Chapter 7
“I think it’s safe to say that this guy is just fine.” As if to thank him for the diagnosis, Duke bounced up to give Sebastian a sloppy kiss.
Paisley released a slow breath, finally able to let go of one fear. “Thank you. I know it was probably an overreaction, but I just... He’s my baby. If anything happened to him, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Nonsense, of course you were worried,” Laurel soothed, squeezing her shoulder. Sebastian’s fiancée was a take-charge, no-nonsense sort of woman. Paisley didn’t really know why she was here, but having another woman around was comforting. “He’s a total sweetheart of a pup.”
“I’ve always loved that he’s never met a stranger. But now... Obviously, I need to keep a closer eye on him.”
Sebastian scruffed Duke’s ears, frowning. “Are you sure he didn’t know whoever did this?”
That was an even more horrifying thought. That someone she knew might be behind all this. “I’m not sure of anything.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Ty assured her. He’d been totally locked down since the conversation with Joel, but she could see the simmer of temper underneath in the leashed power of his body. He was pissed she’d kept him in the dark and pissed about the situation in general, but she had to admit to feeling better that he knew. She had no idea what he’d be able to do that Metro PD hadn’t already tried, but he seemed so terrifyingly capable. Or maybe that was her inherent romanticism casting him in hero-colored glasses.
Another knock sounded.
Sebastian straightened. “Ah, that’ll be the cavalry. I figured I’d go ahead and get them en route since you choose to live at the ass end of the county.”
“The rest of who?” Paisley asked.
Ty opened the door, all calm, collected, and in control. “Thanks for coming.”
Harrison and Ivy stepped inside.
“I didn’t know you were back from your honeymoon!”
“Only just.” As Harrison accepted Duke’s enthusiastic greeting, Ivy came straight over and wrapped Paisley in a hug. “It’s good to see you, girl. We didn’t get to catch up at the wedding. But I guess you were sufficiently entertained.” One corner of her mouth twitched, and she arched her brows in question.
“Something like that.” She knew perfectly well there’d be a more overt demand for details later.
“Any word back from the detective?” Harrison asked.
She shifted her attention to Ty. “You already told them?”
“Only the essentials, which is all I know. You’re about to tell us all of it.” Without batting an eye, he turned back to Harrison. “To answer your question, the house was locked but there are scratches around the door where the lock was probably picked. Alarms didn’t go off. I’ll get both of those taken care of tomorrow when we get to Nashville and meet with Detective Fisher.”
The men nodded, as if this made complete sense.
Paisley crossed her arms. “Excuse me?”
Ty shrugged. “There’s no reason to go tonight. Metro PD has eyes on your house, and we already know whoever did it is likely closer to here than there.”
She blinked, trying to process. “You’re going back to Nashville with me?”
“Of course.” His mouth pulled down, as if he was annoyed the thought hadn’t occurred to her. “I want a look at things myself and to talk to Fisher about the case in person. And you need to get more clothes before we come back here.”
“Come back here,” she repeated, her head spinning.
“You’re staying with me until this is resolved.”
If Ty noticed the others’ startled reactions to his announcement, he didn’t show it. He didn’t even seem to be aware of her rising level of annoyance.
“I’m what now?”
“It makes the most sense. You can work anywhere, and I can protect you better here. My town. My turf.”
She waited to see if he’d add his woman. But of course, he didn’t. He was too busy orchestrating her life like some kind of op, as if she were a chess piece on a board instead of a person with wants, desires, and opinions of her own.
“I didn’t ask you for any of this.” Considering there was a potent blend of temper and anxiety kicking through her, Paisley thought she kept her tone admirably even.
“Yeah. And we’ll talk about that later.”
A headache started to claw its way up the back of her neck as the temper won out. She paced a short circuit behind the couch, waving her hand at him. “It’s like Keith Rimmer all over again. You just decided to handle it with no input from me.”
Ty snorted. “He never bothered you again.”
“You broke his nose!”
“He grabbed your ass. I was just supposed to let that go?”
Sebastian raised a hand. “Uh, did you two have an even busier few weeks than I realized?”
“High school,” Paisley bit out. “He did it in high school.”
“Wait, you two knew each other in high school?” Laurel asked.
“We dated for most of it.” The array of “Oh’’s that went around the room made Paisley wonder what Ty might have said about her without using her actual name. That was a question for another time. “In case it’s escaped your notice, we aren’t in high school anymore, Tyson. I’m not yours to protect.”
He closed the distance between them so fast, she stumbled back a step. He didn’t touch her, but she could feel the heat of temper rolling off him in waves. His voice was low, lethal. “If you think I’m capable of walking away again, you are sorely mistaken.”
Her body leapt to attention at the promise and possession in his words. God, she wanted that. Wanted him. But she knew better than to trust it. He’d made it very clear after the wedding that he had nothing to offer.
Don’t make promises you
