Hard to Hold by Incy Black

when Nick dropped to his haunches in from of her and smoothed
     back an errant strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear. She narrowed her eyes in
     suspicion. Her ex-husband didn’t do sympathy any more than he did charm.
    “I need you to grab a few of your things. Will’s looking for you to stay somewhere
     safe.”
    Safe? Where would that be? And if he cared, he’d be finding her somewhere safe—once would have done so. Instead he was leaving it
     to Will. Bloody Will. Who’d tried to reason away Nick’s cruelty that had ended their
     marriage with the excuse that he’d been scared. Well, she’d been scared, too.
    A white-hot anger forked through her veins. Directed at Nick for striking out at her
     rather than confessing to her—his wife, his lover, for Christ’s sakes—that he’d been
     scared not to find her at home after receiving an alarm call. For that alone, he hadn’t
     deserved any explanation of where she’d been, what she’d gone through. And directed
     at Will, her friend and confidant, for daring to defend him. She was better off without
     either of them. Men who worked for the Service were damaged. Emotionally nuked. She’d
     rather fight on her own.
    “No. I’m not leaving. This is my home.” She pushed to her feet and crossed to the
     wall dividing the open-plan sitting area from the kitchen. She smoothed her fingers
     across the exposed red brick in a loving caress. “I sandblasted and repointed this
     wall myself. And those beams,” she said nodding to the thick wooden struts transecting
     the high ceiling, “I hand-stripped every one of them. I personally salvaged these
     floorboards, sanded back and polished every length. That alone took me weeks. I slaved
     for this. Sweated and bled for it. I wanted a home of my own, and now I’ve got one.
     I won’t be driven out.”
    She wasn’t about to share with him the fact there was nowhere she could go, nowhere
     she could hide. Not from Antila.
    His lips tightened into a stubborn line, two telltale lines creased the area between
     his brows. “What I’m suggesting is temporary. All this will still be here when you
     get back.”
    “It won’t be the same. I’ll have run out on it. Deserted it.”
    “It just bricks and mortar, Anna.”
    “No, it’s so much more.” She swiped furiously as a lone tear trickled her cheek, shock
     finally catching up with her and shaking her stoicism. “You don’t understand. This
     warehouse is me. The day I moved in, I swore I would never again face rejection. If I run, I’ll
     be running out on myself.”
    “Your life could be at risk. For God’s sake, it’s a building.”
    “Yes, my building. And my life, too. There are three guest rooms back there. I’ll move people
     in if I have to, but I’m not leaving.”
    “Who?”
    “I don’t know.” She threw her hands high. “Friends, maybe. You met them the other
     day. Big. Protective. Sam, Rudge, and Pete.”
    “For how long? We could be talking weeks, maybe even months here.”
    “Exactly. Which is why I’m staying put. And I’ll be safe with those three around.”
    “You sure about that? I’m guessing you’ve only told those close to you about the baby.
     Right now you can’t trust anyone.”
    “I can trust them; they’re excited about the baby. They waited in the waiting room
     while the procedure was done and have been acting like expectant fathers ever since.
     They’d never refer to my baby as a thing .”
    Nick stared at the floor, nodded slowly, then made direct eye contact. “Okay. I offended
     you with that remark, and I’m sorry. I was angry, and the words came out wrong.”
    “You didn’t offend me, you saddened me. It proved you haven’t changed and never will.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning, there’s no saving you, Nick. You never wanted kids; you were adamant about
     that from the start. Mention children in your presence, and you turn to ice. What
     the hell is it that scares you so much?”
    She