Guardian by Loribelle Hunt Read Free Book Online

could find one. If she was going to be in there, he wanted to know if she was in danger. A camera or mic was the only way, since she couldn’t take a phone in.  
    “Figure it out,” he ordered. He was so tense he was surprised he didn’t snap. He was even more surprised when Mallory reached over and squeezed his hand.  
    “It’ll be fine,” she whispered. “Chill out.”  
    Yeah, right. Like that was happening. She only resisted a second when he tugged her close enough to wrap his arm around her shoulders. A few seconds more and she relaxed into him. Gabe ignored them and slipped the card into what looked like a small box. Lights on the front lit up and he turned to the computer, typing in commands.  
    “This will take twenty to thirty minutes. You want to wait or pick it up in the morning?”  
    She hesitated, biting her bottom lip. Zach answered for her. “She’ll get it in the morning. Leave it on my desk.”  
    Gabe nodded and Zach pulled Mallory into the hall. “I can wait, Zach. It’s not a big deal.”  
    Maybe, but the one instinct he wasn’t fighting right now was to take care of her. And she was exhausted. He felt it through their bond, which grew stronger every day, could see it on her face. “You need to rest, baby. We’re going home. Tomorrow is soon enough to dive back into this insanity.”  
     
    She heaved a sigh and allowed him to pull her out the front door, but they didn’t move towards her car. Instead he tugged her to one of the paths that led off behind Brax’s house.
    “Where are we going? Zach, I really just want to take a shower and sleep. A midnight stroll is not on the list.”
    He laughed. “It’s a long way from midnight. And it’s a surprise.” She was such a sucker for surprises. Damn him for knowing her so well.
    There were many wide, well-worn paths from Brax’s house. Inside the compound, golf carts were the main mode of transport and most of the trails accommodated them. When they turned off a much narrower and newer trail, she knew where he was taking her and dug in her heels until he was forced to stop.  
    “I don’t think this is a good idea,” she said.
    “It’s finished, Mallory.” He lifted his hands and cupped her face. “The house is finished and it’s beautiful and it is exactly what you wanted. But it’s lonely as hell. Please just come look at it.”  
    She could hear the ache in his voice and it seared her to her core. She couldn’t speak; she could only nod. And they continued the last several yards until the trees broke to reveal the clearing they’d chosen for their dream house. It was almost impossible to hide her pleasure. It was a two-story antebellum reproduction, but built with modern energy concerns in mind, if he’d stuck to the plan. It would have a huge kitchen open to a dining room and living room on the first floor. A large library for both of them. And four bedrooms upstairs, for the family they’d planned. She couldn’t believe he’d finished it. It had only been in the beginning stages when she lost the baby. And she wasn’t sure she could handle going inside.  
    “This is such a bad idea,” she whispered.
    “Why?” he asked, turning to her. “Forget my job and your job, forget all the Elect security concerns. This house is about me and you and what we wanted together. This house is just about us, and maybe we both need to remember that.”
    “You forgot about us long before you finished this house,” she said so softly she couldn’t believe he heard. He took her hand, laced their fingers together and held on hard.
    “I never will again, I swear.”
    He was going to kill her, piece by piece, if this wasn’t real. If he wasn’t really going to try. She looked up at the house—the perfect, beautiful house she’d wanted to fill with perfect, beautiful children—and knew it was all a myth. She could walk away. He’d let her. Or she could move forward. It might be messy and sometimes ugly, and if she