Protecting My Hart (Protectors Series Book 1) (9 page)

“Can, Mr. Slyde do it?” he asks innocently, and I’m a little surprised.

“Why don't you ask him?” Hartley smiles, and it’s a real smile that reaches her eyes.

Ethan turns to me with his big blue eyes. “Mr. Slyde, will you tuck me into bed?”

“Sure thing, little man. Give Momma a big hug and kiss.”

“Goodnight, Momma, I love you to the moon and back.”

“I love you, too, baby boy, to the moon and back and all of the stars.”

I don't know why, but my heart swells with pride and joy at this exchange, and I find myself wanting to be a part of it. Ethan slides off the bed and takes my hand. Again, my heart swells and skips a beat at the feel of his little hand in mine. I give it a little squeeze as I follow.

“Are you here to stop the bad guys?” Ethan asks as he climbs into his bed.

“What bad guys?”

“I don't know, Momma said there are bad guys after us. That's why we can't stay in our houses very long. Momma says we have to move around so they don't catch us.”

“Why are the bad guys trying to catch you?”

“I don't know. But that's why Momma doesn't sleep at night. She said she has to make sure they don't find us. When I'm bigger I'm gonna help Momma and stay awake so she can sleep. I know she gets tired. Momma said soon we can get on a plane and go very far away so that the bad guys will never find us.”

My mind is spinning in overdrive trying to process all that Ethan is telling me. I feel him tugging on my arm.

“Are you, Mr. Slyde?” His voice is so small, so innocent, and when I look into his eyes, I see the hope and innocence there too, and it pains me as I realize that this is normal for him. The moving around, Hartley not sleeping and being scared, her nightmares, and this little guy wanting to protect her. Whatever is going on, whatever has happened, she is done dealing with it alone, and she is done hiding. She never should have run in the first place; she should have come to me. Overwhelming protectiveness consumes me—nothing is going to hurt Hartley or Ethan, ever.

“Yeah, little man, I’m here to protect you and your mom from the bad guys. I promise you that I won’t let anything hurt you or Momma.”

“So Momma can sleep now?” he asks so innocently, and my heart breaks a little more.

“Yeah, buddy. Momma can sleep now. It’s all going to be OK, you both are safe,” I promise him again. Ethan climbs into my lap and wraps his arms around my neck giving me a hug. I return the favor by wrapping my arms around him. I feel as if a part of me has been filled. I loved Hartley five years ago, even before that, and that love continued to grow every day since the last day I saw her. It never went away. As I hug Ethan, I realize that I love him too—he is a part of Hartley, and therefore I can’t help but love him. I’m actually surprised. I’ve only known him for a few hours, but they say you fall in love with your children instantly. I know that’s what has happened. I love him, it’s true. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this little man.

“All right, little guy, let’s get you all tucked back in.” I squeeze him again before laying him down. He snuggles under the blanket, hugging his teddy-bear. I recognize the bear—it’s the same one I bought for Hartley one time when she was sick. She kept it and then gave it to her son. I don’t know what feeling comes over me, but I know I have to talk to Hartley. I need to know what’s going on and what happened to make her vanish. Making sure that Ethan is all tucked in tight, I leave a kiss on his forehead. “Sweet dreams, little man.” As I look at him, I see so many similarities, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s mine. The timing would be right. I smile at the thought that this perfect little boy could be my son. I need Hartley to tell me everything.

“Goodnight, Mr. Slyde. Thank you.”

Heading back down the hall to Hartley’s room, she’s still sitting in bed, only now she is staring at the wall hugging her knees, rocking back and forth. Tears stream down her cheeks again.

“Hartley?” I call out softly, and she turns to look at me.

“I’m not ready to leave yet, I haven’t found a new place, I haven’t packed anything. We just got here; I should still have some more time. We shouldn’t have to move again so soon.” She sobs.

“Shhh, Tesoro, it’s going to be OK. I promise.”

“Slyde, you shouldn’t be here. This isn’t your problem. You aren’t safe. If he catches you with me he will kill you too.”

“Who’s after you, Hartley? Who has you so terrified that you can’t sleep and you are always running?”

“How do you know I’m not sleeping?”

“Ethan told me that you don’t sleep at night because you have to watch out for the bad guys so they don’t catch you.”

“Oh my god! He wasn’t supposed to know that. I’m such a bad mother; I have my own son worried about bad guys.” She chokes on a sob and my heart breaks for her. She is so terrified and looks so broken. I want to protect her. I
need
to protect her and Ethan.

“You are not a bad mother. That little boy loves you so much. He wants to protect you so you can sleep.”

“I just…I just want to protect my son. I want him to grow up happy, have a normal childhood, and not be scared of bad guys.”

“Hartley, what’s going on?”

“You shouldn’t be here. You need to go.”

“Not gonna happen, Tesoro. I just found you, I’m not about to lose you again, now I want to know who has you so fucking terrified.”

“It’s JD. He’s after me and Ethan. He tried to kill him once. Both of us actually. We can usually stay in one place for a few months before I get the feeling of being watched again and then we have to move. It gives me time to make the arrangements, and we move at night so that we aren’t detected.”

“Why is he after you? When did he try to kill you?” Rage fills my body. This piece of shit needs to die and soon, but I have to be careful about how this plays out.

“I had just found out that I was pregnant with Ethan, it was just after you left on that long trip or job. I was making plans to leave because I knew JD would never approve. He caught me with the pregnancy test and went ballistic; shouting, screaming, beating me, and he tried to choke me. I told him that I would just leave and he wouldn’t have to worry about it. He told me that I belonged to him and he would decide if and when I left. He told me that I was going to the clinic the next day to get rid of the baby. I didn’t have a choice so that night I packed my bags, waited until the house was asleep, I packed food and took money from his stash and snuck out the window. I walked until I got into town. He had someone follow me, attack me from behind, and stab me several times.” She raises her shirt, and I see half a dozen scars around her stomach. “I’ll never forget the feeling of the knife sinking into my body; I’ll never forget the pain. I remember thinking I’d failed to protect the baby. I don’t remember anything after that. I passed out. Someone must have found me and got me to the hospital. When I woke up there, I was scared, and it took me bit to remember what happened. The nurse told me that my stab wounds were superficial, nothing major had been hit, and by some miracle they didn’t hurt Ethan. I had lost a lot of blood, but they were able to save us both. I refused a shelter when I was released. I found a small one-bedroom apartment and got a job. I have been able to save a lot. Just a few more months, and I will have enough saved to fly Ethan and me to Montana. No one will come looking for us there, and I will finally be able to keep him safe.”

“Fuckin’ hell, Hartley.”

“I’m not crazy, and I’m not paranoid. What happened tonight with my car wasn’t an accident. It was him. It’s not the first time something like that has happened. He didn’t know I took the money when he had me attacked, because whoever it was never took my bag. He must have figured it out later, and I have no idea how he knew that I was still alive. It wasn’t even that much money, but it was enough to get me out of the state. Then I had to pay the ER bill and that took almost all of it. I never would have stolen it if I wasn’t so desperate. I knew he was going to be upset. I knew that I could never let any harm come to my baby. I had to keep him safe. I had to make a plan, Slyde. I had to do it. I didn’t have a choice!”

“Shhh take a deep breath, Hart,” I murmur, pulling her into my arms. “I believe you,” I tell her softly against her hair and drop a kiss there. “You don’t have to run anymore, you don’t have to be afraid. It’s going to be OK, Hartley. I’m here now, and I’m sure as hell not going to leave you alone. I promised Ethan that I would keep you both safe, and I will. I promise you, Hartley, you’re safe.”

“But you don’t have to…you should go…” she chokes out.

“No. I’m not leaving.” I lay her back down on the bed then quickly climb under the blankets with her, pull her to me, surrounding her as much as I can, trying to offer her as much comfort and safety as possible.

“Slyde,” she whimpers and curls closer to me.

“Sleep tonight, Hartley, I’m gonna be right here. I’ve got you, mi Tesoro,” I whisper back to her softly, pulling her closer and dropping a kiss on her forehead. Hartley presses closer still, and it doesn’t take long for her to fall asleep.

My mind is spinning with all that she revealed tonight. I can’t fuckin’ believe the hell she went through. I fuckin’ knew she wasn’t safe there, I fuckin’ knew it. I told Mack, and he refused to listen. I’m pissed at him, I’m pissed at JD, and I’m pissed at myself for not getting her the fuck out of there sooner. He hit her. He fuckin’ beat her, and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the first fuckin’ time either. I can’t believe she never told me. All she would have had to say was he hit her, even just once, and I would have had her out of there and safe before she could take her next breath. She was stabbed. She was attacked and stabbed after being beaten, and she survived, and so did Ethan. A fuckin’ miracle for sure.

Tomorrow, we talk more. I’ll call Beamer, have him help me. If she is being followed by JD, then I don’t want her here anymore. If he’s found her, she’s not safe here anymore. My plan: move her to my place where he won’t find her. Hartley nestles closer, she lets out a sigh, and her breath is warm against my skin. Fuck, I’ve missed this feeling.
Heaven.

Something’s different. I’m in that place where I’m not sleeping but not quite awake yet either. I feel relaxed, at peace. I haven’t felt this way in a very long time. My cheek is resting on a firm solid chest. Strong arms holding me close, these arms, are they the reason for this peace? These arms are familiar, strong, solid, safe. The events of last night begin to flood my mind. He found me, Slyde found me, saved me. He brought me home. He refused to leave. He woke me from my nightmare. He tucked my son back in bed. He listened to me tell him why I left and part of what I went through, and he didn’t judge me. He believed me and then took care of me. I’m not really surprised that I feel like this. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen him, this is natural, always has been. This feeling is something I have missed every single day since the day JD came back home after my first attack. Never did I think I would get to feel this again. I know it won’t last. Just like before, Slyde is being nice because just like before, he saved me from an attack. At least this time I can prepare for the loss of this feeling and maybe it won’t hurt as much.

“Good morning, mi Tersoro,” the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard murmurs against my head.

“Hi,” I whisper and then move my head so I can look at him. He is still beautiful and sexy. His eyes still take my breath away. “How did you know I was awake?”

“Your breathing changed, and your body tensed slightly.”

“Oh,” I state simply because there isn’t really anything else to say.

“Did you sleep OK?”

“Yeah I did, I slept really well actually. Thank you for that.”

“My pleasure, Hart. Are you OK?”

“Yeah. I’m good. Promise.” I lay my head back down on his chest and hold tight. Slyde tightens his arms around me and I feel his lips press against my hair. I know I have to get up, and once I do, this all goes away, and I’m not ready for that so for a few more precious minutes, I enjoy this feeling.

“Hart. Tell me what happened. I wanna know everything. Why you weren’t safe there. Did you ever feel safe there? Tell me, Tesoro.” His words are soft and gentle, but regardless, the happy feeling is gone.