Mine to Hold (Mine #3)(41)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Her lips pressed into a determined line.

He wasn’t going to argue with Claire. The last thing she needed right then was a confrontation. He headed for the door. Opened it—

Talk about a bastard at the door.

Drake had his hand raised to knock.

“No one is supposed to get up to this floor.” Noah glared at the two guards near the elevator. Guards who’d been sent over from Weston Securities. Guards who were apparently damn inadequate.

“Trace told them I was clear.” Drake smiled. “Come on, you know that you can trust me.”

Yeah, he did. And that was why he yanked the guy in the suite. “Keep Claire company until I get back.”

“Uh, wait, where are you—”

Noah shut the door behind him and stalked to the elevator.

Austin Harrison.

Well, he’d met the other two members of the family. Time to see if Austin was as much of a dick as they were.

***

The guy had just twisted her into knots and walked away. Claire shoved off her blanket and jumped to her feet. She was going after him and—

“I think the idea was for us both to stay put.” Drake flashed her a broad smile. “So don’t think you can just bat those big baby blues at me, and get out of here.”

She glared at him.

His smile slowly faded. “You look like shit.”

He was always such a charmer.

Drake’s hand lifted toward her face.

Instantly, Claire stepped back.

“Easy,” he murmured as he advanced. “I just want to see the damage.”

She forced herself to stay still. “It’s just a scratch.”

“A scratch that’s got you purple and black on your temple.” His head cocked and his fingers feathered over her cheek. “And I’m guessing the bandage is covering some stitches?”

“A few.”

He whistled. “Bet that made Noah go insane.”

She pushed his hand away. “Nearly getting blown up made us both react that way.”

His hand caught hers. “Explain it to me.”

“What?”

“I’ve seen Noah touch you, and you act like a cat getting stroked.”

She did not.

“But I come close, and you tense up like you’re afraid I’ll hit you.” His voice and eyes had gone flat. “I don’t know what Noah told you about my past, but I only did what I had to do. Killing my lover—hell, no, that wasn’t my plan. She went rogue. Turned on us all—”

Wow. “He didn’t tell me anything.”

She knew Drake had killed in Chicago, but that had been a fight-or-die situation. As for his past… “Like you told me before, your past is your own.”

“So you don’t back away from me because you think I’m a monster beneath the skin?”

His words made her pause. Made her realize… “I back away because I think everyone has a monster inside.”

Wasn’t that what she’d learned from Ethan?

From herself?

***

Austin Harrison stood near the concierge desk in the lobby. Noah marched toward the guy, letting his gaze sweep over the last remaining Harrison.

The guy was tall, broad-shouldered. Dressed in a suit. Austin appeared tense, wary—good, because he should be.

His hair was a dark blond, and it currently looked as if the guy had spent hours shoving his hands through it.

“This way,” Noah said, turning sharply to the right. He wasn’t about to have a public fight with Harrison. No, it was far better to do that in private.

Where no one can see what I’ll do.

Noah took the guy back to the hotel manager’s office. The manager, Louis, had conveniently cleared out, per Noah’s orders during a quick phone call mid-elevator ride.

Austin didn’t speak until they were secured inside. As soon as the door shut, though, the guy said, “I’m not a threat to you. Or to Claire Kramer.”

“I’m not so sure of that.”

Austin swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Whatever you’re doing…just…stop, okay? I’m not going to hurt her.”

“What I’m doing?”

Austin’s gaze jerked around the office. “My father. Ethan.”

He thinks I killed them?

“I don’t want to be next on Claire’s revenge list.”

“You think Claire has a list?” Had the guy not heard about the bombing? It had been all over the news. How the hell would he have missed that?

“If I were her, I would,” Austin muttered as he yanked a hand through his hair. “I’d want revenge. Payback.”

“You aren’t Claire.” She doesn’t think like that.

Austin’s hand fell to his side. His eyes met Noah’s. “I know you’re f**king her.”

“Yes, I am.” He wasn’t about to deny something that gave him such satisfaction.

Austin exhaled on a rough sigh. “Are you killing for her, too?”

Everyone sure seemed to think so. “You should turn on the news. The radio. Read a paper.”

Austin’s eyebrows scrunched. “Wh-what?”

“But maybe you were flying up here, maybe you missed that huge story, so I’ll just brief you.” He rolled back his shoulders. “Someone tried to kill me and Claire with a bomb last night.”

Austin backed up a step. He banged into the desk.

“Claire isn’t the one who went after your bastard of a father or your sick freak of a brother. Someone else out there did that. Probably the same someone who tried to kill us.”

“Why?”

“I think we have to ask the bastard killing that particular question.” He studied the man before him. “You don’t reek of booze like your father.”

Austin flinched.

“Are you as insane as your brother?”

“I’m nothing like Ethan.”

The two looked alike. The similarity was clear as day. “You’re the older brother. So when you were growing up, did you know what Ethan was? Did you see it?”

Austin walked toward the window on the right. “I saw it. Ethan was always hurting those weaker than he was. I told my father that he needed help, but that wasn’t the way my old man worked. Harrisons don’t need help. We don’t need anything.” He looked back at Noah. “I came here because I don’t want to die.”

Noah crossed his arms over his chest. “And you thought you were next on Claire’s list?”

“It’s…because I didn’t do anything. I didn’t help her. I didn’t stop him. Ethan talked about her. So much. About how he couldn’t live without her. How he wouldn’t live without her. How he’d do anything to prove his love to her.”