Page 89 of The Disputed Legacy

I’d need to explain and maybe grovel, but it would be worth it. Because if she loved me half as much as I loved her, she would forgive me and not want to leave.

“He’ll kill you,” she warned.

I shook my head. “Whoever he is, he can die trying.”

She crumpled, sagging her shoulders as she lowered her head and shook it. “You don’t understand.”

I didn’t, but I would. So would she. “No one is going to hurt you.” When she opened her mouth to protest, I shook her once to keep her attention and cut her off. “And no one is going to hurt me.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I do. No one would be stupid enough to take me on. Or my brothers.”

She opened and closed her mouth as the driver spoke up. “Saul, Damon’s trying to get ahold of you.”

My phone had been buzzing in my pocket, but I’d ignored it. I frowned, shifting to keep Willow on my lap as I answered on speaker.

“The kid insists on hearing his mother,” my sour-faced brother said.

“Oscar?”

“Mama! Are you okay?” he asked.

She gave me a dark look. “Yes. Just remember what I told you. Stay calm and I will protect you?—”

“Oscar, she’s fine. You’ll be fine too.”

“Saul?” he asked, his voice scared but brave. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“My brothers are helping me get you and your mom to a safe place.”

“This… this man is your brother?” he asked, awe in his voice.

“Yeah. Ask him about the time when he got his hair stuck in an old bike wheel.”

“Saul,” Damon groaned. “For fuck’s sake. That’s not one of my finest moments.”

I chuckled. “But it’s hilarious. Go on, Oscar. Ask Damon about the old bike wheel incident.” I hung up, knowing that would take them a while.

Facing Willow, I heaved out a deep breath. Seeing her alive and with me was all I could focus on. It was all that mattered. I’d gotten there in time. “Before you get madder or make me explain, can I kiss you?”

“No,” she retorted, sullen and still not happy.

I almost frowned.

Then with another moment of a staredown, she growled and lunged close to kiss me. “Freaking Stockholm Syndrome shit,” she muttered.

I smiled, loosening my hold on her arms and rubbing my palms up and down to smooth out any redness. Then under her expectant look, I readied myself to explain.

“I had a suspicion that someone was watching you in your building. Or rather, they were looking for me there. These people belong to a group who are enemies of mine. My brothers and I realized that they had been spying on me since the night I went home with you. Because I’d asked you to move somewhere safe and you were too stubborn to consider it, I tried to stay with you until youwouldtrust me to keep you safe.”

“I—”

I put my fingers over her lips. “But I learned this morning that you might be in more danger than I was comfortable with. Ihave the means and resources to keep you safe from anyone who could want to hurt you, Willow.”

When she shook her head again, I cupped the back of her head and nodded. “I can. And will. My brothers and I were coming to get you and Oscar when you got home from work. To capture you, if necessary, to get you to my home.”

Her brows slanted.