Page 17 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

“Cutting ties?” Seth asked. “Or was he not happy with their work?”

“I’m sure that’s something only the killer can answer,” Kap said. “But it could be both. Since they are guns for hire, the biggest questions are who hired them and why.

Seth crossed his arms over his chest. “This case is irritating me.” He glanced at Ryan.

“I want you to go over to Keely’s. Cat’s over there right now, but I know Alpha has drills this weekend to get ready for that big PacRim conference.

We could call in the US Marshals, but they can be a pain in the ass, and it will take them a while to get here. ”

“Do you think she’s in danger?” Rami asked.

Seth was staring straight at Ryan when he answered, “I have no idea, but I don’t like this thing one bit. If these three were killed because the person in charge wanted to cut ties, that might be worrisome.”

He read his captain’s implied warning.

If they had been killed because they hadn’t succeeded, Keely might be in danger.

He nodded, knowing that he would do anything to keep that woman safe. He would just need to keep his hands off her.

The house was too quiet. Her mother wasn’t puttering around the house, and her father was no longer bellowing out orders that no one paid attention to. Keely looked around her kitchen and sighed. She already missed her parents, and her heart was back in Texas because of her grandmother.

“You should relax,” Cat Kalakau said. Then she winced. “Sorry. That’s easier said than done.”

The other woman was small in stature, but there was definitely strength in her.

A person could almost sense it. Long, silky, dark hair was pulled up into a bun.

She wore no makeup, or none that Keely could detect.

She had told Keely she was a mix of Hawaiian and Asian, and she was married to Drew Franklin, who was also in TFH.

There seemed to be a lot of relationships within the group.

“No worries. My father irritates me when he’s around. If you hadn’t noticed, he can be a bit of an autocrat.”

Cat’s mouth twitched. “Yeah. I noticed.”

But Keely felt guilty. Why? She was worrying more about Ryan than her grandmother. How fucked up was that?

“I’m sorry that you had to come out here. I really could be by myself.”

She had lived by herself in New York City for goodness' sake. She had closed lots of nights at the restaurant and walked the streets alone to get home.

She shrugged. “My husband was called out to the scene.”

Again, Keely looked around the kitchen. She needed something to do, something to keep her mind off everything. She was worried about her grandmother. She was concerned about everything to do with the Saturday night attack.

She was so close to losing it, but at that minute, Cat cocked her head to the side. “We have company.”

Before her father left, he had Dillon do a rush job of updates to her security. She still wasn’t sure if it would actually help anything, but it made her father feel better.

Keely grabbed her phone and saw a familiar truck park beside Cat’s car.

“It’s Ryan.”

Cat nodded. “I knew he was coming, but the scene was over in Makaha. Took him a bit to get here.”

Crime scene. She’d left that first word out, probably trying her best to settle Keely’s nerves. The doorbell rang. Keely walked over to open the door. Ryan stood on the stoop, his expression grim. Maya looked up at her.

“Hey, you two.”

For a second, she stared at them, her whole world seeming to settle.

It was odd that she had just met Ryan, and he seemed to bring her so much happiness.

In all the years she was with Chad, she didn’t know if she’d felt this way about him.

Maybe at first? And maybe, his cheating and general douchiness had made her forget.

Then she realized that she was standing there gazing at Ryan like an idiot.

“Come on in.”

She stepped back and let them come in.

“Hey,” Cat said. “How was the scene?”

“A mess that has now been handed off to us.”

“I would rather deal with that than drills. They’re the worst.”

“It’s the last year for y’all to handle it at least.”

She was looking between the two of them. Cat apparently realized they were talking around Keely.

“We have a big security conference coming up with a ton of different countries. Our next team to activate will handle it once they are fully ready.”

“Ah.”

“Thanks for keeping an eye on Keely,” Ryan said.

Great. He was talking about her like she was just part of the job. Which she was. She had to remember that, so she didn’t get distracted by her attraction to Ryan.

“Are you kidding me? I got cookies and a pic with her father. Win-win.”

“Thanks for coming over, Cat,” she said, smiling at the woman. She had done her best to calm Keely's nerves.

“I’m going to walk Cat out.”

Which meant there were things that he wanted to say or ask that he couldn’t do in front of Keely. Even though she was a little irritated by it, she nodded. Maya didn’t follow him out.

“Did you like your biscuits?” she asked the dog. Maya tilted her head like she understood what Keely had just asked. “I have more in the cabinet. Do you think Ryan would be upset if I gave you some?”

The dog was staring at Keely like she was the best thing in the world. She had to admit, it made her feel like she was the best thing in the world.

“Okay, this can be our secret.” She went to the pantry and pulled out a bag of dog biscuits. “Which do you like better?”

She pulled out one of each and held them out. Maya, who had followed her, sat down and looked between the two treats. Then, she gently took the peanut butter one.

“Yeah, those are the ones other dogs liked more, too.”

Then she reached out and scratched Maya’s ears. She’d hoped that Ryan was coming with good information, but from his grim expression, he evidently didn’t have any. Keely just wondered if there was any chance of her life going back to normal.

“Keely’s wound tight,” Cat said as they walked to her Mustang. “Before her parents left, she hid it better, but once they were gone, she’s been a little on edge.”

Ryan nodded. He understood that she had a lot on her plate. Not only had she been at a murder scene, but her grandmother was in the hospital.

“Do we know what happened with her grandmother?”

“Tutu.”

He frowned. “What?”

“We—meaning Hawaiians—call our grandparents tutu. And yes. Unfortunately, she fell and broke her hip.”

Again, he rolled his shoulders.

“You need to take her mind off of everything. I tried, but I don’t think I’m her favorite TFH member.”

Cat was blinking up at him innocently. He knew better. The woman was the best sharpshooter he had ever seen, and she was brilliant.

“How much do you have running on the bet?”

“What?” Her tone was filled with mock outrage. “I don’t gamble.”

“You and everyone else at TFH need to understand that I don’t believe in crossing the line with victims. Had a bad experience with it in LA. Don’t want to go down that road again.”

Her face softened. “I don’t think you need to worry about that with Keely.”

“You know?”

“I do, but I don’t think there are many on the team—mine or yours—that do. One thing I learned was that holding back like that from your family isn’t good. And just like Lilo said, we are O’hana, whether you like it or not.”

He nodded but said nothing.

“I almost lost Drew, you know? Thought it was my fault. That if I’d stayed away from him, he would be safe. Didn’t work. We can’t control anything in life. That’s a crock.”

The woman was usually not so poignant. “Still, her safety is what is most important.”

She nodded. “Keep telling yourself that lie.”

“It is what is most important.”

“Oh, I get that, it’s just that you’re trying to control the situation. It won’t work, because we’re not in control. Sometimes, it’s nice to let go.” She sighed and opened her car door. “Now, I’m heading back to headquarters since the love of my life is probably helping Elle.”

“Thanks again.”

She gave him a blinding smile and slipped into the car. Ryan watched her drive away, then took his time as he headed back into the house. He stepped inside and heard Keely talking. It took a second for him to realize that she was talking to Maya,

“We aren’t telling Ryan how many biscuits I gave you, okay? We’ll keep it a secret between the two of us.”

His mouth twitched. Maya had had a little nibble in the car, but she hadn’t really had her full dinner yet. That was in his bag, sitting on the counter. He stepped into the doorway and watched Keely and his partner interact.

“Okay, I’ll give you one more, then that’s it. I don’t want you getting a stomachache.”

She had her hair down tonight; the long, thick, dark strands curled slightly at the ends. The t-shirt she was wearing sported the name of a Texas football team, and she was wearing board shorts. No makeup.

She was more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen.

He moved, which drew her attention. She took the bag of treats and hid them behind her back. She looked guilty as hell and sexy as fuck.

“Have you had anything to eat?”

He shook his head, trying to dislodge the need he had for her. He needed his damned brain to control the situation, but since the moment he’d met her, he hadn’t been thinking straight.

“How about I throw together something for you? I made my parents something to eat before they left.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“I’m trying my best to keep my mind off the situation, and I’m trying my best not to ask you any questions about where you went tonight.”

Her worry overwhelmed his own concerns about keeping himself closed off from her. Instead, he walked to her and stopped a few inches from her.

“Ask me.”

Her golden gaze flashed up to his.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble. Like, don’t you have to keep some of the investigation secret?”

“I’ll tell you no if I need to.” Even as he said it, he knew he was lying. He would give her anything, and he barely knew her.

“I heard something about a triple homicide?”

He nodded.

“Do you think they’re the guys?”

“Good chance they are.” He would not reveal anything beyond that.

She sighed, then started worrying her bottom lip.

“What’s wrong?”

When she looked up at him, there were unshed tears in her eyes.

Even the night of the attack, she had held it together. Seeing her fall apart at this moment sent alarm racing through him.

“That means there is someone out there.”

Ryan nodded. “We do know the guys never said your name. They were looking for the chef. And remember, they let Ray survive.”

Another sigh. “I hate this fear.”

“You don’t have to be afraid. I know your father improved your security.”

She nodded. “It’s like the first time.”

“In Texas?”

“Yeah. It took me a few months and some therapy to work through it. I’m never going to get to sleep tonight.”

She said the last part as if it were a fact. “I’ll be here. You don’t need to worry.”

She shook her head. “Every time I close my eyes, I hear the shots and the sounds of the men traipsing around the forest after me. I can’t get away from it.”

He stepped closer and pulled her into his arms. He couldn’t think of anything else to do but try his best to comfort her. Just like the night he had found her in that tree, it was like his entire world stopped spinning the moment he touched her.

“I hate being weak.”

“Who called you weak?”

She pushed away from him, and he did not like it. His entire body felt colder. He curled his fingers into his palms to keep himself from grabbing her back.

“I’m calling myself weak. The moment my mommy and daddy had to leave, I started to fall apart.”

He could hear the disgust in her voice. Worse, he could see from her expression that she believed that bullshit.

“You aren’t weak.”

“I am.”

“You held yourself together until your parents left. You knew they were worried about you.” He had seen the way she behaved around her parents. She had done everything with such care, he doubted she realized it. “You did that for them.”

She pressed her lips together.

“It’s one of the things I admire about you, but never think you are weak. You are one of the strongest women I know. And remember, my world includes women like Cat and Nikki.”

“And Autumn.”

“She’s just crazy. And I guess strong, in her own way.”

“I’m standing here falling apart.”

Pain radiated in her voice, and it damned near broke his heart. The fact that this strong woman thought she was weak was just wrong. He stepped closer and pulled her back into his arms.

“You are not falling apart. You are holding it together even now, but Keely, you can let go.”

Keely looked up at him. Tears streamed down her face, her golden eyes filled with such sadness that he wanted to destroy the person who did this to her.

Her spine straightened. She shook her head and stepped away from him again. “No. I can’t take advantage of you.”

He blinked. “What?”

“I get that this is part of your job and you’re here to keep me safe. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

“What are you saying?”

“Please. It’s embarrassing enough that I was practically mauling you. I get it. I’m just a job, and I shouldn’t be bothering you with my issues.”

It was as if her few short sentences tore a hole into every reason he had ever given to keep himself separate from her. She needed to know that there was no way he was just doing this for the job.

He stepped closer to her, crowding her against the counter, as he cupped her face with one hand. He moved his thumb across her cheek—so smooth…so silky. He knew he shouldn’t be touching her or even wanting her this way.

“You have to know how much I want you.”

She blinked up at him, tears leaving her eyes almost luminous.

“I don’t. You don’t have to worry about my ego, Ryan. I have a pretty big one being a chef.”

He smiled. “I know. But I’m trying my best to be on my best behavior when all I want to do is take you into your bedroom and count the times I can make you scream my name. I’m hoping for at least twice before I would slam into you.”

She swallowed. “Uh, two times.”

He pressed closer and knew there was no doubt at that point that she couldn’t say how much he wanted her. “At least.”

Keely licked her bottom lip, and he groaned. Instead of ignoring the need pulsing through every inch of his body, he bent his head and pressed his mouth to hers. And in that instant…he stopped running.