“What are you doing here?” he asked, not taking his eyes off me.
“I need your help.” The words tasted even worse thanI was expecting, but I shoved aside my pride. I needed backup. I didn’t have the kind of training or connections that could make sure Danielle was safe from whomever was threatening her.
Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of help?”
“Someone’s threatening Danielle.”
His body tensed, and Sierra gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
“I need details.”
“I don’t have any,” I said with a sigh. “She’s worried about me getting hurt and mentioned something about a deal, but she said she can’t tell any of us about it or he’ll go after her family. Not sure exactly who that entails.”
“Shit,” Nathaniel muttered. “Baby girl, can you call the Torreses? Sam needs to know this.”
Sierra pulled her phone out of her pocket and walked a few steps away to make the call.
“Do you know who’s threatening her?” I asked.
“No. But if he’s claiming he’ll go after the family, we need to be on guard. Danielle isn’t the type who makes enemies, so unless you have any who are going after her because she’s your wife, I’m willing to bet they’re one of ours.”
“You have enemies.” It wasn’t a question.
“It comes with the job.”
“And you didn’t think that could come back to hurt Danielle?” I snapped, my temper flaring.
He gave a humorless laugh. “You don’t know anything about the situation, and it’s Dani’s job to tell you, not mine. I have no interest in getting in the middle of your marriage and which secrets you’re keeping.”
“You know her secrets.” I knew Danielle was keeping them—she’d told me before our first night together and mentioned it again last night—but it hadn’t occurred to me that her brothers knew them.
“I know at least some of them. Doesn’t mean she’s told me everything. Clearly. Since I didn’t know someone was threatening her.”
“Please don’t tell her that I told you.”
Nathaniel nodded grimly. “I won’t. I’ll talk to Sam and we can discuss this further at the club on Saturday. For now, keep an eye on her and tell me if anything changes or seems off and one of us will come your way.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing yet. We need to talk to our other brother and figure out a plan.”
“Can I help?”
He shook his head. “Just do everything you can to keep her safe.”
“You don’t have to tell me to do that.” Nothing was happening to Danielle as long as I was breathing.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Danielle
I couldn’t stop pacing.There were only a few hours left before Hayden and I were heading to Sam’s penthouse above Youngblood.
This was it.
I was going to tell them all the secrets I’d been carrying foryears. And while the thought terrified me, there was also a sense of relief somewhere under all the dread. I was so tired of carrying all this on my own. The secrets, the lies, all of it weighed on me like shackles pulling me down.
When the Prince of False Idols cornered me in the hospital, I’d thought I didn’t have any choice but to make the deal and abide by his rules, but maybe that had always been a mistake. Maybe I should have called this meeting the second my shift ended, or at least as soon as Hayden was discharged. Instead, I’d let the problem grow and become more complicated. Now I didn’t just have mybrothers and their families to worry about, I had my own husband and in-laws.
