Absolution (The Protectors 1)

I actually felt my hand tightening on my gun as my options fired through my brain. Would I really be willing to take the life of the man who’d saved mine?

“He is beautiful,” I heard Ronan murmur as he kept his eye on the scope. Tension rolled through me as I locked my eyes on his finger which was resting lightly on the trigger. He held there for several long seconds before he finally lifted his head and glanced over his shoulder at me. His eyes settled on my gun which I still had resting by my leg and I had no doubt that he knew exactly what I’d been contemplating. I didn’t relax even a little bit as he unfolded his big body and stood. Ronan was one of the most lethal men I knew and also one of the most unreadable so I didn’t move or even breathe as he closed the distance between us. It wasn’t until he handed the rifle to me that I finally took a breath.

“You should have kissed him when you had the chance,” Ronan said as he moved past me.

I flinched at the realization that he’d been watching me and Jonas when I’d gone to get ice for my hand. It took me several long seconds to get myself under control and follow him. I found him in the kitchen studying the bottle of liquor I’d left on the counter as I’d made my sweep of the apartment. It was foolish considering what had just transpired between us but him seeing the bottle of liquor actually made me feel ashamed.

Everything about Ronan was dark and dangerous. At 6’5’, he matched me in height and build but I knew from experience that he could take me in any fight. He was the only man I’d ever truly feared and not just because he could best me physically. He knew all of my weaknesses, and he knew that the things he’d done for me had bought and paid for my absolute, unquestioning loyalty…until now.

Ronan’s gray eyes finally shifted to me but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he pulled a business-sized envelope from his pocket and handed it to me. I leaned the rifle against the counter, making sure it was out of Ronan’s reach, and then tucked the revolver in the waistband of my pants.

“You wanted to know his connection to the Prescotts.”

I didn’t miss the fact that Ronan didn’t use Jonas’s name. There were several pages in the envelope but I knew within seconds of reading the first few lines what I was looking at. It was an email transcript between Jonas and Devlin Prescott.

I need you, Jonas. Our place. Tomorrow.

I can’t wait to feel you inside me again Devlin-

Disgust rolled through me as I flipped to the next email which was more of the same. The last page was a list of dates and the name of an expensive hotel in Manhattan. The dates lined up with the dates on the emails.

“How long has it been going on?” I asked.

“Benny found emails going back almost eight years…long before Prescott met his wife.”

Which would have made Jonas a teenager when the affair started. I was right when I’d guessed he’d been a victim who’d turned into an abuser himself.

“If you’re too close to this-”

“No,” I said sharply. “It’s done.” Even as I said the words, I wanted to call them back. But I couldn’t.

Because I’d finally run out of reasons not to finish what I’d started.

Chapter Seven

Jonas

I could feel Mace’s eyes on me as I examined the different lights as we walked through the small store. Mace had already been waiting in his van when I’d left the gallery a few minutes before nine, but when I’d climbed into the passenger seat, I’d known instantly that we were back to where we’d been when we first met because Mace had only grunted a greeting and I’d seen a flash of something dark go through his gaze. It wasn’t the same outright hatred I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure I’d seen on that first day when he’d come to interview for the job, but it was still unnerving. Especially after what had almost happened in my apartment yesterday.

Since Cole’s appearance in my gallery two days ago, I’d been on a roller coaster of emotions. It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought of Carrie in the years since she’d died, because I had…all the time. But the loss was something I’d had to experience by myself since Casey hadn’t known Carrie personally. And although I’d given some thought to Carrie’s family over the years, I’d automatically assumed that her relationship with them was similar to the one I’d had with my parents or, at worst, it was similar to the abusive one Casey had had with her mother and stepfather. So to have Cole show up like he had had thrown me for a loop because I’d seen in his eyes how much he’d loved her.