Dominated (The Enforcers 2)

Drake scowled. “She won’t be wandering around the city without several men on her. She goes nowhere without protection, and guards will be posted at the apartment when she’s there alone during the day.”

“You realize the most expedient way to give credence to the rumors of your serious attachment to Evangeline would be to show up to a society function with her on your arm,” Hartley mused. “You’ve never brought a woman to any of the events you’ve attended. The few times you choose to attend a function, you’re always a lone wolf and very unapproachable. I imagine that alone would cause quite a stir. Add in the planted seeds of a serious relationship with Evangeline and you’ll have the entire city buzzing.”

Drake stiffened, his jaw clenched tight to the point of pain. He didn’t like the idea of using Evangeline or of trotting her out like a show pony just to get his point across. Fuck. But Hartley also made a solid point. If he wanted it spread far and wide that Evangeline was his pampered, cherished queen and that anyone fucking with her would die a very painful death, then he had to offer concrete evidence and not just talk. Actions had to back up the words.

Which meant an evening in polite company, rubbing elbows with people he despised or who despised him, people who wanted his backing and financial support in their latest schemes or simply people whom he found tedious and fake. None of the scenarios were appealing. And exposing Evangeline to a veritable viper’s nest left an acid taste in his mouth. She didn’t deserve to be mocked and bullied, and she damn sure didn’t deserve to be tormented and persecuted because of her lack of social status.

He liked and respected that she was fresh and unspoiled by greed and ambition. She was as genuine as they came, someone a month ago he would have never believed existed, or rather only existed in the realm of too good to be true. He’d become jaded and cynical at a very young age—he’d had no choice. But Evangeline was a breath of fresh air. Nothing like he’d ever encountered before. She made him believe that there was actual goodness in the world, however limited in quantity.

She was as he’d dubbed her, an . . . angel. Good to her bones and incapable of deception and betrayal. Jesus. He was starting to sound like an infatuated, starry-eyed prepubescent kid without a fucking clue about how the real world worked.

It was Evangeline who didn’t have a firm grasp on humanity and its devious nature, and it was his duty to shield her from those who would think nothing of tearing her apart and taking advantage of her inherent goodness.

He inwardly grimaced. It sounded like he was criticizing Evangeline. Like she had a flaw and was too stupid to live, when nothing could be further from the truth. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a grasp on reality. She had firsthand experience courtesy of her first lover and now Drake, the man who’d vowed never to hurt her. She was just extremely sweet and chose to see the good in people and not the bad until she had no other choice. Her heart was too tender, and that was where she needed someone to protect her from those who would take advantage of her generous spirit.

“Some of you will go with us,” Drake ordered. “It’s not optional. I’m not throwing her to the wolves, and you and I both know they’d take her apart and enjoy doing it. She will be surrounded by me and a group of you the entire time and no one, and I mean no one, will get through you to her and fill her head full of shit or make her feel like she doesn’t belong or I’ll have your balls.”

“It’s the bitches you’ll have to be on the lookout for. Much more so than any men,” Maddox stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “As soon as the women whom you’ve tossed or outright rejected see her on your arm, when no woman is ever on your arm, the claws are going to come out and they’ll try to tear her to shreds.”

The others nodded solemnly in agreement.

“Which is why you will all form an impenetrable barrier around her and head off anyone who attempts to get to her,” Drake said emphatically.

Zander groaned. “Jesus. Does this mean I have to wear a damn monkey suit?”

Thane snickered. “If the rest of us have to suffer, then so do you.”

“This is no joking matter,” Drake said, his expression stony. “Evangeline is to be protected at all costs. I will not have her abused or humiliated ever again. If anyone gets by you, then you answer to me. Are we clear?”