Maya Banks - Colters’ Gift

“Lauren? Seth?” Max called.

She could hear the anxiety in his voice, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

“It’s okay, Max. Come on up,” Seth called down. “Lauren is fine.”

A few moments later, Max burst into the room, his gaze immediately seeking Lauren out. He went to her and pulled her into his arms. She sighed and absorbed the hug, resting her head against his chest. She was just waiting for the bubble to burst and for reality—and her past—to rudely intrude.

Max pulled her away, palming her shoulders. Then he glanced beyond her to where Noah and Liam now stood just a few feet away.

“What’s going on? Why are you two here? Is Lauren in danger?”

Liam shot her a look of sympathy. Noah had less mercy, however.

“Lauren lied to us about who hurt her,” Noah said bluntly. “When we found out, we came here immediately to question her.”

Max frowned, and Lauren could see the wheels turning in his head as he grappled with what Noah had just thrown at him. His jaw went tight, a sure sign of anger, and he started forward, but she put her hand on his arm.

“Don’t, Max,” she said in a low voice. “I did lie.”

He jerked his gaze from Noah and Liam, his eyes wide with astonishment. “Why on earth would you lie? I don’t understand. I saw what you looked like, Lauren. You can’t tell me that son of a bitch didn’t put those bruises on you.”

Her lips turned down again, and she glanced away, tears stinging the lids of her eyes. But she gulped them back. She wasn’t going to use a dirty trick to get out of this. It was time to own up to what she’d done.

“She made up a name and description of someone else,” Liam said.

He took a step toward Lauren until he was close enough that she could feel the warmth emanating from him. His hand slid up her back and remained between her shoulder blades. No one could see where his hand rested, but she appreciated the show of support more than she could possibly verbalize.

“Why?” Max demanded.

Seth frowned and leaned against the doorway that separated the living room from the small kitchen area. “I’m lost.”

“She was afraid,” Liam said quietly. “Joel Knight is the asshole’s name and he’s involved in prostitution. According to Lauren, he has quite a few people on his payroll, including several members of law enforcement.” He sighed hard and glanced sideways at Lauren. “She was trying to protect you . . . and us.”

Max stared at Liam for a long moment as if he thought Liam had lost his mind. Then he turned his gaze to Lauren. “Is this true?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“What else did you lie about?” Max asked bluntly. “What did he do to you, Lauren? You said he hit you. That he slapped and punched you. What else did that son of a bitch do to you? What else haven’t you told me?”

The blood drained out of her face, and she could no longer meet her brother’s gaze. Liam slid his arm around her, uncaring that Max was mere feet away, and Liam squeezed her shoulders, pulling her underneath his arm until she was flat against him, one shoulder lodged solidly underneath his.

“There’s no need to have this discussion in front of so many people,” Liam said in a low voice. “Lauren’s embarrassed and scared enough as it is.”

She wanted to hug him and never let go. But at the same time, she was ashamed of the fact she was still hiding, only this time she was hiding behind Liam.

Max blew out a deep breath and then scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I just want to know what the hell is going on. First question. Is Lauren in any immediate danger? Is this asshole coming after her?”

Noah held up his hand. “We have no reason to believe he has any idea where she is. We sure as hell haven’t told anyone. We came because we needed to confirm what our source told us so that we can do some more digging on this guy.”

Max’s lips tightened. “You should have contacted me first. You work for me.”

Liam nodded. “Yeah, we do. But we weren’t going to you with the possibility that Lauren had held back information unless we knew that to be true. And the only way to find that out was to ask her.”

Max looked long and hard at Lauren, and then his gaze softened. “Are you all right? I wish to hell I knew what you were thinking or why you just wouldn’t tell me the truth.”

“I’m fine,” she croaked, and cringed at how easily she lied to her brother now. The truth was she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. But she couldn’t very well say that.

“What do we need to do?” Max directed at Noah and Liam. “Are there any precautions that Lauren needs to take? How likely is this guy to come after her?”

“It’s hard to say,” Noah said grimly. “We need to find out everything we can about him.”

Lauren trembled against Liam and his grip tightened on her.

“We aren’t going to let anything happen to you, Lauren,” Liam murmured.

“I don’t want her left alone,” Max said sharply. “Is this the sort of thing you can have others do for you?” Then he shook his head. “I think you should move back in with me and Callie, Lauren.”

“Max, no,” Lauren pleaded. “I like it here. I just got moved in. My job’s just across the street. Clyde is a world away from New York City. You heard Noah. They haven’t told anyone where I am. How on earth would he find me, and who says he even cares what I’m doing now?”

Max looked torn. Seth was frowning.

“I hate to upset you, Lauren, but I’m in agreement with Max on this one,” Seth said. “You shouldn’t be alone. Especially until we’ve had time to investigate this guy. I’m assuming from your tone that you have no desire to press charges?”

She shook her head emphatically. “He’d be out of jail in an hour. He’d never do time. I just want to forget he ever existed. I don’t want to give him any reason to care about me one way or another.”

Seth didn’t look happy, but he didn’t try to talk her into it.

“She won’t be alone,” Noah said. “Liam and I would stick to her until we are absolutely certain this guy poses no threat.”

“What do you want to do, Lauren?” Max asked.

He was staring hard at Liam’s arm wrapped protectively around her. His gaze swept up and down the bigger man as if trying to figure out what it was he was missing in the big picture.

Lauren sucked in a breath and then glanced at each of the occupants of the room.

If she swore off any protection, A) she’d be the world’s biggest dumbass; and B) Max would have her moved back in with him and Callie in an hour flat. So much for asserting any sort of independence.

“I want to stay here. In my apartment,” she finally said.

“And you’re okay with Noah and Liam shadowing you twenty-four hours a day?” Max asked.

She snuck a quick glance at Noah. Liam, she was relatively sure of. His hold on her spoke volumes. Noah . . . well, she didn’t know if he was still pissed or if he would be even more so once he got stuck babysitting her on a full-time basis again.

“Why are you looking at me that way?” Noah asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Because I’m not sure it’s fair to ask you to take on the job of babysitting me again,” she said bluntly. “I lied to you. I made your job more difficult. I wouldn’t blame you if you couldn’t wait to see the back of me.”

“How about you let me worry about what I consider difficult,” Noah said softly. “Whether you move in with your brother or you stay here in this apartment, you’re stuck with me.”

“And me,” Liam interjected.

“And Liam,” Noah agreed. “So you better just get used to it. Until we know exactly who and what we’re dealing with, you’re going to be tripping over us on a daily basis.”

“I don’t want any trouble,” Seth said, straightening his stance. “I need to be kept in the loop on everything. If there’s a problem in my town, it’s my problem. Plus, Lauren is family. My entire family looks out for her. I need to know whatever threat there is because you can damn well bet my wife, mother and sister will be in the thick of it.”

“Understood,” Liam said, his hold never loosening on Lauren. “We’ll give you whatever information we uncover as soon as we get it. We’ll get some of our people digging immediately and we’ll let everybody know what we come up with.”

Max looked reluctantly toward the door and then back at Lauren. “Are you sure you don’t want to come home with me?”

She broke loose from Liam and went to her brother. She hugged him tightly and then leaned up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for worrying about me, and I’m sorry I lied to you, Max. I didn’t know what else to do at the time. I was just scared. But I’m fine now. Promise.”

He didn’t look a hundred percent certain, but he nodded anyway. “Okay. I’ll go back home.” Then to Noah and Liam, he said, “I expect a report the minute you find out anything further.”

“I’ll get on out of here too,” Seth said. “Keep me posted. Holler if you sense anything out of the ordinary. Things stay pretty much the same around here. People pay attention when they see new faces in town. Get me a description of Knight. A photo. Any pertinent information on people who work close with him. I’ll distribute it to my deputies so we can all be on the lookout.”

Liam extended his hand to shake Seth’s. “Thanks. We’ll definitely keep you posted.”

Seth shook Liam’s hand and then nodded at Lauren. “Take care, Lauren.”

“Thank you,” she managed to get out.

Max leaned forward, kissed Lauren on the forehead and then trailed behind Seth out her front door.

She damn near wilted on the spot as soon as the door closed behind Max. But the look in Noah’s eyes halted her in her tracks.

Her brow furrowed, she glanced at him in question.

“Now that they’re gone, we have a hell of a lot else to discuss,” Noah said in a determined voice. “Starting with me. You. And Liam.”

NOAH stared at Lauren’s pale face and for a moment considered backing off. Giving her time and space to deal with the fallout of their arrival. It was obvious she was on shaky ground.