“Mike, you gotta trust me on this,” Jardin told her cousin. “I owe you. You need some help. You can’t protect her on her own and he really does know what he’s doing.”
“How?” Mike snapped. “He’s a rancher.”
“I can’t tell you about Alec’s background. That’s his business. But I wouldn’t leave her with him if I didn’t think he was our best shot at keeping her safe.”
Mike let out a frustrated noise. “If I could think of any other way . . . ”
“I know, man. I know he’s not an easy man to get along with. I get why you worry about leaving her here. But the fact that you don’t agree with what we enjoy when it comes to women doesn’t make it wrong. Or mean that any of that will touch Mia.”
That was almost disappointing. She bit her lip. Crap, she needed to keep thoughts like that on lock down. Last thing she needed was to blurt that out.
Mike looked over at her and she cleared her throat. “I’ll be all right, Mike. I want to stay here.”
“Mia, you don’t know—”
She put her hand up on his chest. “Mike, I know when you look at me you see the kid you’ve looked out for all her life, but I’m an adult now. I can’t go back with you and put you in danger. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. Please, just let me stay.”
He looked away with a sigh. Then nodded. “Fine, but I don’t care what the fuck he says, you call me if you need me.”
“I will.” She wrapped her arms around him. “I love you.”
“Love you too, sunshine.”
“All right, good. Mia’s tired. She needs to go see Alec then get some rest and settle in. Mike, you need to get out of here and get back to your job. I know you don’t trust my cousin or like him. Believe me, very few people do. But he knows what he’s doing and when he says he’ll repay the family debt, he will. This really is the best place for her.”
“It better be.”
She walked through the house, following Jardin. She was almost too nervous to look around, but curiosity got the best of her. From the outside, the two-storied ranch house was impressive. One of the biggest houses she’d ever seen, it dominated the landscape. It was a gorgeous house with a large porch that ran along the front with French doors leading inside. But it almost looked out of place. The landscape was rugged and bare. There was nothing to soften the place. But then, it seemed to suit Alec Malone to a tee. He wasn’t a soft man. He was as hard as the land around him. And she was completely out of her depth.
Fuck. What have I done?
The inside of the house was no less impressive with its high ceilings and gorgeous wooden floors. But the house felt a little unloved. It wasn’t messy exactly, although it wasn’t particularly clean either. It felt a bit bare. Cold. There was no art on the walls. No furniture in the huge foyer or anywhere along the hallw
ay.
“Here you go, sweetheart.” Jardin stopped in front of a large wooden door. He put her small bag down on the floor. She didn’t have much, just what Mike had quickly grabbed for her from a Walmart when they’d had a brief stop to rest. She was going to need to get some more stuff. How, she had no idea. Online shopping would be easier, if she had a damn credit card. Being on the run sure was hell on the pocket.
“Just don’t let him bully you. Stick up for yourself, but do it respectfully,” he advised, before turning away.
“Wait. You’re not coming in there with me?”
Jardin turned, shaking his head. “This next part is between the two of you. I can’t help you with that other than to tell you that his bark is worse than his bite.” He turned away, probably not expecting her to hear the next part. “Mostly, anyway.”
Great. Awesome. He was leaving her to enter the monster’s den all of her own. What kind of a gentleman did that? And what kind of wimp did that make her that she needed someone to protect her? She could do this. She took one calming breath then another. But still her hand trembled as she reached out to knock.
Nothing.
Okay. Maybe he wasn’t there. Maybe she should just . . . what? Wander around a strange house? Stand out there until he came?
She reached out and knocked louder.
“Yeah.”
Right, she guessed that was all the greeting she was going to get.
She stepped inside and couldn’t decide whether to shut the door or leave it open. In the end, she left it open a few inches. That way, someone might, possibly, hear her screams for help.
Melodramatic much?