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James

I’ll allow it. Family comes first.

Rafe

I’ll figure something out.

West

She shouldn’t be alone.

Rafe

I know. Leave it to me.

CHAPTER30

WEST

Turns out, when your best friend’s little sister tells you she’s a virgin who wantsyourhelp with practicing intimacy, it’s a little hard to concentrate on work the next day.

Guilt makes me avoid the group chat, where Rafe and Alex are talking polo. I know well what taking care of his siblings means to him. And here I am… doing something he’d consider a betrayal and not finding the strength to stop it.

I have meetings in the city and another call with the investors from Japan. Nora is busy too. She informed me early this morning, when she was getting ready to go for another run with her guards, that she has a meeting of her own that night. She’s having dinner with my sister.

“You two have become real friends, haven’t you?” I hadn’t been able to resist. I pulled at her ponytail, wound it around my fingers, and kissed her in the grand foyer.

She kissed me back, mouth soft and open against mine, before pushing me away. “Yes,” she said with a smile. “And no more, thank you. I have places to be.”

“Run fast.”

“I always do.”

I watched her walk down the steps in a pair of leggings that hugged her long legs and pert ass. Sam and Madison were standing beside her, caps pulled low. They both met my eye and gave a short nod.Protect her, I thought.

I know she doesn’t want to stay cooped up forever. That it’s important for her to still live her life. But I couldn’t relax until I had confirmation that she’d returned to Fairhaven.

I don’t see her for the rest of the day.

My dinner is with investors visiting Fairhaven, as boring as it is necessary. They’re charmed by the place, by the old grandeur, and I nod politely at their questions. They stay longer than I want them to, playing pool in the library. Clapping me on the shoulder like we’re friends.

When I finally walk up the stairs that night, I know Nora is back home from her own dinner; my head of security informed me.

It’s late. She must have gone to bed.

I slow down when I pass the door to her rooms. It’s almost natural, by now, to be attuned to her. To listen to where she is.

That’s when I hear it.

A muffled groan.

I’m by the door in two quick strides. “Nora?”

There’s a loud yelp in response. I push open the door and find it unlocked. Her living room is empty. Is her stalker inside?How?I stride into the open doorway to her bedroom, my hands already fisted at my sides.

Nora is alone. Lying on her bed.

Her eyes lock with mine. “Oh my god!”