To Love and Protect (Must Love Diamonds 4)

She’d send Asher a text later and plan a longer visit when they were home and settled in.

Her pulse kicked up a notch as she made her way back to her vehicle in the parking garage. At first, it was because she couldn’t help recalling the encounter with Dev. Once she exited the stairwell, anxiety returned with each hurried step across the cold concrete structure. Her hand shook as she got in the car, slammed the door, and clicked the locks.

She backed out and started for the exit when she noticed a piece of paper fluttering under her windshield wiper. Her stomach lurched as she braked and reached for the door handle, only to freeze. Stopping here and getting out would only make her vulnerable.

Shelby stepped on the gas again, darting her gaze all around while leaving the parking garage. Her mind churned as she eyed the paper in between checking the rearview mirror to make sure no one followed her home.

Who had put it there? Why? What was on it?

The edge flapped back and forth, taunting her the entire drive until she passed through the security gates of her apartment complex. She parked in her garage bay, grabbed her things, and stepped out of the car. Her hand shook as she snatched the paper from under the wiper, but she didn’t read it until she was in the safety of her home, with the doors deadbolted and all the lights on.

Opening up the sheet, she read the words as terror twisted her stomach into a knot.

One choice made the opposite way can be the difference between life and death.

Chapter 3

Devante glanced at the flash of his cell phone screen while filling his travel mug. As he put the pot back on the burner and switched off the machine, he clicked on the text from his brother. Probably just letting him know he would be there to pick him up for their winter camping trip in a few minutes.

Reyes: Hey, can you pick me up instead? My Jeep doesn’t sound right.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

Reyes lived in the apartment above the stables at the Diamond estate. And today was Sunday, which meant most, if not all, of the Diamonds would be gathering at the main house for their weekly family brunch. Knowing the senator and Janine were home because of Asher and Honor having their second grandchild, it was pretty much guaranteed to be all.

He typed out a quick reply to his brother: Maybe we should just skip it.

After a long minute, Reyes replied: Why can’t you pick me up?

Because he was a fucking wuss. Because since running into Shelby at the hospital last night, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his fucking mind. Only it wasn’t the bundled-up image of her from the stairwell that kept him awake half the night. Nope. It was the vision of Shelby at sixteen that had haunted his dreams off and on for the past nine years.

Beautiful. Innocent. Kneeling on her pink princess bed in a nude satin slip with black lace on the neck and hem. With her sleek, dark hair falling down her back, there had been nothing to hide the way her full breasts stretched the material over dark, pebbled nipples. The shadowy triangle at the juncture of her pale thighs had also been visible through the thin material.

His hungry gaze had eaten up the sexy sight while his twenty-one year old self summoned every fucking ounce of discipline he’d acquired in basic training, advanced individual training, and the Special Forces Qualification Course he’d recently completed.

S.E.R.E tactics were especially helpful. Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape.

She’d offered herself to him with those sensual brown eyes of hers swimming in hope and nervousness. And he’d been a complete bastard by yelling at her before storming out of the Diamond mansion. He’d done it for her own good—and his—and hadn’t returned since.

But he’d sure as hell looked back.

Almost every damn day.

Sometimes twice.

He had worried he’d run into her when Asher insisted he go up to the fifth floor to see the baby and meet his wife. Once he’d crossed the skywalk and started up the parking garage stairs, he’d figured he was in the clear and put her out of his mind. Not so hard when he’d been in pain because two flights of stairs after physical therapy had been a stupid macho mistake.

Seeing Shelby in the stairwell had been a shock, and not only because she’d nearly castrated him with her knee. And damn it, she was still beautiful enough to take his breath away. He couldn’t help thinking, at twenty-five, she was now a woman. Of legal age and consent.

Except, he still couldn’t act on the desire that had flared to life the instant he saw her again. For one, his parents still worked for her parents. Second, she wasn’t the type he could mess around with and then move on. Shelby deserved better, and his career didn’t allow for more than fun and done.

What career? The army doesn’t want you anymore, remember?

He frowned at the brutal reminder.

Guess that opened up his relationship possibilities—except for the fact he had nothing to offer her.

Anyone. I’ve got nothing to offer anyone.