Closing the distance between us, I sat down beside her. “Ignore him. He comes off as an asshole, but when he warms up to you, he’s a good guy to have around.”

  She said nothing but looked at me as if she wasn’t so sure about that. Tonight had been too much for her. The sadness in those eyes was killing me. She needed rest.

  “There is a bedroom across the hall. Do you want to try and get some sleep?” I asked her.

  Her eyes darted to my door with panic, and she tightened her arms around her legs. “I … I don’t want to be alone.” She struggled with her words.

  “Would you feel better in my bed? And I’ll sleep here on the sofa.”

  Those big emerald eyes stared at me with relief. “I can sleep on the sofa.”

  “No. I want you in the bed,” I told her, standing and going to pull back the covers before turning and gently tugging on her arms to let go of the death grip she had on her legs.

  She gave me her hand and let her legs slide from the sofa to the floor.

  I dropped down to my haunches and tugged off her Converse. Her feet were as perfect as the rest of her, complete with cotton-candy-pink toenails. Setting her shoes to the side, I stood up and pulled her with me. I took my jacket off her and tossed it on the sofa.

  “Get in bed and try to sleep. I won’t leave you,” I told her.

  She obediently climbed in and slid under the covers. I pulled the comforter over her and fought the urge to kiss her cheek. She was vulnerable, and I didn’t want her to confuse my actions for anything more than my wanting to protect her. This was the first time I’d had any involvement in saving a vulnerable, lost woman, and, well, let’s just say the protective streak was surprising me too.

  I moved back to the sofa and sank down on it while watching her lie there with her back to me. What the fuck was I going to do with her? It would be a few more hours before the background check was fully complete. When I had that in my hands, I would know more.

  I could make a plan for her future. Maybe get her set up in a place of her own, somewhere far away from Ocala. Get her the fuck out of Florida. A different life, where she would be safe.

  The sound of whimpering woke me, and I sat up from my slumped-over position on the sofa. I’d fallen asleep sitting up, watching Aspen sleep. The sound grew louder, and then a wail followed it as Aspen began to thrash in the bed.

  Fuck! I kicked off my boots and climbed on the bed, pulling her against my chest.

  “You’re safe, sweetheart. It’s okay. I’ve got you,” I whispered as my heart began to race in my chest.

  I continued to soothe her, saying whatever I could think of, until she calmed in my arms. Her eyes fluttered before she opened them and stared up at me.

  “Bad dream,” I told her. “You’re okay. I’m still here.”

  She continued to stare up at me, studying me, as if she wasn’t sure who I was and why she was here. I wondered if she was even truly awake. Her eyes began to close again, and once she was breathing normally, I started to release her and get up.

  “No!” Her panicked voice startled me. “Don’t go. Please.”

  I nodded before settling back in. Her hands fisted my shirt, and she inhaled deeply, as if she liked smelling me.

  “Whiskey smoke,” she murmured, then sighed as she drifted off to sleep again.

  I stayed that way, watching her. What she had gone through tonight would haunt her for a long time. That realization bothered me when I thought of my plans to move her away and start a new life for herself.

  Who would be there when the nightmares came? Or was this just tonight? Would they continue?

  Fuck, this was a mess.

  I was not the guy who took care of women. Well, other than making them scream with orgasms. That was where it ended for me. I wasn’t a caretaker. I wasn’t even fucking nice.

  Why was I being so damn protective over this girl I didn’t know? Was it because she was young, or did I feel like I owed it to Kitty since I’d been there when she was shot?

  It wasn’t like I was going to keep her. That was laughable. I didn’t keep females. No attachments. But I also couldn’t just let Aspen go without any help. I wasn’t a complete monster. About twenty percent of me was semi-good.

  Seven

  Levi

  A knock on the door woke me, and I opened my eyes to see the early morning sunlight coming through the curtains. Slowly, I eased away from Aspen, not wanting to disturb her, and made my way to the door. I opened it, then stepped out, closing it behind me while looking at Huck, who didn’t appear angry any longer.

  “Yeah?” I asked him.

  He held up a stack of papers. “This came. You need to read it.”

  The background check on Aspen. I took it from him, ready to find out something that would help me with figuring out what to do with Aspen’s future.

  “Bring it down to the kitchen. Trinity has breakfast ready,” he told me.

  We made our way downstairs silently. The papers in my hand seemed to have defused Huck’s temper, which meant I’d been right about her. He had looked it over and found no reason for alarm. The fact that he’d thought she’d be dangerous in the first place was ludicrous. She was like a damn porcelain doll. You couldn’t be fucking dangerous and look like that.

  The smell of bacon, cinnamon rolls, biscuits, and other items filled the kitchen. Trinity enjoyed making large breakfasts, which Gage claimed was the only thing he missed about living here. He and his girlfriend, Shiloh, had recently moved into a smaller house he’d had built for them on the property. He hadn’t liked not having his privacy with Shiloh. Kye had mentioned hearing Shiloh scream out during sex once, and Gage had almost choked him out. The fucker was insane, but when it came to Shiloh, he was batshit crazy.

  Since we always had the big breakfasts, I wasn’t surprised by Gage’s presence at the table when I entered. Kye wasn’t there though, and I realized I’d never checked to see if he’d returned last night.

  “Kye made it home, right?” I asked.

  Huck nodded. “He’s still in bed. He stayed with Liam until the club was emptied last night.”

  Wanting to read the report first, I walked over to the table and pulled out a chair, then sat down. I flipped through it, glad it wasn’t very thick, before starting on the first page.

  Aspen Rain Chance, born December 26, 2002, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

  Parents—Misty Teresa Graves and Theo Frank Chance—killed in a boating accident on July 4, 2005.

  Fuck, she’d not even been three years old yet when she lost her parents.

  Sister: Irish Rose Chance, born July 10, 1996.

  Address: 382B Holland Drive, Ocala, Florida.

  I continued reading and found her father had been a foster child, no living adoptive parents. Her grandmother had raised them and died almost three months ago in Robertsdale, Alabama.

  Medical conditions: Ebstein’s anomaly—genetic heart defect. Underwent surgery at the age of eight years old.

  My stomach dropped as I read the lists of hospital stays she’d gone through in her life. The most recent being forty-three days ago. Holy fuck.

  She’d been homeschooled, no college. Volunteered since the age of fifteen in the pediatric unit at the local hospital, a girls’ shelter, a church-run food shelter. She had sung in the Baptist church choir. A short relationship one year ago with a Brent McCumber. Only paid job had been as a secretary at Gibs and Horton law firm for the past two years until she was hospitalized, then moved to Ocala to live with her sister.

  “Seems you brought home Mother Teresa,” Gage drawled from across the table.

  I lifted my eyes from the report in front of me to meet his.

  He smirked at me. “Huck feels like a dick. He’s not saying it, but I was there when he read it.”

  I dropped my gaze back to the paper. The heart defect was gnawing at my gut.

  What did that mean exactly? Why had she been hospitalized so damn much?

  I went on to read about her cardiologist and her regular appointments with him.

  A hand touched my shoulder, and my head snapped up to see Trinity standing there with a plate of food for me.

  “You need to eat,” she said, placing it in front of me. “And Huck is sorry he was an ass last night.”

  I set the papers down, feeling like a ton of bricks had just been dropped on my chest. What did I do with this? She hadn’t been exaggerating when she said she had no one. Her life had been fucking sheltered. How the hell had that happened with a sister like Kitty?

  “My old room is empty,” Gage pointed out. “Looks like she needs a place to live for the time being.”

  I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. Fuck, was that what we had to do?

  “I just move her in here?” I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around that plan.

  “Not sure there is anything else we can do,” Huck finally said. “She’s alone. She’s got heart issues, and she’s clearly not well. Not to mention, we don’t know if those bastards are looking for her.”

  The not well thing was bothering me. I didn’t like to think that she had health issues. She had enough bad shit going on. Why that too?

  Gage was right; she was fucking Mother Teresa, and the fucking devil had brought her home.

  “She’s staying here,” Trinity said with clear determination in her voice. “There is no debate on that. You all can figure out the rest, but she can’t live alone, and I won’t allow it.”

  She was taking the decision away from me, and, fuck, I was relieved. The heaviness on my chest eased some, but not completely. I still felt like I’d just taken on a responsibility I wasn’t capable of handling.

  I stood, picking up my plate. “We need to find out where Kitty’s—Irish’s body is and handle a private funeral. Somewhere that we can control the security. Aspen needs to put her sister’s body to rest. I’m going back up there. She doesn’t need to wake up alone.”

  “So, you’re adopting Mother Teresa? Is that the final decision?” Gage asked, amused.

  I glared at him. “Stop calling her that.” Although it fucking fit.

  He smirked, then put a bite of eggs in his mouth.

  I left the room and made my way back upstairs.

  Convincing Aspen that she needed to move in here would be another thing. The house her gran had lived in was still in her name. That had also been in the report. However, letting her go all the way back to Alabama to live alone wasn’t something I could do. Not right now. Not until I knew more about her heart defect. And just how fucking sheltered she was.

  Opening the bedroom door, I walked inside and went over to the sofa with the food Trinity had given me. My appetite was scarce for possibly the first time in my life. Aspen looked healthy. With her long, thick auburn hair, bright green eyes, petite body with the perfect curves, creamy porcelain skin. She did not look sick. I fucking hated the thought that there was something hiding inside of her that could hurt her.

  I put the plate of food on the end table. I couldn’t eat. My stomach hadn’t been okay since I had read the words heart defect, and it had only gotten worse from there.

  Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees and watched her sleep. Her long lashes fanned out over her cheekbones. Those lush lips of hers were slightly parted.

  God, she was gorgeous. How was someone that damn beautiful broken?

  And if there was a God or gods, what had made them think putting something that fucking fragile in my care was the right thing to do? I was the last damn man on the planet that needed to be taking care of her. Precious, innocent, breakable—those were not things I looked for in females, or anyone for that matter.

  Aspen began to stretch, and she had my undivided attention. I watched every move of her body in fascination. This had to be a fucking joke that fate had decided to play on me. Place a woman in my hands to protect and take care of, who possessed every-fucking-thing I loved about a female, then make her something I could never touch. Not the way I craved. She’d never be able to handle my kinks. She was the kind of girl who needed gentle, sweet, caring shit, and I was not that.

  When her eyes slowly opened, I wanted to sigh in relief that she was alive. She was okay. That heart of hers hadn’t done something wrong. Sleepy green pools locked on me, and then she blinked.

  “Morning,” I said, hoping that rest would help her deal with the difficulty that today would bring.

  She licked her lips, and my eyes dropped to watch. Jesus Christ, I had to stop lusting over her. For all I knew, vanilla sex might be more than her heart could handle. Thinking of her sexually was off the table. I had to compartmentalize. Accept she was fucking sexy as hell, but see her as … someone I had to keep safe. Take care of. Never fuck.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked when she continued to stare at me.

  She moved to sit up, and I wanted to curse the angels she looked like when the covers fell to her waist. Those more-than-a-handful tits, barely covered by the satin camisole, were hard to keep my eyes from ogling. Even the outline of nipples that I could make out was tempting.

  “Did you get sleep?” she asked me in a husky voice that made me want to groan.

  “Yeah, I did.”

  She frowned. “Are you sure?”

  Smiling, I nodded. “Positive.”

  I could tell she was concerned about the fact that I was still wearing last night’s clothes. I wasn’t sure she remembered me getting in bed with her and figured it was best not to mention it.

  “Oh no,” she gasped in alarm.

  “What?” I asked, suddenly on edge, worried something I couldn’t see was wrong inside that body of hers.

  “I, uh … I have to take …” She sighed, looking frustrated. “I have medications I need to take. Daily. They’re important.”

  Fuck. Her heart. I’d seen the medications listed on her medical records.

  “Where are they located?” I asked, taking out my phone.

  “The medicine cabinet above the sink in my bathroom,” she replied. “But is it safe? What about that man’s body?”

  That bastard had been taken care of last night. Huck had made that call.

  “That’s not your concern. I’ll get your meds,” I assured her, then walked over and took out a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring and a T-shirt from my dresser. “Put these on until I can get you some clothes. Trinity cooked breakfast, and you need to eat.”

  I didn’t wait for her to say anything more before stepping out of the bedroom to call Six and have him and Bart go get Aspen’s meds and pack up all the clothing and personal items in her room. She had too many things to face today. I wanted her to have her stuff around her.

  Why the fuck had I not thought about the fact that she’d need meds? My own damn heart was going to need meds with the way it was racing.

  Six answered on the second ring, and I began barking out orders.

  Eight

  Aspen

  When I opened the door and stepped out of Levi’s room into the hallway, he was leaning against the opposite wall, texting on his phone. He lifted his head, and his gaze traveled down my body. His sweats were huge on me, but I’d tied them at the waist, and the elastic at the bottom caught the excess length at my ankles. The shirt had fallen to my knees, so I’d tied it in the back.

  “I have your things coming,” he told me. “Let’s go downstairs so you can eat something.”

  He nodded his head toward the direction of the stairs, and I followed behind him. I wanted to ask where I would go today, but I decided to wait for him to tell me. I was nervous about him leaving me with someone new. My dependency on him wasn’t good. I had to get over that. Levi wasn’t responsible for me. He’d gone above and beyond already.

  He reached the bottom step and glanced back at me. “I know you have questions, and I promise we will talk about everything while you eat.”

  “Okay,” I replied, wishing I could tell him I would be fine. That he didn’t need to concern himself.

  There were people I had known in the church back in Robertsdale. I could possibly go back there. Irish had put Gran’s house up for sale, but I still owned it. There was a lot that needed to be replaced that I didn’t have the money for right now. Then, there were the utilities I’d need to pay. When the thought of using Irish’s car, using the money she had in savings, hit me, so did the fact that she was gone.

  The lump in my throat made it hard to swallow.

  The morning sunshine flooded the bright kitchen as we entered. The smell of food, however, did nothing but make my stomach roll. I didn’t want to eat. I wanted to cry. I wanted to see Irish again and tell her I loved her.

  Why hadn’t I hugged her yesterday before she went to work? We’d talked about my new binge-watch, Gilmore Girls, before she left. She told me to order pizza and left me money on the table. I argued with her that I needed to get a job, and she said that she wasn’t comfortable with it yet. Not wanting to fight me on it, she went to leave, calling out that she’d take me to the hospital tomorrow to see about my volunteering. I’d smiled, happy that I was going to serve a purpose again. Not sit there all day and watch television. But I’d do it just to have my sister back.

  “Hello, Aspen,” Trinity said, walking over to me and hugging me as if we were old friends. “I hope you got some sleep.” Letting me go, she reached over and picked up a plate. “Get all that you want. I overdo breakfasts. We always have too much.”

  There was no one else at the table. It was just the three of us in here. As much as I liked Trinity, I hoped her fiancé didn’t come in to eat while I was here. He didn’t like me, and I didn’t want to remind him of my presence.

  “The homemade cinnamon rolls are a favorite. You need one of those,” Levi told me as he came up behind me.

  I was going to have to eat something even if I didn’t feel like it. Not eating wasn’t going to help me fix anything. Taking a cinnamon roll, I put it on my plate, then added some berries and a slice of bacon.