To Love and Protect (Must Love Diamonds 4)

“I’ll meet you there,” he repeated sharply.

She frowned, but got back in and followed him the rest of the way to her parents’ house. The steering took considerable effort even from him, and he could see where if she wasn’t expecting it, she wouldn’t have been able to make that turn. He called Reyes to meet him at the garage of the main house and see if there was an empty stall.

All the family cars were parked in the huge horseshoe drive in front of the main entrance, but Dev drove around to the back. His brother waited outside one of the open garage doors, and he pulled Shelby’s SUV into the empty space.

Reyes met him at the driver’s side when he got out, and he asked him to confirm what he thought he’d seen under the hood. A moment later, his brother’s solemn gaze rose to his, and he nodded as Shelby joined them.

“I appreciate the help, Dev, but you guys don’t have to bother with my car. I’ll call our mechanic to come deal with it.”

Dev pushed up from the engine and faced her. “Who has access to your vehicle?”

Her brow dipped down as her gaze shifted to the engine, Reyes, and then back to him. “What? Why?”

“Your power steering fluid line looks like it’s been tampered with.”

Her eyes widened, and her face paled. “Tampered with?”

“Cut.”

“Seriously?”

Reyes nodded when she glanced at him, and then she frowned at the engine again. “I, um…I have an indoor garage bay at my apartment, and the building is gated with good security. My dad made sure of that.”

“You live alone?” Dev asked. “No roommate?”

She shook her head as she crossed her arms over her stomach. The way she hunched her shoulders it appeared she was trying to hide and his gut tightened. He’d bet money she was lying about something.

Chapter 4

Shelby swallowed hard as nausea welled up inside. She’d hoped the little incidences she’d been dealing with over the past few months were nothing, or not connected, and it would all just go away. Instead, the situation was only getting worse.

“What about at work?” Reyes asked. “Do you have any issues with co-workers?”

She shook her head numbly. Was she really having this conversation? “No. And the animal hospital has a regular parking lot, but it’s pretty open. I can’t imagine someone doing something where anyone might see them.”

“You’d be surprised what people will do,” Dev said roughly.

His cold tone sent a shiver down her spine. She knew he’d seen his share of evils people were capable of, but she didn’t get why he seemed angry at her. Like before, when she’d said she’d call her brothers to help, and he’d accused her of treating him like a cripple. She hadn’t wanted to impose on him when her family was only a half-mile away, but he hadn’t given her much of a chance to explain.

“Who was following you last night?”

She jerked her gaze to Dev’s, surprised he’d remembered that.

Reyes leaned against the bumper with a frown. “Someone was following you?”

Hugging her arms tighter over her stomach, she shrugged uncomfortably. “I think so, though I had hoped it was just that I’ve been feeling a little paranoid lately.”

“Why?” Dev demanded.

“It’s stupid really.”

“What happened, Shelby?”

Clearly, he wasn’t going to let up on the interrogation until he got an answer. And yes, his intensity definitely made it feel like an interrogation.

“I got flowers a couple times without a card. At work, and once at home. And there were some hang up calls from numbers I don’t know, but I figured they were telemarketers.”

“That’s it?” Reyes asked at the same time Dev demanded, “What else?”