4. Cage

4

CAGE

I ’m not a fucking bodyguard.

I don’t deal with people. Or emotions. The only woman I can handle is Rowie, and even she’s a test of my abilities sometimes.

The problem with dealing with humans is that nothing is concrete. I can calculate how long it will take for a grenade to explode or the distance I need to hit a specific target within a centimeter, but emotions have never been my strong point. Reading the room is a challenge, even on my best days. When I dropped Ember into her chair and saw the color drain from her face, I felt like the biggest asshole in the world. That was before I actually registered the look of pure fear on her face. If Rowie ever looked at me like that, I would die.

As bad as I feel, I can’t think about that right now. There are bigger issues at hand. Like, why the fuck is someone tailing us, and who are they? If they’re the people threatening Ember, it means they’ve been watching her this entire time. And if they have a plane of their own, this isn’t a simple threat. They have money, which means it’s not money they’re after. So, what could it be?

Shit.

Why do I feel like Ruth didn’t give me the full magnitude of this job?

Ember pales. She looks around the plane as if she wants to bolt, but there’s nowhere for her to go. Not that I’d let her anyway. I’d have her captured in a heartbeat. Then I’d have her over my knee for trying to run away.

If we continue to Idaho, we’ll be leading them right to the safe house. That’s not an option. I quickly look through my GPS while formulating a plan.

“Land at the airstrip in Illinois. I’ll work on getting a car to meet us there.”

Without wasting a second, I grab the untraceable phone we all carry around and call Ghost.

“Speak,” he answers, knowing this isn’t a call for pleasantries.

“I need an armored SUV at our airfield in Illinois. And a dozen armed men to escort me plus one from a plane.”

“How long?”

“One hour, five minutes.”

“Ten-four.”

As soon as Ghost ends the call, I find Cassian’s name.

“Speak.”

“I have a plane tailing me, and I need to know who the fuck it is.”

Cassian is already typing in the background. “Can you see what kind of plane? Any numbers or colors on it?”

“Stay put,” I tell Ember sharply as I rise to go to the cockpit. She startles at my tone. Shit, I’m an asshole. I probably need to be more gentle with her. She’s terrified. Right now, though, I have a more pressing issue to handle.

The next few minutes are spent trying to find anything identifiable on the other aircraft, but we come up with nothing. Whoever is flying it is smart. They’re keeping a distance and staying in a blind spot almost constantly.

“I’ll work on this and get back to you,” Cassian says, then abruptly ends the call.

“If they get closer or do anything other than keep our tail, let me know,” I tell the pilots before I turn and stride away, a feeling of urgency to return to Ember settling in my stomach.

“What’s happening?” she whispers, her blue eyes sparkling with tears.

I kneel in front of her, hoping to comfort her in some way. In any way. I can’t stand seeing her like this. Mad, sure. Scared and sad, I don’t like it. Not one bit. She won’t stop shivering despite how warm it is. She blinks, sending a stream down her cheeks. Fuck, I’m such an asshole.

“I’m not sure yet. I’m putting things in place so we can land safely and get into a car. My brother is trying to figure out who is following us. Do you know anything about who is threatening you, Ember?”

She shakes her head and for the second time since we’ve been on the plane, she starts rubbing just below her bottom lip with her thumb. It reminds me of when Rowie sucks her thumb. Something she does when she’s stressed or frightened. Maybe stroking her chin is soothing for Ember?

“I don’t know anything. My father told me an hour ago about all of this.” She sniffles, and I can’t help but notice the smattering of freckles on the bridge of her nose. Adorable. Too damn innocent for someone like me.

“We’re going to crash and die, aren’t we?”

Her voice is so fucking small, and she’s curled herself up into the tightest ball that her safety belt will allow. I want to layer blankets over her just to get her to stop shaking. The problem is that won’t work. She isn’t cold. She’s fucking terrified. I bunch my hands into fists to keep from pulling her onto my lap to comfort her. She’s a client who I’m meant to protect, not coddle.

“No, Ember. If anything went wrong with the plane, I have parachutes available for emergency evacuation.”

When her skin turns green and her eyes bulge, I curse under my breath. I don’t think that was the best answer to give.

“No matter what happens, you’re not going to die with me. My job is to protect you, and I never fail. Understand me, firefly?”

She studies me for a few seconds before she gives a slow nod. “I don’t like planes.”

I huff and lift one corner of my mouth. “I’m starting to get that. After we land this birdie, I won’t put you on another one.”

“Promise?”

If she keeps looking at me the way she is, with her big round eyes and pouty lips, I’ll promise her the goddamn universe. How anyone has ever told her no, I’m not sure.

“I swear. Now, I want you to turn on a movie and focus on that for the rest of the flight. We’ll be on the ground in no time.”

A s planned, a swarm of security surrounds us as we deplane and load up into an SUV. The plane following us doesn’t land, which I’d counted on since the airfield I chose only has space for one plane. They obviously don’t want to cause a crash. Whoever is a threat to Ember doesn’t want her dead. So, they’re not after money, and they aren’t trying to kill her. What the fuck could they possibly want?

After driving for twenty minutes, I pull over and we switch vehicles again. We’ll continue changing vehicles along the way to stay under the radar.

Ember has been silent since our conversation while we were in the air, but she has complied with every instruction I’ve given her. That thrills me and causes my dick to ache against the zipper of my pants. I want to tell her how good she’s being, but it’s not my job to praise her. I’m here to keep her safe. Thankfully, the second we touched the ground, her shaking stopped, and the haunted expression she wore disappeared.

I pull out my cell and call Cassian again.

“I see you, brother,” he says when he answers, his voice coming over the speakers. “Car number four is waiting for you.”

“Thanks. I’m heading to safe house twelve for tonight.”

“I’ll let Ghost know. What’s your plan after that?”

“Right now, I’m not sure. I need to talk to Ruth. Something tells me she’s withholding information. Whoever the fuck was tailing us isn’t some broke amateur after her father’s money.”

Cassian curses under his breath. “I can have another plane ready in an hour. Bring her here. This is the safest place for her.”

He’s right. The Ranch is the most secure place to protect her, plus my brothers would help to keep her safe as well.

Ember gasps, and without thinking, I reach over and squeeze her hand. “No planes,” I tell him while keeping my eyes locked with hers.

Cassian pauses his typing in the background. “No planes? It will take days for you to drive here.”

I wink at Ember. “It’s not an option.”

My brother stays quiet for a moment, then clears his throat. “Okay. I’ll have cars ready and waiting along the way. Sending a route now. Rylan and Koda are going to fly out to meet you in Nebraska so you can get here within forty-eight hours.”

I almost tell him that I don’t need him to send anyone. Because, for some reason, I don’t want this time with Ember to be interrupted. I to have her to myself. Her safety comes first, though. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

We end the call, and I quickly load the route he sent me onto the GPS. Cassian will continue to track us, but for the time being, it’s just the two of us.

“Who are Rylan and Koda?” she asks.

“My brothers.”

“Oh. How many brothers do you have?”

“A lot.”

What I don’t tell her is that none of us are related by blood and that we are all trained to be the deadliest men in the world. She may only be a client, but I don’t want to see disgust on her face when she finds out what a monster I am.

T he silence is awkward as fuck. She’s been restless for the past hour, and I’m not sure what will fix that.

“Why are you wiggling so much?” I finally question.

She turns her head, and when I glance at her, she blushes. “I need to use the bathroom.”

Fuck.

Swerving to the side of the road, I park. “Wait for me to come around.”

When I throw open her door, her eyes widen and her mouth drops open.

“Come on.” I hold out my hand to help her down, but she doesn’t take it.

“There’s no bathroom here.”

I look around the deserted road and peer over at a bush that looks like a perfectly good peeing area for me.

“Go behind that shrub over there. I can find some tissue or a leaf for you.”

She blinks, like she doesn’t understand what I just said. I’m pretty sure I made it clear.

“Are you high? I am not peeing behind a tree. I need a toilet. With a door!” She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at the windshield for a second, then turns to look at me again. “And not a freaking leaf to clean myself up, thank you very much.”

“Why not?”

Her cheeks turn red, and she closes her eyes. “Because girls pee on their feet when they squat behind a bush. And with my luck, you’d give me a poison ivy leaf and I’d break out in hives down there. No, thank you. Not happening.”

Tipping my head to the side, I consider that for a second. “Why would you pee on your feet? Maybe you’re not doing it right. Do you need me to show you?”

She gasps and stares at me in silence for a few seconds. Then she reaches out and closes the door, leaving me to look at her through the window.

What the fuck just happened?

Why is she so upset?

I don’t get it. Why can’t girls just pee on the floor? Their aim can’t be that bad, right? I need to do some research on this because, once again, I think I’ve misread the situation, and Ember is once again pissed off at me.

Shaking my head, I stride around the SUV while wishing I had a bomb to dismantle instead of having to try to figure out the little red-haired woman inside the car. Bombs are much more reasonable. They don’t talk back. Or make my dick hard.