His to Protect by Katie Reus Page A

planned to eliminate the owner of the number—he’d have been out of luck.
    Watching the spectacle of the crazy blonde woman across the street, he realized he might be able to pin the planned murder on someone else. Or at least he wouldn’t be the only suspect once it all went down. What a fucking psycho.
    The past couple weeks he’d been living in pay-by-the-hour motels and keeping a low profile and he’d been about to give up on her and just split town when his buddy had called with a hit.
    A small part of him felt bad because she had a kid, but what the fuck ever. He’d grown up without a mom. Life wasn’t fair.
    The only thing holding him up now was the obvious guards she had. Something that surprised him. Unfortunately he hadn’t been able to find out much about her. He could have had his friend get her info but that would have caused too many problems if the cops ever came sniffing around. Not to mention his buddy would have gotten nosy and probably figured out exactly why he was after her. As it was, Cecil had told him the woman owed him a shitload of money and he just wanted to collect his due.
    He could hear sirens in the distance but he wasn’t too worried. The house he was hiding near was empty. A for sale sign stood in the front yard and one of the windows in the back didn’t have curtains or blinds, showing a clearly empty house. If he could figure out if the place was alarmed he might break in later. Once the cops had left of course.
    The big guy who had been outside earlier strode back out with something in his hand. Cecil didn’t know his name but it was clear that the guy lived in the house and that he had some sort of training. Either one of the men could have hurt the blonde but they were carefully restraining her. Cecil squinted, trying to see what was in the guy’s hands. Flex-cuffs, he realized when the other man put them on the thrashing woman’s wrists behind her back.
    She had to be on something, acting all crazy like that. The front door opened again, and the dark-haired beauty, Charlotte Bastien according to the police report, stepped out, but only a few inches. She still hovered in the doorway but the big guy must have heard her because he turned and shook his head, saying something too low for Cecil to catch.
    Immediately the woman did as he said and moments later, the guy followed. Having seen enough for the time being, Cecil slipped back into the shadows. He couldn’t be sure but it looked like the woman lived there. Maybe with the guy. This was a really nice neighborhood and the fact that there had been a guard sitting across the street when the blonde maniac had showed up said that either she or the man she was with had serious money or connections. And she was being careful.
    She couldn’t be stupid. She had to know he was out there and a real threat. Normally people were easier to target, but all he’d have to do was watch and wait. No one could be protected all the time. Once she was alone or he created a situation where he could make her that way, he’d strike.
    But he wouldn’t make her suffer, and he’d try not to do it in front of her kid. He wasn’t into torture or any of that shit. He just wanted her dead so he could get the hell out of town and far away from Renaldo Diaz. One of the boys from the gang had told him Diaz was definitely hunting him and it was only a matter of time before that bastard found him.
    Right now he was living on borrowed time unless he could flee Miami and start over. A new name, new city, new fucking life.

Chapter 12
    Charlotte tried not to drool at the sight of Kell’s muscular arms as he leaned against the window of the driver’s side of her vehicle. Well his actually, since he was letting her drive his truck. The word ‘whore’ had been spray painted across her car so she wasn’t driving it anywhere until it was cleaned. She’d just gotten new tires and replaced her broken window from the previous damage and she really hoped she