Free Kane (BBW Billionaire Romance) by Christa Wick

over three dozen times between the two of them.
    Kane listened with a voyeur’s mix of shame and victory. Certainly Dani wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave his net of protection after Reed’s report.
    Famous last words, he realized as his attention glanced from the kitchen’s feed to that of the guest room.
    Her bags were on the bed, ready to go.
    He looked back to the kitchen and saw her shaking her head, her beautiful face filled with uncertainty and fear.
    She must have been whispering because her lips were moving but Kane couldn’t hear what she was saying. He turned up the volume as Reed began to speak.
    “You only know part of the story,” he assured Dani.
    Another one of her stubborn head shakes had Kane’s hands curling around the armrests of his chair and squeezing.
    “He could have told me the rest.”
    No, Kane thought, she wasn’t going to listen. And he had tried to talk to her, just not on the information she was demanding.
    On screen, Dani shrugged. “But it’s all one and done with him, isn’t it?.”
    The hurt in her voice stabbed deep into his chest. She was wrong, so wrong. His intent hadn’t been to fuck and forget. He had only wanted to keep her safe while keeping his hands off her.
    But there was something hypnotic about the woman, something he couldn’t explain.
    “I’ve never heard of another woman being in here beyond Lindsey,” Reed gently argued. “But you’re going to believe what suits you. All I’m asking is that you don’t run off—for Christine’s sake.”
    Dani threw her hands up. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
    “It could be a feint,” he answered. “We’ve had to guard a lot of unwilling charges. When they’re compliant, that’s when it’s time to start worrying.”
    His finger tapped against the center of the island’s surface, his hand just a few inches from Dani’s.
    “I will tell you before I pack our things and go,” she promised
    First she’d have to unpack, Kane snorted from where he watched twenty-five stories below.
    “You’ll have time to convince me that staying is the safest course of action for Christine,” she added.
    Reed held out his hand, his posture suspicious.
    Dani lifted a finger, hesitating. “Not so fast. You will work so that I have safe options beyond staying here.”
    “Deal,” Reed agreed, his hand wrapping around hers for a brief shake. “But their network stretches halfway across the country, not to mention their East European contacts. Defeating them takes patience.”
    Dani hugged herself, fear etching new lines across her face. “Poor Mr. Cobb. Do you think I—”
    “No,” Reed answered at the same time Kane mirrored the denial. “No visits, no calls. But I’ll get a team out there to fix the damage to his place and, if he wants protection, he’ll get it.”
    She managed a weak, but genuine smile. “Thank you.”
    Reed sighed. “Don’t thank me, Dani girl. I’m following my boss’s orders. Kane isn’t going to let anything happen to you. He has a lot of resources to throw at this.”
    Dani stared hard and deep at Reed. He looked away, his expression crumbling.
    “Dani, you want Trent in your corner.” He shrugged after a few long seconds, his gaze landing on hers then darting away. “Me…I don’t have a very good record of keeping women I care about safe.”
    “So you try not to care about them?” she asked, reaching across the island to place her hand on top of his.
    Emotion burned in Kane’s chest at the contact between the two of them, but he didn’t dare name its source.
    “Something like that,” Reed cleared his throat and slid his hand out from under Dani’s. “Let me show you how to reset the code.”

    * * *
    T urning the sound off , Kane tapped at the keyboard and a slideshow started on the monitors directly in front of him. The images fading in and out of view were ones he had rescued right after Reed had received his divorce decree.
    His mouth shrugged in a fast ebbing smile as he