Secret Sins (18 page)

He was a handsome man. Not as handsome as Archer, definitely dangerous, and not one
to suffer fools easily, she had found.

“Why do you think I need protection?” She turned to Archer. “I know you’re behind
this, so why don’t you explain it? He’s not handling it very well.” Her nose wrinkled
with charming disgust.

At least she wasn’t completely refusing to cooperate, Archer thought, amused. It would
have been uncomfortable if she had made him appear a liar after he’d said she was
entirely reasonable.

“I’m handling this fine,” Crowe growled.

“Sure you are,” she agreed mockingly, her expression filled with blatant disbelief.
“But I think Archer can handle it better.”

Crowe’s lips thinned.

A second later they twitched as his brown and gold gaze flickered with amusement.
“You can tell we’re related.”

Anna’s eyes rolled at the comment. “Really? The way you ignore me, I would have thought
differently.”

Crowe grunted at the comment. “Because of information that has recently come to light,
it’s the decision of the owners of Brute Force to ensure your protection. You will
have two agents shadowing you at all times.
Shadowing you,
” he emphasized. “You won’t tell anyone they’re watching you, and they will ensure
no one notices them watching you.”

If she didn’t know better, by his posture, the tone of his voice, and his gaze, she
would almost swear he might give a damn if she lived or died, Anna thought.

She knew better, but she let him keep talking.

From the look on Archer’s face, as well as the Callahans’, she knew arguing would
do her no damned good at all. Besides, she didn’t have a death wish. She might not
like having bodyguards, but it beat being forced to leave Corbin County again just
to stay alive.

As he talked, and the others clarified or threw in their own ideas, Anna remained
silent and just watched.

She mostly watched Archer and Crowe.

She knew why she was fascinated with Archer, especially now that he’d shown her the
pleasure he could give her.

Crowe was just a cousin who had ignored her every time she’d attempted to speak to
him. Crowe, Rafer, and Logan. They’d all but disowned her from the moment she’d been
born.

Until it appeared she needed them?

She couldn’t understand the change in attitude, and she wasn’t certain she wanted
to understand it.

Crowe’s change in demeanor didn’t just extend to her, though. It had begun, as she
understood it, just after the Slasher had attacked him, his cousin Logan, and Logan’s
lover, Skye, at Crowe’s cabin.

Crowe had been rendered unconscious for several hours before a huge she-wolf burst
through a window and chased the assailant off. That wolf had saved not just Crowe’s
life, but also Logan’s, Skye’s, and that of Skye’s unborn child.

The story behind the animal? Anna wasn’t certain. She knew the rumors of it were spreading
like wildfire.

Everyone who knew Crowe had commented on the change from hard, bitter, and icy to
one of a more thoughtful, if often confrontational, demeanor.

He’d always been slightly mocking, but never too prone to call individuals on their
switch between hating Callahans and supporting Callahans as he was known to do now.

After more than twenty years of deliberate cruelties that had been dealt to them,
it seemed everyone loved them now that he and his cousins had secured their inheritances.

Especially after helping to establish two new businesses with the potential to be
long-running, and rumors of turning the previous Callahan and Ramsey ranches into
a resort. The respect was pouring from the fine citizens of Corbin County with such
sickening sweetness it was pathetic.

“Is this all agreeable to you,
cousin?
” He emphasized the relationship once again.

“The next time you call me cousin,
cousin
, I suggest you do so without the tone.” Leaning forward, she confronted him irately,
knowing that even though she wasn’t being forced from the County again, her life wasn’t
yet her own. “I’ve never treated you with anything but respect, and damn you, Crowe
Callahan, you won’t treat me any differently.”

Tension filled the room for long seconds as his gaze locked with hers, and Anna felt
pure determination burning inside her. She’d be damned if she would let him treat
her as though she had.

His jaw clenched and his gaze flared with momentary anger before his lips tilted just
slightly. A second later a glimmer of amusement sparked in the oddly colored depths
of his eyes before he inclined his head in agreement.

“Very well, cousin
Anna,
” he emphasized her name instead. “Are you willing to work within the parameters we’ve
set up?”

“Do I have a choice?” she muttered, sitting back in her chair once again as she breathed
out wearily. “Who knew wanting to come home could turn into such a life-or-death decision?”

“It could be worse,” Crowe pointed out, bitter pain flashing in his eyes now. “You
could be facing the death of every past lover you’ve had.”

She slid a look in Archer’s direction.

Hell, she didn’t have past lovers, thank God. What she did have was one far-too-stubborn
lover who seemed to think he was now responsible for her life as well as her pleasure.

Which would have been okay if love were actually involved on his end, rather than
just lust.

Her gaze then turned to Rafer and Logan, both of whom now lived daily with the knowledge
that if they made one mistake, blinked too long, or dared to drop their guard for
a second, then the women they loved would die.

In Logan’s case, his unborn child would die as well.

“I don’t know how any of you have borne that pain,” she finally said compassionately.
“Or how you’ve borne what this County and your families have done to you and your
cousins over the years. It was wrong, Crowe. But there are so many who were not a
part of those years who are willing to stand behind you. Who are willing to help you.
Don’t turn your back on them because of what others did in the past.”

His lips pursed for a moment, the roughly handsome features frighteningly savage for
one long moment. “Lectures weren’t on my agenda today, nor was anyone’s pity. If you
don’t mind? Now.” He turned to the bodyguards. “Thaddock, Stryker, and Owen Brolen
are invisible. As for Rory, he’s known Archer for several years and he’s in town to
visit for a while. He’s renting the Brocks’ garage apartment next to Archer. His morning
jog will coincide with your walk to work. He’ll get off work next door about the same
time you do, and he’ll walk you home if Archer isn’t available to see you home.”

He would never stop resenting her, she feared. And a part of her couldn’t blame him.
She would have argued it, but at the moment she had a far more imperative battle to
fight.

“Why? Why is someone so determined to keep me out of Corbin County? To keep me from
associating with the three of you?”

“That’s what we’re hoping to find out, quickly,” Archer assured her, his dark voice
sending an unbidden thrill of sensation racing up her spine. “We’ll figure it out,
Anna, I promise.”

Archer always kept his promises. She just hoped the price they paid for the truth
was one they could all live with.

CHAPTER 10

“Very well, then.” Crowe gave a slow nod of his head as he rose from his seat. “Thaddock
and his team will head out and, within hours, at least one will be in place at all
times to ensure you’re protected. Rory will leave as he came in, unobtrusively.”

“In the trunk of Thaddock’s car.” Rory snickered. “Mine was left in Montrose.”

“He’ll return this evening and move into the apartment,” Crowe finished as he picked
up his files. “I’m sure you’ll probably have more questions. Archer can answer them.
We went over the plan extensively with him before calling you in.”

Oh, had they?

Wasn’t it rather nice of him to discuss it with her?

She felt as though her life was being taken over again. Controlled again.

Nodding, she waited until they all filed out, then watched as Archer rose from his
chair and moved to the door. The click of the lock was loud, causing her head to jerk
around as she watched him, her eyes narrowing.

He looked hot as hell.

He was dressed in his customary uniform of jeans and the dun-colored sheriff’s shirt,
his badge clipped to his belt next to his holstered weapon. Scuffed, well-worn boots
covered his feet. His expression was frankly sensual.

“You didn’t discuss any of this with me first,” she pointed out. “I hate that, Archer.”

Surprise had his brows lifting as he stared down at her.

“I assumed you would know I wouldn’t leave you unprotected, Anna. Just because you’re
living with me doesn’t ensure you won’t be in danger. For some reason, a madman decided
you were never to stay long in this County after you turned nine. I want to know why,
but I also want to make damned certain you’re not hurt in the bargain.”

“And you couldn’t discuss it with me?” The knot of anger that had been growing inside
her began to tear.

Coming to her feet, Anna confronted him, feeling her hands shaking with anger even
as her body burned with arousal for him.

She couldn’t shake the need for him, even in anger. She couldn’t shake years of fantasies
and an aching hunger for his touch, no matter how she tried. Even now, in the face
of the knowledge that he was making decisions for her, that he wasn’t discussing them
with her, she couldn’t shake that need.

“You’re getting angry over nothing.” His arms went over his chest as he glared down
at her. “You should have known, at some point, a decision like this would have to
be made.”

“Just as I assumed, at some point, you would discuss it with me first.” Placing a
hand on her hip she tapped her index finger slowly to hold on to her patience. “I
don’t like being controlled, Archer, especially by you.”

It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, the madder she became with Archer, the
more it hurt and the more she ached for him.

“Anna, I wasn’t trying to control you—”

“That’s exactly what you’re doing.” Pushing her fingers through her hair, she turned
and stalked to the other side of the room before turning back to him. “You had me
called in here like a child, and the decisions were made as though my opinion didn’t
matter. And it should matter. My opinion matters, Archer.”

It should have mattered, she told herself. It was her life. Just as it should have
mattered to her family. Once she was old enough to hear the truth, she should have
been told.

They should have let her come home.

“Controlling you was the last damned thing on my mind,” he growled. “When I told Crowe
and his cousins about the meeting with the ‘Barons,’ the subject of your safety became
uppermost. It’s not as though we were discussing it for weeks, dammit. It was done
right here in this fucking room, the decision made thirty minutes before you were
called in.”

Anna clenched her teeth. Seeing the logic in it didn’t help.

Of course she could see how it could have happened, but it shouldn’t have happened.

“The minute my name came up in the same sentence with protection, you should have
had them send for me,” she cried out. “Don’t do this to me, Archer. Don’t treat me
like my family has all my life. Don’t take the choice out of my hands, because I won’t
have it.” Before she could stop herself she was striding to him, her hand jerked from
her hip, her index finger pressing firmly into his chest with furious demand. “Not
from my family, not from Crowe, and I damned sure won’t have it from my lover.”

“Exactly, your fucking lover.” He jerked her to him.

One hand held her hip, the other wrapping around her back as she found her body suddenly
flush with his, her hands pressing against his chest in surprise. “I’m your damned
lover, Anna. You are my lover, and don’t think for one minute I won’t do exactly what
it takes to protect you. You want to work? Work. You want to live in Corbin County,
Aspen, or Tim-fucking-buktu, then that’s your decision if I can’t talk you out of
it. You want to buy a new car? New shoes? A fucking horse to ride to work? I don’t
give a damn. But by God, when it comes to making damned sure you’re warm and safe,
then don’t think for one fucking minute I won’t do exactly what I have to do to keep
you warm and safe.”

Shock reverberated through her.

He glared down at her as though what he felt for her might, just might, be more than
just lust.

“Next time, discuss it with me first,” she demanded furiously, though she could hear
the weakness in that demand. And she could feel the hunger for him beginning to race
through her bloodstream at the feel of his erection pressing against her lower stomach.
“I don’t care where or when the discussion comes up. My protection, where I live,
when I live, is all my business and I won’t be left out of the conversation.”

And she really needed that demand to sound more like a demand.

“If you’re there.” His head lowered, his lips inches from hers. “If whether or not
you agree with the decision makes a difference in the decision being made. And as
long as it has nothing to do with whether you live or die.”

Her nostrils flared. Her lips parted to flay him alive for his arrogance when he suddenly
covered them.

Before she could snap her teeth down on his tongue as it pushed past her parted lips,
his hand was at her jaw, preventing it. His kiss demanded, moved over her lips and,
far too quickly, there was no chance in hell of daring to actually bite his tongue
for its demanding invasion.

A moan tore from her despite her attempts to hold it back.

Pleasure began to invade her, the anger-based adrenaline suddenly turning to hunger,
to flames of need striking at her clit, her vagina, and racing to her nipples. All
the flesh in between began to heat as well, each cell in her body suddenly aching
for his touch.