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No pause. No hesitation. Just yes, with his eyes steady on mine. My stomach drops.
“Who sent him?”
Dec just holds my gaze. We stare at each other for a long beat. Then I go sit in the chair because my legs are shaky. From the way he touched me before, from this conversation, his silence… Declan stays where he is, in the middle of the room, hands loose at his sides. He doesn’t come after me; explain, justify, tell me the guy had it coming. He just stands there and lets me look at him.
“I don’t approve, Alpha,” I finally say. “But I’m not going to insult either of us by acting like I don’t understand why that had to happen. Someone sat outside my home in the dark. You made it stop. I slept better that night than I had in fucking days, and I’m going to have to figure out how to live with that.”
Something moves behind his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything.
I fold my hands in my lap. “I’m not asking you to be someone else, baby. That’s not what I signed up for. But if I’m going to be with you, we need rules.”
The scarred eyebrow goes up.
I nod. “We don’t lie. If I ask you something and you can’t answer, don’t ask, is okay. A lie is not.”
He holds my gaze and I see… pride in his eyes…
“Your people do not come within a mile of the appeal. Not a witness, not a clerk, not a juror’s cousin. If I’m getting you out of here, I’m doing it clean, so it can never be taken back.”
The corner of his mouth twitches and he nods.
I blink. “That was fast.”
Dec shakes his head slowly. Then he comes across the room and crouches in front of my chair, so for once, I’m looking down at him. “I’d have agreed to a lot more, sweetheart.”
I grin. “I can add shit.”
He chuckles. “I’m sure you can.”
I sober up, chewing on my lower lip. “Are the men outside my building yours?”
He shakes his handsome head. “Don’t ask.”
“Declan!”
The sexy grin returns, full force. “You said that’s allowed. Your rule. Two seconds old.”
Fuck, I walked right into that one. But I’ve got my answer and we both know it.
I look at him for a long moment. My man. The Irish mob boss. Crouched at my feet with his scarred hands on my knees.
He’s never going to be safe. He’s never going to be good, not the way I was raised to understand the word. But he’s never going to lie to me. And there’s not one thing in this world he won’t fucking destroy to protect me.
I reach out and lay a hand on his jaw.
“My Alpha,” I say softly.
I’ve never said it like that. Like a claim.
Dec’s eyes fall shut. A shudder goes through his enormous body, and he turns his face into my palm and breathes. And when his eyes open, they’re pure gold.
“Say it again.”
“My Alpha.”
“Again.”
“Mine.” I lean till our noses touch. “You belong to me, Declan Greene. I got the paperwork to prove i…”
