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S omething was wrong with Immy.

And Tobias thought it had everything to do with Jenner. They were both acting . . . weird.

Tobias sat at the kitchen island as Immy made dinner. Sampson was sitting next to him, tapping on his phone.

That’s when Jenner walked in. He froze as he saw Immy. He didn’t even seem to notice the two of them.

“Uh, sorry for interrupting,” Jenner said.

“You weren’t interrupting,” Immy replied. “Did you need something? I was just finishing dinner.”

“No, no, I don’t need anything.”

“Good. Good.” She grabbed out a chopping board, putting it on the counter. “Glad you don’t need anything.”

“Are you watching this?” Tobias whispered to Sampson.

“What the fuck is going on with them?” Sampson grumbled. “Jenner has been doing his best to avoid Immy, kind of hard to do when she’s his assistant.”

“Yeah, I think Immy is doing the same.”

Sampson sighed. “Something happened. And both of them are in fucking denial. This is not what we need.”

No. Especially as Immy was getting paler and more worn looking with each day that passed. He was worried about her.

“Shit,” Sampson said quietly before grabbing a dollar out of his pocket and putting it in the swear jar. “Immy doesn’t look good. She been taking her medication?”

“I guess so,” Tobias replied.

“You guess?” Sampson snapped.

“I don’t actually live in the house,” Tobias reminded him.

“Motherfucker,” Sampson muttered without any real heat. Then he got to his feet and walked around to pick up Immy’s pill dispenser. He glanced over at Immy and Jenner who were still doing their ‘talking but not looking at each’ dance.

“Immy, you taken medication today?” Sampson asked.

Immy immediately started shifting her weight from foot to foot. “I think so?”

“You haven’t,” Sampson snapped.

“Immy,” Jenner said in a low, scolding voice. “You need to take your medication. You know that.”

Shit.

Wrong tactic to take, man.

Immy’s gaze narrowed, her face filling with temper. Tobias braced himself for her explosion. Instead, the knife she’d been holding slid through her fingers.

Fuck!

Did she just cut herself?

“Immy!” Jenner cried, jumping forward to grab her around the hips.

He picked her up and set her on the counter.

Tobias rushed around the island to check on Immy.

Jenner was speaking to her in a low, calming voice as he studied her hand.

She’d managed to slice the top of her hand open. But it didn’t look that bad.

“Oh, baby. Look what happened,” Jenner crooned. “My poor girl.”

“Hurts,” she whimpered. “I don’t like the blood.”

“I know you don’t. I’m going to get it all cleaned up. Sampson, grab the first-aid kit,” Jenner demanded in a frantic voice.

Hmm. Seemed an overreaction for a small cut.

Tobias fought the urge to push him away and take over. Instead, he studied Immy closely. He saw the way that she stared at Jenner longingly.

Fuck.

He was confident enough to believe that he could make her want him. But would she always have that longing inside her for Jenner?

Jenner finished doctoring her up, then he kissed the top of her hand before freezing. There was a strange look on his face.

One of anguish and fear.

And then he walked out of the kitchen.

“What. The. Fuck! Where does he think he’s going?” Sampson snarled. “Gonna have a word with him.”

“Don’t,” Immy said. “Please, just leave him alone.” Then she slid off the counter and took off as well.

What the fuck was that?

Ten minutes later, Tobias found himself knocking on Immy’s door. He knew that he should likely leave her alone. But he couldn’t stop worrying about her.

Not to mention that she still hadn’t taken her damn pills. He had them in his pocket.

To his surprise, she opened the door dressed in a tight top, black jacket and ripped jeans.

This wasn’t an Immy look.

She favored flowy skirts and dresses. Pastel colors. Not black and white. Had he even seen her in jeans?

“Immy?”

“I’m going out. I need a drink.”

“You’re going out? You need a drink?”

Yes, he knew he sounded like an idiot, repeating what she said. But he couldn’t stop himself.

“Yes.”

“Not without me, you aren’t,” he told her firmly.

“Good. You can drive.” She held out her key to him. “Let’s go.”

“We can’t just go.”

“Why not?” she asked. “Who is going to stop us?”

“I’m going to stop you,” he told her firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Her lower lip started to tremble.

Uh-uh. Nope. He was not falling for that.

They were not going out and that was that.

Tobias parked in front of a nondescript building and stared out the windshield at it. “You wanna go here?”

“Yep. Here.” She undid her belt and reached for her door handle.

He shot out his arm and placed it over her chest. “Wait there. You know the rules.”

Immy sighed and he shot her a firm look. He wasn’t putting up with any sass. Somehow, she’d gotten him to agree to bring her to this bar for a drink. But that did not mean that she got to be in charge.

“Before we go in, there are a few rules.”

Immy groaned and banged her head against the headrest. “For a badass, you sure do like rules. Aren’t badassess badasses because they don’t play by the rules?”

“Not sure that made sense. And badasses can have rules, for the sassy girls they’re charged with protecting.”

“I am not sassy. I’m sweet! Sweet, darn it.”

He had to hide his grin. She was glaring at him like he’d told her that she couldn’t have Twizzlers for a week. Something, he’d learned, she did not take well.

“You’re very sweet,” he told her in a quiet voice.

She grunted. “Darn right I’m sweet. Like sugar. I’d give you cavities if you had too much of me.”

He’d risk it.

“There’re still rules.”

She groaned. “All right. Hit me with them.”

“You stay next to me at all times.”

“Are any of these rules going to be different from the normal rules? Because I remember them.”

“What are they?”

“Don’t move more than an arm’s length away from you. If I have to go to the toilet, you need to check it first. No taking anything from anyone but you. No opening my own door. No getting out of the car until you tell me. And, basically, I have to do whatever you say.”

“Good. Can see we’re on the same page.”

He got out and glanced around. This was not the safest looking neighborhood.

It was also a place he could feel right at home. However, it wasn’t somewhere he thought that Immy should be.

How had she even found this place? The only signage was a board on the door that said Fred’s Bar.

What a name.

But he didn’t sense any issues, so he walked around and opened her door, holding out his hand. “Let’s go, Immy. Still can’t believe I agreed to this.”

Tobias shut the door to her vehicle and led her to the door. “Are you sure this place is safe?”

“Of course it is. Stop being such a worrywart.” She actually patted his arm.

As they walked in, everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at them. This place was even more of a dive on the inside that it had been on the outside.

And he hadn’t thought that was possible.

Where did all these people come from? Had they stopped in here on their way home from work?

“Immy,” he said in a low voice. “We need to leave.” He was confident of his ability to defend her, but there were at least half a dozen guys in here who were armed.

“What? No. I don’t want to leave. Hey, guys. How are you all?” She waved at everyone, then moved toward the bar. Before he realized it, she was at least five feet away from him.

Oh no.

That wasn’t happening. He quickly moved toward her, wrapping a hand around her wrist to bring her to a stop. “What do you think you’re doing? What was the rule?”

“Oh. Oops.” She shot him a look over her shoulder. “My bad.”

Her bad?

Nope. That wasn’t going to fly. But before he could scold her and decide on an appropriate punishment, the guy at the table in front of them stood up. He had to be six-foot-eight and well over two hundred pounds. His hair was shaved close to his scalp and he had a facial tattoo on his right cheek.

And he was scowling right at Tobias.

Tobias straightened. Fuck. He should never have allowed Immy to talk him into this. What was he thinking?

He’d been thinking that she looked so sad and he just wanted to see her smile . . . that’s what he’d been thinking.

And now they were both in trouble.

“Immy, get behind me. Now.”

“Why? What’s going on?” She glanced around in confusion.

Holy. Fuck.

This girl should never be allowed outside. At all.

“Immy? This fuckwit bothering you?” the behemoth asked in a low, rumbling voice.

Wait. He knew Immy’s name?

“Hey, Jase, how you rocking?” Immy said cheerfully. “And no, Tobias is my bodyguard.”

Jase? She knew him? And seriously, his name was Jase? He looked more like a Rock or a Boulder than a Jase.

“Don’t like the way he just grabbed you,” Jase rumbled.

“That’s because I’m not supposed to go more than an arm’s length away from him. My bad.”

Jase turned his attention on her. “Yeah? That so?”

“Uh-huh. Tobias is a total badass, but he really enjoys making rules. I think he might have a bit of a problem, but I won’t tell him.”

Tobias rolled his eyes briefly to the ceiling. Did she seriously think he couldn’t hear her?

And, oh fuck, he just realized that he’d just adopted her habit of looking to the sky for help.

“Do not have a problem, Cherry,” he growled at her, tugging her closer. “And we’re leaving.”

“But I just got here!” she cried. “I haven’t even had my diet soda.”

“Get you a diet soda at home.”

“But Amos puts lime in it.”

“Immy, why do you need a bodyguard?” another guy called out.

“I don’t. Not really. My friends are just being overprotective because some guy kidnapped another my friends and he had this tattoo, which was the same tattoo that the Sentinels in the Children of the Divine had.

Which is the cult I grew up in. So now we’re not sure what’s going on or how this relates to the cult. ”

Tobias stared down at her in shock. What the hell had she just said? And did she seriously think anyone was going to understand her?

But, to his shock, people in the room nodded as though they did actually understand.

“That’s not good, Immy,” another rough guy called out.

“Yeah. We’re hoping this guy was just someone who was obsessed with the cult. But until we know for sure, I’ve got Tobias with me. He’s all right. Except for all his rules.”

Everyone stared at Tobias.

“Doesn’t look like any bodyguard I’ve ever met,” Jase said.

Tobias glared at them all. “We’re leaving, Immy.”

“Please. We’re here now, can’t we stay? This place is safe.”

Was she delusional? This place was far from safe.

“Gonna take a wild stab and guess the others don’t know you come here,” he said.

A smug look filled her face and he braced himself.

“Actually, Isaiah has been here with me.”

Then Isaiah was an idiot. He didn’t know him as well as the others but what the hell?

“He shouldn’t have let you come here,” he said.

Whirling, she put her hands on her hips as she glared up at him. “Let me? Let me?”

Tobias leaned in so they were eye-to-eye. “Yes, let you. As in allow you to come here. He should have picked you up, carried you out, and smacked your ass for the trouble.”

She gasped so hard that she actually stumbled backward. “How dare you! Isaiah would never smack my ass and he doesn’t let me do anything. The guys aren’t in charge of me.” She actually stomped her foot on the floor. “And neither are you, you overgrown baboon!”

Oh, this girl.

She was definitely in need of a good spanking. And his hand itched to deliver it. Seemed like her friends let her get away with murder.

Well, some of them. He had to admit he didn’t know Isaiah as good as he did the others. But he didn’t think Sampson or Jenner would allow her to come here. Abe was harder to read.

“Whoa, girl, you tell him,” Jase hooted.

“Look on his face, he’s wishing they were somewhere private,” someone else said.

“Yeah, but do ya think he wants to kiss her or spank her?”

“We’re going,” he said quietly, giving her a firm look. “Like it or not, I am in charge of you, Immy. And this place isn’t safe.”

Another loud gasp. Boy, this girl could do drama.

“Not safe? Tell me how it isn’t safe.” She waved a hand around. “No one here would hurt me. Right, guys?”

“Right, Immy,” someone yelled out. He glanced over to find someone cleaning their nails with a huge knife.

“You tell him!” someone else called out.

“Of course this place is safe,” Jase said. “Why would we hurt Immy? She’s our little doll.”

“Aww, thanks, Jase. You’re always so sweet to me. See, Tobias? Everyone here is really lovely. Let’s get a drink.”

As she turned her back on him, Jase scowled at Tobias. He pointed to his own eyes, then at Tobias. And he followed up that threat with a slice of his hand across his throat.

Right. Well. That was crystal clear.

What Jase didn’t realize was that Tobias didn’t scare. He never hesitated to do what needed to be done. And if he had to take Jase out to protect Immy . . . then that’s exactly what he’d do.

Without any regrets.

Jase watched him, then nodded slowly as though he could hear his thoughts. And approved.

Tobias caught up to Immy, who had once again wandered off.

This girl.

He wrapped an arm around her as she went to climb onto a stool. Then, picking her up, he carried her over to a table at the back of the room.

“Hey!” she cried. “What are you doing?”

As soon as he set her down on a chair, she attempted to get back up. Reaching out, he placed a hand on her thigh.

“Stay here or we go home.”

“But I like to sit at the bar.”

“Here or home.”

She turned to stare at him. Obviously, whatever she saw in his face had her settling back into her chair. “Fine. Guess we’re sitting here. Doesn’t have the same ambience, though. And, truthfully, I don’t know how clean these chairs are.”

He shot her an incredulous look. The whole bar was dirty, of course the chairs were as well.

“I didn’t even have a chance to see if my friend, Dev, is here.” She glanced around. “Doesn’t look like it. You know, you’re being very grouchy.”

“Am I?” he gritted out.

“Yes. And bossy.”

“That so?”

“Kind of domineering. Anyone ever tell you that you can be grouchy, bossy, and domineering?”

“I’ve heard it once or twice,” he muttered. “You heard that you’re sassy and disobedient?”

“Never.” She smiled sweetly at him.