Page 57 of The Billionaire's Angel

“Agreed,” Aiden said, immediately jumping on my train ofthought.

“I'll disable her car. If she needs to go anywhere, I'll driveher.”

“Cooper already has two guys on the house at all times,” Aiden said. “Between that and the alarm, she should be safe if she stayshere.”

“We’ll tell her about this later. After the weddings, when things have calmed down alittle.”

I started to get up, and Aiden motioned for me to stay where I was. Curious, I settled back into the chair and waited. He shot a cautious look at the door before he said, “How does Lise seem toyou?”

My younger sister Annalise, Vance's twin, had come home the day before. On the surface, she looked good. She was tan, blonde hair streaked with platinum after spending the last few months in New Mexico, shooting the desert. She'd been all smiles and hugs, but she was too thin, and lines bracketed hermouth.

I shook my head and said, “She needs to slow down. Comehome.”

“She keeps telling me everything is fine, but she left Taos abruptly a few weeks ago, canceling a show at a gallery that would've been very good for her career. She left them in the lurch, which isn't like her. I think something happened, but she's nottalking.”

“If she's not talking, how do youknow?”

Aiden gave me a levelstare.

“The Sinclairs have a guy on her?” I asked, already knowing the answer. With a laugh, I said, “I don't even want to know what they bill you everymonth.”

Aiden shrugged his shoulder. “At least I get the familyrate.”

“And you don't have the slightest problem with spying on her,” I said, already knowing the answer to that question,too.

“I’d do anything to keep my family safe,” Aiden said, his voice grave, heavy withtruth.

“What does the Sinclair's guy think? How closely is he watchingher?”

“Unfortunately, not close enough to know exactly what spooked her in New Mexico. Considering that she’s spent the last ten years running from a stalker, we didn't think it was a good idea to watch her too closely and run the risk of scaring her. Riley keeps an eye on her, but he does it from a distance. He went to Taos after she bugged out, but he couldn't find anythingsolid.”

“Riley Flynn? He’s the guy the Sinclairs have on Annalise? Is that a goodidea?”

“He's motivated,” was Aiden'sresponse.

I wasn't sure about that. Riley and Annalise had a history. He had as many reasons to be pissed at her as he did to protect her. And if she found out Riley had been watching her all this time, she wasn't going to behappy.

“You’re positive whatever spooked her had to do with the stalker? After all thistime?”

Aiden shifted in his seat looking uncomfortable. “It hasn't been that long,” he admitted. “We've kept it quiet, waiting for Annalise to tell us herself, which she never does, but every time she stays in one place too long he pops up again, and she runs. We don't know what it was this time, but he usually starts with gifts.Flowers.”

“She said she'd be home through the new year. At least a few days after Tate and Emily's wedding on New Year's Eve. We need to talk to her about this. She can't spend the rest of her life on therun.”

“Agreed,” Aidensaid.

I looked at the envelope Aiden was sliding into his desk drawer and said, “Cooper is going to keep looking intoArmstrong?”

Aiden nodded. “We're not going to let anything happen toSophie.”

I didn't like the protective, almost possessive tone in his voice, but if his interest in Sophie meant he'd work harder to keep her safe, I'd let it go. Fornow.

“I’m coming back to work after the holidays,” I stated, flatly. I was done with asking. This time, I was telling Aiden what I was going to do. He may have been running Winters, Inc., but we both owned the same amount of stock. He couldn’t keep me outforever.

As I’d expected, his face went blank and hard. With a sharp shake of his head, he said, “Later. We can talk about thislater.”

“Fine,” Iconceded.

We had two weddings to get through in the next week. I could wait a little longer. Aiden left without anotherword.