Page 51 of When He Defends

Gray filed the info away. He would be reaching out to the PI. “How many times has this shit happened in your life?”

“Hard to say…because sometimes, he doesn’t destroy things. Sometimes, I’m pretty sure he just slips inside, and he takes things.”

“Fucking fuck, Emerson!” The rage just exploded.

She nodded. “Yes, exactly. Fucking fuck. I’m sick of it. Of him. I’m sick of getting security systems that don’t keep him out. I’m sick of calling cops or getting a PI to investigate and having them turn up nothing over and over again.”

He remembered how shut down she’d been when the cops arrived. Her stilted responses.No damn wonder. She’d been through this routine too many times.

“He’s played with my life for years. All I want is to find him. To stop him.”

“Done and done,” Gray vowed.

Those incredible eyes of hers widened. “What?”

“You think I’m going to let some jackass get away with tormenting my partner? Hell, no, sweetheart. Hell, no. We’re finding him. We’re stopping him. We’re becoming his absolute worst nightmare.”

Hope flashed across her face. “You’re truly going to help me? You believe me?”

“Yes.” He eliminated the distance between them. Cupped her chin. “Yes.” He wanted to rage at the fools who hadn’t helped her before.

“But we have a case. The perp who is killing the couples. It has to be the priority. Not me. I can wait.”

The hell she could. “I can multi-task.” In his sleep. “You’re a priority. Know it. Understand it.” Absolutely, she was. His top priority. “Besides, it works.”

“Uh, say again? What works?”

The extra-close proximity she was about to have with him. The way he’d be her freaking shadow from here on out. “You’re not staying on your own until I have the jackass stalking you locked away. He made a death threat in Briar.” Sure as shit, Gray believed the bastard had been the one leaving the spray painted messages in Briar. “He was in your place tonight. That’stwoencounters in a very close span of time.” Talk about acceleration. And he knew that acceleration equaled dangerous trouble. “You’ll be staying with me from now on.”

Her lips parted.

“Until we catch him,” Gray hurriedly amended.Don’t come off so strong. Tread with caution where Emerson is concerned.“Us staying together will fit the cover for our case, and it will also allow me to make certain my partner is safe. Two birds, one stone and all that.”

“He’s never left evidence behind. Not even a fingerprint. I, uh, insisted on a full scene check a time or two.”

He was sure she had. “Just means the jackass wore gloves. I’ll find him. It’s what I do. Find monsters. Lock them away.”

“I had cameras up in my places, too. He’d just disable them. No video footage of him was ever taken.”

“I’ll get him, Emerson. Believe me.” A pause. Then, rougher,“Trust me.”

She stared into his eyes. Her lips began to curl. A smile. Slow, big, real, the smile spread across her full lips. Her expression warmed, as if a weight had been lifted from her delicate shoulders. “Thank you.” Emerson threw her arms around him and held on tight.

She was warm and soft and…fuck me, she is precious.

His arms closed around her. He was enraged that she’d been dealing with a stalker since she was seventeen years old. And had she let the stalker intimidate her? Change her? No. His Emerson had hauled her ass into prisons and psych wards as she faced off against monsters and tried to figure them out…

All while she’d been battling her own monster.

“Thank you, Gray,” she whispered.

His fingers dropped to her waist. Tightened. “I don’t want your gratitude.” She didn’t need to thank him for a damn thing. This was what he did. His job was to stop the predators.

Emerson eased back.

His fingers lingered on her waist.

“What do you want?” Emerson asked, voice breathless.