Page 105 of The Bluffing Game

“You’re not safe right now. This man is a psychopath. I’m going to have to contact the cops so we can take care of you. But right now, I don’t trust him or what he’s going to do. You need to live with me for a little bit.”

“Dalton, there’s no way⁠—”

“We’re not arguing about this. You hear me? You are coming to my house.”

“I am not coming to your house.”

“Why not? We make love anyway.”

“Not in your house,” I growl at him. “This is not an option. I am not moving in with you.”

“You don’t have a choice, Sage. The man is crazy.”

“I will buy pepper spray.”

“Are you out of your mind? I will not let you be alone right now. The man is stalking you. He’s a sociopath.”

“Just my luck,” I joke, but he doesn’t laugh. “Will I at least get my own bedroom?”

He starts laughing then, like I’m crazy. “No, my dear. You will be in my bedroom in my bed. That’s the only way I can ensure I can look after you.”

“I don’t need you to look after me.”

“I’m your protector whether you like it or not.” He grabs me and pulls me toward him and kisses me hard. “You hear me, Sage?”

“Just now you were practically begging me to …”

“Hey.” He grins. “Don’t worry. We’ll finish when we get back to my place.”

“That’s not what I was talking about, Dalton.”

“Uh-huh,” he says as he grabs his shorts and pulls them up. “Man, I’ve got such blue balls right now,” he says, shaking his head. “That man sure knows how to turn up at the most inopportune of moments.”

“What are you going to do to him?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “It’s for me to know and him to find out.”

“You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

He eyes me and shakes his head. “I’m not about that life anymore. I would never take another person out. I’ve actually never taken a life before. I need you to know that.”

“Okay, I believe you,” I say softly.

“But Parker is going to realize that he messed with the wrong woman and the wrong man. I am going to ensure we get that man imprisoned.”

“Oh.”

He smiles at me. “Brett isn’t just a pretty face, you know?”

“Don’t tell Rosie that.” I sigh.

“He’s not such a bad guy, you know? Maybe, just maybe, he’d be good for her.”

“No, she needs someone who doesn’t have issues. I want my sister to have the best guy, a lighthearted guy, and Brett does not seem like he’s that sort of man.”

“Touché,” he says, “but maybe the lighthearted guys aren’t the honest ones. Maybe the lighthearted guys aren’t the ones who would give up their life for you.”

“I don’t know if I want him to give up his life for her.”