Free Burning Up by Anne Marsh Page B

her made her skin crawl. He’d watched her before, but the idea of whoever he was here, in her home, in Strong, was more than she could handle. Panic seized her, and adrenaline flooded her body. She wanted to run, wanted to scream against the unfairness of it all. Sure, she’d suspected—okay, she’d known on some instinctive level—that her plans to get away hadn’t worked. But Rio’s confirmation was too blunt, too much. If the stalker was really here . . .
    â€œBreathe.” Jack’s soft command in her ear had her gulping deep, sweet breaths of air. The simple act anchored her in the here and now, away from the memories she’d hidden even from herself.
    â€œSo how does he do that?” Jack asked rhetorically. “Out here, on the farm, he can hide on the ridge. A high-power scope, some binoculars”—Jack shrugged—“he’s got what he wants. But I’m betting that’s not going to work so well in town. He has to be able to get up close.”
    â€œWhich means he’s definitely local.” Rio cursed. “We’ll watch for him.”
    Lily hadn’t given these men permission to waltz on in and take over. This was her life—it needed to be her decision.
    â€œNeither of you gets to swoop in here and make decisions for me,” she snapped. “I can take care of myself, Rio. I’ve been doing it for years.”
    He sighed. “Which is why you hightailed it on back to Strong, then, Lily? Because things were working out so well for you in San Francisco?”
    â€œI’m not responsible for those fires.” Jack had said so himself, and she knew it was true. No matter how many regrets, how many coulda-woulda-shouldas ran through her head at night, she knew this.
    â€œNo.” Rio unslung a messenger bag from over his shoulder, dropping it onto her porch. “Those fires weren’t your fault. Doesn’t mean, however, that it’s not your problem. If someone is gunning for you, Lily, you need to take a little action. You can’t just sit here waiting for this creep to come at you. Jack here knows what he’s doing, and so do I.”
    â€œI didn’t ask for your help.”
    â€œYou didn’t ask for anyone’s help, baby.” Jack’s sexy drawl behind her made her think of a sleeping tiger. “That’s your problem, right there. If you’d asked for a little helping hand, you’d have been able to pick your savior. Now, you’re stuck with us. Take it up with Nonna and Ben, but I’m thinking you’re not going to change their minds.”
    Flipping open the bag, Rio began pulling out bits and pieces of electronics. There was enough surveillance equipment to start another Cold War. “Because Jack’s right, and we all know it.”
    She wet her lips. “I didn’t think he’d find me here.”
    Rio just looked at her and shook his head. The electronic gear he was pulling out of his bag made his thoughts about that clear. “24/7 surveillance,” he said. “Whatever happens down here in Lavender Creek, we’ll see it up in the base camp. You won’t be alone.”
    â€œYou’re putting me in a fishbowl.” Her skin prickled, flushed at the thought of the Donovan brothers watching her. The intimacy felt shocking, although it wasn’t—she admitted the truth to herself—anything like the violation of knowing her stalker was out there, too. Waiting to hurt her.
    Jack and his brothers wanted to keep her safe. Wanted to help . All she had to do was let them. But then she’d have to tell them everything, and there were parts of that last night in San Francisco that were too raw, too ugly to be shared. She didn’t think she could face Jack Donovan looking at her and knowing that truth.
    â€œGive me your cell.” Jack held a big palm out, gesturing with his fingertips. “I’ll program our numbers into