“He has to go,” she blurted. She sounded desperate.

“Elijah is a big part of my team, Siena. He is not like your grandfather.” Drake’s voice was impossibly gentle. “He walks a very fine line, half in our world and half in the underbelly, but I can assure you, he is on your side. If you trusted me enough to come looking for me and to hire me, you have to trust my judgment.”

Elijah couldn’t stay. She shook her head, her gaze jumping to Drake’s face, eyes pleading.

“Baby,” Elijah whispered softly against her bare neck, his lips leaving a trail of kisses. “I’m not going anywhere. Not now when you need me to protect you. Not ever. Get that through your head. I’m your security. I’m part of Drake’s team, and that means all of his men. All the men who work for me. Paolo and Alonzo will never come near you again.”

A shudder went through her body at the thought of Paolo getting close to her. She couldn’t think about him, so she pushed him out of her mind. She couldn’t think about her grandfather or Elijah or anything else. She closed her eyes, pulled the sheet up to her face and hid from the two men. Hid from the world. Hid from herself.

5

SIENA stood shakily by the side of the car, her legs feeling like rubber. Any minute she was going to collapse in a little heap onto the ground. No one listened to her. Not at all. No matter what she said. How much she protested. She was not going back into that house. Not ever. She didn’t care what any of them said.

Elijah had announced he wasn’t leaving her ever and he’d said it in his low, firm voice, with his bossy, commanding tone, but she hadn’t considered even for a minute that he might mean that literally. He barely had left her hospital room during her stay—and that stay had been lengthy, Doc insisting she stay for over two weeks. The doctor and nurses addressed him instead of her when discussing her progress or care. Drake deliberated security details with him. It was her life, but everyone had the very false impression that she belonged to Elijah—even Elijah.