Page 22 of Protective Phlox

He looked at Titus and then my red face and back again. I could feel his mood changing like a rising tide. Nathan stomped to me and wrapped his hand around my waist, pulling me tight into his body, and Titus rolled his eyes.

“Relax, brother. I only came to meet my nephew,” Titus said, slowly standing as Cutter laughed, petting the dogs that were now trying to clean his ears. He wasn’t going to need a bath at this rate.

At the risk of pissing Nathan off, I stepped away from him and walked across the room to get my phone. I wanted a picture of Cutter with the dogs. They looked adorable, and besides, he was the one who had ignored me for the last three days. He was probably spending time with his other woman. I still hadn’t seen her, so she had to be staying at his condo or another house.

Nathan was glaring at me as I casually walked back to the men, whispering at one another. Ignoring them, I squatted down and snapped a bunch of photos. I’d officially turned into a mom-arazzi.

As I stood, Helena walked into the room with close to ten guards, and I froze. What was going on?

“I’ve come to take my beautiful daughter-in-law out shopping, Nathaniel, and I will not hear any arguments. You should be ashamed keeping her locked up in this house like some disgraced peasant wearing hand-me-down clothes.”

“But….” Nathan started, and Helena poked him in the chest.

“What did I say about arguments?” His mouth fell open. “Get to know your son. Maybe your brother here can help you look after him while we go shopping.”

“I’ve never left Cutter with anyone before,” I said, feeling uneasy about this.

“Well, it’s a good learning experience for both of you then.” Helena looked down at Cutter. “Do you mind staying here with your dad and uncle?”

“Can I still play with the doggies?”

“I don’t think they want to leave anytime soon anyway, so yes. I’d love to spend time getting to know Cutter,” Titus said as both dogs flopped on their backs while Cutter rubbed their bellies.

“Mom, it’s too dangerous. Until I get things sorted with this hit and know that Aldo is taken care of⁠—”

Helena glared at her son, and I suddenly knew where he got that look, and it wasn’t his father. “We have fancy armored vehicles and all this glorious muscle for a reason, do we not?”

“Well, yes, but⁠—”

“No buts.” She tapped on her phone, and Nathan’s dinged. “I just sent you the itinerary I’ve made for the day, as well as the route that I’ve already planned out in case there is trouble and you need to send help. I already dropped a pin so you can track us in live time. There, all your worries are taken care of.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling. I was really starting to love Nathan’s mom.

“Fine, but I need a moment alone with Savannah first,” Nathan said, his eyes searching me out.

“I need to change if we are heading out. We can talk while I do,” I offered, not sure if that was a good idea.

Helena pointed at Nathan. “Do not even think about keeping her up there and doing…things. I have a schedule to keep, so your hands stay off the merchandise,” she said.

“Yes, Mom,” he said, shocking me as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

“Cutter, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Okay, Mom,” he said, but I could tell he was too busy playing to really notice.

We walked upstairs in silence, but as soon as we crossed the threshold of Cutter’s room, Nathan closed the door. He looked as pissed off as the first day he’d found me, and I had no idea why.

“What did you want to talk about,” I asked, wandering over to the massive closet and disappearing inside. I touched the dressier outfits that Nathan had grabbed from his sister’s wardrobe and picked one I thought would work best for shopping. Turning, I almost ran right into Nathan. “Jesus.”

“Does he make you wet?”

My eyebrows shot up. “Who?”

“Don’t play games with me, Savannah.”

I cocked my hip and crossed my arms. “I’m not, and don’t treat me like I’m a child.”

His jaw was starting to do that twitching thing it did when he was really pissed.