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She leaned closer to the small window that she’d created between them. “He’s your brother.”
“And my boss. And my friend. And the guy I’d bleed for in an instant.” He pulled the car to a stop and angled back to look at her. “I really don’t fucking like it when people set his bar on fire. Beau cared about that bar. The things that Beau cares about? They matter to me. I don’t like LeBlanc’s burning.”
She wet her lips. “I don’t like it, either. I also don’t like being put on the sidelines. Beau and I literally just made a deal to work together.”
Royal sent her a sad smile. “Oh, Avalon. You have so much to learn about him.” He inclined his head toward her. “First thing, he isn’t putting you on the sidelines. He’s protecting you. He’s lost too much in his life. You are the one thing he can’t afford to have taken away.”
“You…act like he…he has me. We just got in each other’s lives again?—”
He quirked a brow. “Really? That’s what we’re going with? Try that story with someone who doesn’t know what the two of you were busy doing in the back of the limo.”
“His bar is burning because of me.”
“No, the bar is burning because of some twisted prick with an addiction to fire. And the prick is screwing with the wrong man. He’ll learn from his mistake soon enough. As for you, you have a choice, Avalon. And it’s a choice you are going to have to make very, very quickly.”
She swore she could still smell the smoke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His fingers tapped against the steering wheel. “Sure, you do. You know what Beau is. You know what he’s been doing.”
Watching. Protecting?
“And you know you can either walk the hell away. Run away.”
She waited. Only there was nothing else. “Uh, you get when you say that there is a choice, you actually have to give the second option.”
“Why? You know it. You knew the first option before I voiced it.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Run,” he repeated. “That’s option one. As for option two…Well, you can run or?—”
“Or stay with Beau,” she finished.
He sent her a tight smile. “Not about staying. It’s about what happens if you stay. Just what do you think will happen if you stay with Beau? You think he’s gonna remain in the shadows of your life now? Gonna keep his hands off the way he’s done for so long? Gonna be content just knowing you’re safe?”
She didn’t think she wanted his hands off her. They felt far too good on her body. And maybe that was part of the problem.
She also didn’t think that was something Royal needed to know. “Beau wants me to trust him.”
“Um.” His fingers tapped against the wheel in a faster rhythm. “Tell me your choice. You staying? Am I taking you back to the hotel? Or you want me to drop you off at the airport so you can run like hell?”
“I’m not running.” Not from Beau.
“Thought that would be the choice. Call me psychic.” He checked the road and drove forward. “By the way, for what it’s worth, I trust Beau with my life. Figure I should, since if it wasn’t for him, I’d be dead.”
Her arms curled around her stomach. “I know exactly what that’s like.” Without Beau, I’d be dead, too.
As if he would have left without accomplishing his goal. Oh, hell, no.
The firefighters battled the blaze. There had been so much chaos at the scene. They hadn’t even noticed when he’d slipped back inside.
Beau was watching his precious bar burn.
Sure, the firefighters were working hard, but they weren’t gonna stop this fire anytime soon. The point had been proven.
I can destroy what you value. And all you can do is stand there and watch the flames.
It was hard not to let his grin spread. Beau had fisted his hands at his sides. His buddy—the dark-haired prick to Beau’s right—kept trying to pull him from the scene.
