To Love and Protect

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  Besides, Dev was right. She couldn’t let her guard down no matter where she was. She’d relaxed over the past couple of weeks knowing someone else was watching over her, but she needed to be more vigilant. Like last night, when he’d insisted on checking her apartment instead of just leaving her at the front door.

  It struck her in that moment if he hadn’t done that, she’d have been by herself when she found the message on her mirror. A chill snaked down her spine at the thought of having to face that alone.

  Celia slid onto the empty stool on her right, snapping the ugly, frightening thread of Shelby’s thoughts.

  “Hey, sis. You’re awfully quiet today.”

  “Just tired.” And thankfully, she, Honor, and Mae had picked up her slack in the post-wedding bridesmaid duties. “I didn’t get to bed until after two, and was back up again a little after seven. You and Robert were smart cutting out early.”

  Her sister leaned in closer, letting her dark, chin-length bob slide forward like a privacy curtain. “I was ovulating, so it was either leave early or have him take me in the back corner of the coat room.”

  Shelby winced and pushed her cake aside. “TMI, Ceels. TMI.”

  “Oh, stop acting like a virgin.”

  Raine joined them in time to overhear Celia’s teasing reprimand. “She’s not acting—unless Dev took care of that last night?”

  Shelby tilted her head at their cousin in disbelief.

  “Devante?” Her sister trained her brown gaze on Shelby, propped her chin in her hand, and wiggled her eyebrows. “Do tell.”

  “Would you two keep your voices down?” she grumbled. “There’s nothing to tell.”

  “No?” Raine asked. “Then how come I saw you two pull up in his truck earlier?”

  “Because Dad hired him as my bodyguard last night after Noelle stole my other bodyguard for a quickie on the job.”

  “Lucky you,” her cousin quipped.

  Shelby slid off the stool. “Yeah, lucky me. The stalker who sabotaged my car broke into my apartment and left a creepy message on my mirror, and my new, hot bodyguard flinches with revulsion every time he gets near me. Life’s never been better.” Self-pity choked out the last words.

  Mortified at everything that had just spilled out of her mouth, she brushed past the two of them. Perfect. She’d told Dev not to say anything, and then she went and word vomited all over the place.

  Without a thought beyond escape, she ended up in the kitchen. Celia and Raine followed fast on her heels.

  “Shelby, wait.” Her sister caught her arm and pulled her around to face them. “When did your apartment get broken into?”

  She leaned her head back, blinking rapidly to stem the tears. Once she had her emotions under control, she did her best to gloss over the events of the past eight hours. “Last night. But I stayed at Dev’s, and he called the police first thing this morning. It’s being taken care of.”

  “I’m sorry,” Raine said softly. “I didn’t know things were that bad.”

  “Well, she doesn’t have a bodyguard for the fun of it,” Celia retorted.

  “It’s fine. I’m fine.” She sniffed away the last of the tears. “And don’t go saying anything to anyone. I don’t want to make a big deal of this and disrupt things for Loyal and Rox.”

  “They’d be the first ones to say your safety is more important than wedding gifts,” her sister argued.

  “I know, but I am safe. Dad’s got Dev on the job now.”

  Sarcasm rang in her voice. It wasn’t fair, and she didn’t even mean it the way it came out. She knew she was safer with him than Blake. Clearly, she was taking it personally every time he flinched away from her.

  But how could she not?

  He acted like she had a contagious disease.

  She pushed that aside and spent the next few minutes assuring her sister and cousin everything was under control. Once she managed to convince them she just needed a moment alone to gather her composure, she pulled out her phone and texted Dev: Ready.

  His reply came back within thirty seconds: Be there in 5

  A small flutter in the pit of her stomach accompanied a rush of relief as she sent back: I’m in the kitchen, so drive around to the back service entrance.

  She wasn’t even going back out to the party to say goodbye. Knowing Celia, their brothers would get the low-down before the last gift was unwrapped, and she wanted to be long gone by then. Although their questions and advice came from a place of love, it was starting to get a little repetitive the third or fourth time around.

  A loud creak from behind had her nearly jumping out of her skin. She whirled around with a gasp, phone clutched in her fist.

  “Perdõna, mija.” Elena extended her hand, palm out. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Shelby sagged against the island counter at the sight of Dev’s mom, her knees weak from the surge of adrenaline. Two seconds later, she found herself wrapped in the petite Spanish woman’s arms. She clung to her, the comfort of her reassuring hug triggering a rush of unexpected emotion. With her own mom back in D.C., Elena was the next best thing.

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I was in the pantry—”

  Shelby pulled back with a low groan. “Please don’t ask me if I’m okay.”

  Elena gave her a gentle smile. “I already know you’re fine. I heard you say it at least three times. Possibly four.”

  “Well, I am.” She looked away, and then recalled the rest of her conversation with Celia and Raine. Crap. “What I said about Dev…”

  His mother arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow while moving around to the other side of the island to grab a chocolate chunk cookie from a loaded tray. “What did you say about Dev?”

  “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. And I know he’ll do a good job. It’s just, well…” She shrugged her shoulders. “He can be a little, um…”

  “Bossy? Overbearing? Arrogant?”

  Shelby’s lips quirked as she raised her gaze to meet Elena’s across the counter. “Yeah.”

  “He always has been,” she agreed. “I imagine it served him well in the Army, but it’ll take him a while to realize this isn’t the military.”

  “Oh, he knows. I’m not so sure he cares.”

  Elena’s soft laugh faded to a sigh. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t his choice to leave, so the transition may take a little longer.”

  A seed of sympathy took root with the reminder. She accused him of treating her like a five year old, but maybe next time she could stop herself from acting like one.

  “You know, I recall you two palling around quite a bit when you were younger.”

  The thoughtful note in the older woman’s musing brought forth her own memories—and a slight frown. “He was nice enough to tolerate me tagging after him. And that ended the moment he got his first girlfriend. He discovered cars and girls, and I was still playing with frogs.”

  His mother made a sound that was neither disagreement nor agreement. But she didn’t know that things had really changed about the time Shelby hit thirteen, right after he’d graduated high school and left for the Army. And then there was the whole mortifying rejection at sixteen.

  Elena braced her elbows on the counter while breaking off a small chunk of the cookie in her hand. But she didn’t eat it as she raised her gaze. “Can I ask you to do something for me?”

  The solemnity in her expression quickened Shelby’s pulse. “Of course.”

  “Both my boys lost a part of themselves out there in the world.”

  It was strange to hear her call them boys when both Dev and Reyes were strong, capable men. And yet, to their mother, she guessed that’s what they’d always be—her boys.

  “I’m sure they’ve dealt with things you and I can’t even imagine,” Shelby murmured.

  “I know that. And I worry it’s too much for them to carry alone, but neither of them will open up to me or Estefan. They keep everything to themselves because they don’t want us to worry.”

>   “And that makes you worry more.”

  Elena nodded. She broke off another piece of cookie, then dropped all of it on the counter and brushed off her fingers as if realizing the mess she was making. “You’ll be spending a lot of time with Dev now. Don’t let him keep you at arm’s length, okay? Maybe he’ll open up to you.”

  “Things between us aren’t anywhere near where he’d confide in me,” Shelby advised. “I’ve asked him twice about his injury, and he refuses to tell me about it.”

  Elena’s mouth tightened as her brow furrowed.

  “Do you know what happened?” If Dev wouldn’t tell her, maybe his mom would.

  But she shook her head. “Not much of it, and even if I did, that’s his to tell. I do know he’s recovered physically beyond what the doctors expected.”

  That didn’t surprise her one bit. Dev wasn’t the kind of man who would react well to limitations. She didn’t think there was much of anything that would keep him down.

  “You were friends once,” Elena said, her words almost a plea. “You can be friends again.”

  She wasn’t so sure about that.

  The sound of the back kitchen door opening had them both standing straighter as Dev entered. He gave Shelby a sweeping assessment before going over to give his mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek. A few words in Spanish had her smiling. Shelby wondered what he’d said as he reached to snitch a couple of cookies from the tray.

  “I didn’t make those for you,” his mother admonished.

  “But you always make extra for me and Rey,” he argued as he bit into the first one.

  “There are other guests this weekend.”

  “And you still made extra, didn’t you?”

  Shelby listened to their exchange with a smile that widened when Elena couldn’t refute his claim about the cookies. His mother rolled her eyes, pulled a zipper bag from a nearby drawer, and proceeded to fill it with at least a dozen of the treats while he ate the two he’d stole.

  When Dev reached for the bag, his mother blocked him and walked around the island to give it to Shelby.

  “That’s not fair,” he protested.

  Elena gave her another quick hug and whispered, “Make him earn them,” before stepping back with a smile.

  Shelby knew how she meant it, yet warmth climbed her neck as she considered alternative ways to make Dev earn the cookies. Shooting him a quick glance, her pulse skipped and tripped when she saw him watching her.

  He slid his gaze to his mom, then back to her, and in a blink, he was all brusque business. “You said you were ready, so let’s go.”

  “Dev,” his mom admonished.

  “What? She’s the one who wanted to leave.”

  “I do. Thanks, Elena.” She held up the bag as she started toward the door. “Especially for these. I’m going to enjoy every single one.” She gave Dev a smirk with that last bit, but he was mid-reach to snatch a third cookie off the tray.

  His mom slapped at his hand. “Ladrõn!”

  Cookie firmly in his grasp, he wore a grin of triumph when he caught up with Shelby at the door and reached around her to push it open. Her breath caught at the sight of that elusive smile up close, but then her shoulder brushed his chest, and the smile vanished as he stiffened.

  His recoil dropped a heavy weight smack dab in the middle of her chest, making her heart ache on their way outside. He opened the door of his truck for her, but there was no gentlemanly hand of assistance to climb on up.

  “Let me hold those for you while you get in.”

  She angled her body to protect the bag of cookies from his grasp and gave him a mock glare. “Hands off, buddy.”

  He stepped back with an exaggerated sigh. “It was worth a try.”

  Shelby’s automatic grin sobered with confusion while she secured her seatbelt and Dev made his way around to the driver’s side. The contrast of his constant physical retreat against flashes of teasing was bewildering, and more than a little frustrating. Those tiny glimpses of how he used to be with her years ago made her long for more.

  “Don’t let him keep you at arm’s length.”

  Elena’s request was somewhat ironic she was coming to realize. Because of what had happened between her and Dev nine years ago, she was always quick to go on the defensive. Sometimes even the offensive. Better to have her guard up than risk getting hurt again.

  But maybe if she relaxed a little, he would, too. In the personal sense, not the bodyguard sense.

  It’s worth a try.

  “What does ladron mean?” she asked as he started the engine.

  “Ladrõn,” he corrected, a sexy Spanish accent stirring a flutter in the pit of her stomach. “It means thief.”

  “Well, your mom gave these to me, so don’t get any ideas.” She shifted the zipped baggie to the far right side of her lap as he drove down the driveway.

  “That’s a lot of cookies to eat all by yourself.”

  His tone had her arching her brows in offense. “What exactly are you saying?”

  The corners of his mouth tugged upward. “I said exactly what I said.”

  And everything else between the lines. “I run a couple times a week, you know.”

  He shot her a stern frown. “Not for the foreseeable future you don’t.”

  With those few clipped words, he ruined the mood. She didn’t bother pointing out she could go to a gym as she turned to brood out the passenger window.

  “On that note, you have some decisions to make.”

  A sarcastic snort came out louder than she intended, but she didn’t care. “Really? I get to make a decision? You’re not just going to tell me what’s going on?”

  “Yes, smartass, you get to make a decision.”

  “Ooh, goody.” Shelby twisted toward him and rubbed her hands together. “About what? Which way you’re turning up here? What we’re having for dinner? What color scrubs I’m going to wear to work tomorrow?”

  He flipped the blinker on for a left turn. “For starters, do you want to move in with me, or would you rather I move in with you?”

  Chapter 13

  Shelby blinked in genuine shock, her jaw slack as Dev made the turn and accelerated onto the highway. “What?”

  “I talked to your dad,” he explained as if they were discussing the weather. “Until this over, he wants someone with you at all times, and I agree with him. So…since you’re stuck with me twenty-four seven, where do you want to live?”

  Live with Dev. Twenty-four hours a day. Seven days a week.

  Eating meals with him. Sleeping with him. Well…not sleeping with him.

  Then again—

  “Shelby?”

  She blinked away the image of his bedroom only to have hers fill her vision. Front and center were the words scrawled in red across her vanity mirror. She knew they’d been wiped away after the cops left, but the image would be burned into her head forever.

  “With you. I’ll move in with you.”

  He gave a curt nod. “Okay. You want to go by your place for some of your things, or should I arrange for someone to bring them to my place?”

  Dealing with a bodyguard whenever she’d wanted to leave her apartment had been frustrating and inconvenient. Now he would be shadowing every second of her life. Talk about feeling caged. She hadn’t driven herself anywhere since the day Dev had pulled her SUV out of the ditch.

  Since the day someone cut your power steering line.

  She fisted her hands as she clenched her jaw against the urge to scream her resentment. More so at the situation than him, but all bets were off the next time he acted like she had leprosy.

  “I can get my own stuff,” she bit out. “And I guess I’ll need my bed.” Then again, she wasn’t so sure she even wanted to sleep on that bed anymore. The idea of it creeped her out. Which pissed her off. “Actually, no, I’ll buy a new one—if you don’t mind stopping somewhere?”

  “I already ordered a bedroom set for my guest room. It’s being delivered tomorrow.”
>
  That was nice. Considerate. And yet, she tilted her head toward him, gaze narrowed. “You were that sure I’d”—she made air quotes—“choose your place?”

  “I figured I could use a guest bed no matter what.”

  “Sure. Okay.”

  He didn’t bother to argue against the sarcasm in her voice, which only confirmed her suspicion. The thought of him patronizing her with bogus ‘choices’ triggered another spike of annoyance. She’d rather he go back to issuing orders.

  Maybe.

  When they reached her apartment, she attempted to use that irritation to battle rising nerves, but then couldn’t quite force her feet over the threshold.

  Dev’s hand settled at the small of her back. Her pulse skipped, but she had no time to marvel at the comforting gesture before steady, firm pressure guided her inside. He waited at her bedroom door as she moved toward the closet.

  “Pack for a couple of weeks,” he advised. “Just in case.”

  After dragging out her large suitcase, she started with scrubs for work, jeans and leggings, then moved on to T-shirts and sweatshirts. And, just in case, she added two dresses and the pair of four-inch, black Louboutin stilettos her parents had given her for Christmas.

  She’d moved over to her dresser for underwear when her phone buzzed in her pocket. A quick glance revealed a text from her cousin.

  Raine: You left without saying goodbye.

  Shelby: Sorry. I assume Celia spread the word, and I didn’t want to deal with everyone’s concern.

  Raine: She’s actually telling your brothers right now. I’m guessing you’re still going to hear from them.

  She sighed and leaned a hip against her dresser as she replied: Probably. Anyway, thanks and love you. Have a safe flight back to TX.

  Raine: Thanks, and love you, too. But before I sign off…I can’t stop thinking about what you said earlier.