled. He loved watching her have fun, but that wasn’t his job. Keeping her safe was all that mattered. His attention had to be on the crowd, on their surroundings, not on Rose, as much as he would have liked to see her experience the freedom of having fun with friends.

Rose nudged Jaimie. “When do you get to the point of not being hyperaware of the team surrounding us?”

“Honestly,” Jaimie said, “it’s usually only a couple of them in the crowd and one on the roof. They’ve been at this since we were kids. Mack and Kane never wanted us to walk through a park without an escort. We lived in a pretty rough neighborhood.”

Rhianna nodded. “It was nice back then to know someone cared enough to look out for us. Jaimie had a mother, but she worked all the time. We spent a great deal of time alone.”

“What is it like having a mother?” Rose asked. “I never had one.”

Rhianna shrugged. “Jaimie would have to answer that. I never had one either.” She shifted her gaze to the crowd, her eyes seeking out a familiar face.

“My mother was awesome,” Jaimie said. “A best friend when I was young. I grew up too fast for her. Sometimes I felt as if I was a terrible disappointment, although I know in my heart I wasn’t. It was just that I never did the things most moms think about.”