surrounded by people, and leave you alone.” He looked deep into her eyes, his nose touching hers so she could read every nuance of his expression. “But that’s not what’s going to happen. He’ll hound you, day and night. He knows where you live, what your dog looks like, who your friends are—and you’ve been here only a week. Once he knows your routine he won’t hesitate to use it, or your friends, against you. He’ll lure you out into the open where he can grab you. And if he does that, he’ll be a dead man anyway. If Max and Simon don’t get to him first and hand him over to Richard, who, by the way, plans on killing him, I’ll kill him.”
“It’s not your job to stop him, Adrian.”
“Yes, it is.” He slid one arm around her carefully. “Max confirmed me as Marshal a few days ago.”
She frowned. “Marshal?”
“I keep forgetting you’ve never been part of a Pride before. The Marshal is the one who sees to the safety of the Pride. Gabe’s my Second, like Simon is Max’s.”
“I thought Mrs. Anderson was mated to the Marshal?”
“Why would you think that?”
“When she sent the guards for McDonald’s…uh-oh,” she whispered as his furious expression registered.
“She sent the guards out for McDonald’s? ” he growled through clenched teeth.
“We were hungry.” He glared at her. “Besides, I don’t think both guards went.”
“Oh, well that’s all right then. Not.”
She frowned at his sarcastic tone. “Give them a break, Adrian. It’s not like you were dealing with soldiers or cops. You’re dealing with people who have been asked to guard someone, almost a complete stranger, against a threat they’ve never faced before.”
“So?”
“So, take it easy on them because I really like McDonald’s?”
He sat up and glared down at her, holding both hands in front of him as if he was weighting something. “Hmm, let me think. Your life, a Big Mac. Your life, a Big Mac.” Both hands waved in the air. “Hey, no contest, right?”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “It was a really good Big Mac. And we are talking McDonald’s French fries.”
He growled, and she quickly decided to change the subject. He looked ready to climb out of bed, get dressed and hunt down her “guards” to give them the sharp end of his teeth.
“So explain to me again why it’s your responsibility to go after Rudy.”
He sighed. “It’s the job of the Marshal to remove threats to the Pride.”
“And Rudy is a threat to the Pride.”
“Yes. The moment he went after you and Belle, he became a threat to the Pride.”
She’d known her decision to join the Pride could have consequences. The price Belle had paid was, in her mind, too high. She closed her eyes as the guilt threatened to choke her.
“Hey.”
She opened her eyes and saw the anger in his.
“You better not be blaming yourself.”
“And what if I am?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “You are not responsible for the actions of Parker.”
“If Belle hadn’t volunteered to protect me she wouldn’t have been hurt.” Relief lit his eyes at her tone of voice, and she knew he understood that she wasn’t upset.
She was pissed.
“Belle is going to be fine. I promise you that.”
Sheri shook her head. “How can she be? Mrs. Anderson told me they had to put a pin in her hip! If they did she won’t be able to change, you know that.”
He sighed. “That woman talks too much,” he muttered.
“Tell me about it.”
His lips twitched, the rest of the anger leeching away. “We’re trying to figure that one out.”
“And what about Emma’s store?”
His eyes widened in shock before dark lashes dropped over them, hiding his expression. “What about Emma’s store?”
“I know about the window, Doc Obvious.”
He laughed. “That’s a new one.”
She rolled her eyes. “Stick with me, kid, I’ve got a million of them.”
“I plan on it,” he purred, gently cradling her body against his. He