Free In The Still of the Night [The Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Marla Monroe Page B

in?”
    “Who am I going to let in? Who? Tina has had enough trouble in her life. She doesn’t deserve my problems, too. Who do you think I can trust to care?” Jenna couldn’t help the tears that poured from her eyes.
    She stared at Riley. “I’ve always dealt with my life my own way. Why would I change now?”

Chapter Six

    “Because I care,” Riley said. “I care what happens to you.”
    He watched as Jenna struggled to accept what he said as fact. He knew the minute she did. Her face crumpled, and she began to cry in earnest. He went to her and smoothed the tears from her cheeks. Then he bent down and kissed her gently on the lips.
    “Don’t cry, baby. It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of everything.” Where the words came from, he didn’t know.
    He only knew that he meant every one of them. He wouldn’t let her deal with her ex on her own. He’d be there to keep her safe and shore up her defenses. There was no way he would let that son of a bitch anywhere near her again.
    “Why would you care about me? I’m a basket case with nothing but trouble following me around.”
    “Don’t worry about it so much. Just accept my help and leave it at that.” He turned back to the swinging doors when they opened.
    The nurse walked back in with another paper for her to sign. “This is your discharge paper. Just sign there on the line and you can go.”
    Jenna signed the form and looked around for where her clothes were. The nurse picked up a bag and handed it to her.
    “Looking for your clothes?” she asked, smiling. “Do you need help getting back into them?”
    “I’ll help her.” Riley didn’t hesitate to let her know right away he was in charge.
    The nurse nodded and walked back out. Riley took the bag from Jenna and opened it up. He pulled out the T-shirt first. Jenna looked dubious at his helping her.
    “Okay, let’s get you out of this ugly ass gown.” He proceeded to untie the strings.
    “I can dress myself,” she protested.
    “You’ll only hurt yourself. I’ll help you, and we’ll get through twice as fast with less pain.”
    She growled at him, and he smiled.
    She slipped the gown down from her arms but kept it lodged firmly under her arms. He rolled the shirt up so she could slip her arms in then slide her head through the neck of the shirt. Next came the sweat pants. He rolled them up her legs and had her lift her pelvis for him to pull them up the rest of the way. Her face turned a cute shade of pink when his fingers brushed against her pussy.
    “Okay, I’m going to go pull the car up to the door. You wait here for the nurse and the wheelchair. I’m serious. You don’t wait and I’ll turn your ass a pretty shade of red when you’re healed up.”
    She nodded, so he left her and told the nurse what he was doing. He expected she would be bringing Jenna out in the wheelchair about the time he made it to the loading ramp.
    Riley took a few seconds in the car to get control of himself. He didn’t want Jenna picking up on his strong emotions. She needed to stay calm and rest. It was all he could do to keep the rage inside of him when all he wanted to do was hit something. Finally, he was satisfied he could present a calm façade. When he pulled up the ramp, the nurse wheeled Jenna out and opened the passenger side door. Riley ran around the front of the car to help get Jenna in the car. Once he had her settled, he backed down the ramp and drove toward Logan’s house.
    “Thanks, Riley.”
    “For what?” he asked.
    “For helping me. For helping Tina deal with me.”
    “Don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on resting and getting better.” He couldn’t keep the gruffness out of his voice.
    She didn’t say anything else the rest of the trip. Riley was thankful for the silence. He needed to plan. He and Logan would need to figure out how best to protect the women. As long as Jenna was there, Tina would be at risk, as well. He was glad he could depend on Logan’s help.