Free One to Protect (One to Hold Book 3) by Tia Louise

and snatches it out of my hand. Her cheeks are flaming red, and Patrick laughs loudly.
    “Elaine, tell number two what happened to my best tie.” That devilish gleam is in his eye, and it takes me a second to catch up. “My kinky fiancée thought she’d play dominatrix, but I had to set her straight.”
    “Patrick Knight!” My best friend’s voice is a loud command as she returns from dropping both items in their bedroom.
    “There she goes again.”
    Derek coughs a laugh, and my eyebrows fly up. “Well, okay then.” I’m trying not to laugh, too. “TMI, number one.”
    “Good work.” Derek gives him a fist bump. I elbow my own fiancé sharply in the stomach. He grunts another laugh. “I mean… sorry about your tie?”
    Elaine’s voice is high, and her back is turned while she stabs the wooden spoon in the pot repeatedly. “We can all just stop talking about it now!”
    “I’m only teasing you, babe.” Patrick goes behind her and holds her waist before kissing her neck. “You know I love your little stunts.”
    I cross to the cabinet and pull down another wine glass. “On that note, we should have drinks. Derek, wine?”
    He nods, and I go to the fridge to pull out the bottle of pinot grigio Elaine’s having and a root beer. “You got my favorite.”
    She glances over her shoulder past Patrick. “Yeah, I figured you were getting sick of ginger ale all the time.”
    Derek takes the wine glass from me and follows Patrick into the living room. They immediately launch into a discussion, but Patrick’s speaking so low I can barely hear him.
    “I touched base with Toni and assured them we’d be back tomorrow. Gabe wants his bike now, but he’ll give me twenty-four hours.”
    Derek’s voice is equally low. “I don’t like leaving her while he’s still MIA.”
    Frustrated, I go to where they’re talking. “Please tell me what’s going on. You know I don’t like being in the dark.”
    Derek’s shoulders drop, and Patrick turns to me. “Sloan’s gone off the radar. We don’t like it in view of what happened in Baltimore. We still don’t have answers, and we’re not ready.”
    My brow lines. “Ready for what?”
    “We’ve been working on a plan since the Jessica Black report turned up. Derek was trying to establish a financial connection, but it was going nowhere. Sloan’s too experienced at covering his tracks.”
    I look up at Derek, and he catches my hand. “Patrick’s idea could work, but we hadn’t started talking about it when my man in Baltimore alerted me that Sloan was missing.”
    The dream, the memory of feeling like he was there watching me, causes a strange roaring sound to grow in my ears. Shivers fly up my shoulders, and I understand the meaning of Derek’s panicked appearance, Patrick’s following behind on the motorcycle. “You drove back today because you were afraid—”
    “He left me stranded in Raleigh,” Patrick tries to laugh it off, but it isn’t working. “I had to borrow Lylah’s boyfriend’s bike, and that is not something those guys do lightly. I had to leave my watch with him.”
    “Your Tag?”
    “I’ll get it back.”
    My eyes move to Derek’s, and I can’t decide which of the emotions surging through me is stronger—the intense love I feel for him or the intense hatred I feel for my ex.
    The noise is pushing against my temples, and I step into the loving arms waiting for me. I hold his waist, and he holds me tightly until my trembling subsides.
    “I hate this so much.” My voice is barely above a whisper, but he hears me.
    His voice is a low vibration in response. “I’m going to fix it. You’ll never be afraid again.”
    Hidden in his arms, inhaling the clean-woodsy scent I love, I find calm. Until finally I’m able to look around again, and I notice how quiet it is in the room. Patrick is back in the kitchen talking to Elaine.
    Lifting my chin, Derek smiles before kissing my lips. “I’m not going anywhere if you don’t feel safe.