Bodyguard (Shifters Unbound #2.5) (15 page)

Ronan's house, on the other hand, was full of
life. When Elizabeth went home, she'd miss the loveable Olaf,
Rebecca's wisecracks about anything and everything, Cherie's young
enthusiasm, Ronan's giant breakfasts, and of course, Ronan
himself.

Every night after Elizabeth closed the store,
she went with him to Liam's bar. There she'd talk and joke with
Andrea, Glory, Ellison, and other Shifters she was coming to know.
Whenever Ronan took a break, he'd sit down with Elizabeth, and at
the end of the night, they rode home on Ronan's bike, Elizabeth's
arms around his waist.

And they'd talk. Morning, noon, and night,
she and Ronan seemed to never run out of conversation, or jokes
about anything they could think of. Even silences with him were
companionable, Elizabeth never feeling pressured to come up with
something brilliant to say.

She'd never had a relationship like this,
where she could actually
talk
to a guy. What's more, Ronan
listened. It was a new sensation. In Elizabeth's previous
relationships, the man in question had expected her to talk when he
wanted her to, shut up when he wanted her to, and have sex with him
whenever he wanted her to. Whenever
he
wanted, never mind
Elizabeth's needs. His pleasure counted, not hers.

Ronan, on the other hand, was perfectly happy
to steal kisses with her, as though they were wayward teenagers,
whenever and wherever she liked. They made a game of it, coming up
with unlikely and unusual places to duck away for kissing: her
office bathroom, the broom closet at the bar, behind the back
shelves in her store, in the root cellar of Ronan's house, in the
back of Ellison's pickup. The Shifters--especially Rebecca and
Ellison--made fun of them, but Ronan lapped up their teasing with
enjoyment.

Elizabeth liked the turn her life had taken,
which at the same time seemed fragile and new, like a seedling
lifting a first tender shoot above the soil. There was hope and
warmth, but also fear of impending storms.

The next storm came in the form of Julio
Marquez, who was waiting for them in the shadows of the Shifter
bar's parking lot when Ronan and Elizabeth emerged the next Friday
night. The bar had closed an hour before, Ronan shutting down for
Liam so he could go home to his family.

Ronan stepped fully in front of Elizabeth.
Nate and Spike came out of the darkness to flank Julio, Nate in his
human form, Spike as a jaguar.

Julio opened his hands then carefully lifted
his jacket to show that he carried no weapon. His face sported
healing cuts from his fight with Ronan, reminders of Ronan's
strength, but also reminders that Ronan could temper his
strength.

"I came alone," Julio said. "I just want to
talk to you."

One week ago, Elizabeth had grown dizzy with
terror when she'd looked into Julio's cold eyes over his gun. Now
she tasted pure anger. A spark from Ronan's Collar flashed white in
the night, and he growled.

Julio raised his hands. "I swear to God, I
only want to talk. You made a fool out of me,
chica
, but I'm
not crazy enough to go one-on-one with a Shifter."

Elizabeth stood in silence. Anything she
said--even agreeing to let Julio speak his piece--might allow his
lawyer to claim that her testimony against him was compromised. She
was willing to bet that any lawyer hired by the Marquez brothers
would be slippery enough to do so.

"You have three seconds to leave," Ronan said
to Julio. "Or I go through you."

"No, no." Julio took a step back. "I'm here
to apologize. My brother was right--I was stupid."

Elizabeth remained silent, and Ronan followed
her lead.

Julio went on. "I know you think I've come
here to ask you not to testify against me. And you're right. I
really don't want to go to prison. I'm sorry for what I did, but I
was just having fun. You know, showing off for my friends."

He was a cool little liar. He might dupe a
person more naive than Elizabeth, but she'd seen many performances
like his, most of them better. Julio had been ready to kill her
last Friday night, not caring who she was or who in the world
depended on her. She'd been a means to get to the money, something
to be disposed afterward. That was all.

"I know you're pissed off at me," Julio said.
"So I'll make a deal with you. You know the Shifter fight
clubs?"

Ronan waited. He was a frightening sight out
here in the dark, looming like a giant, his Collar gleaming in the
moonlight.

"Here's my deal," Julio said. "You, Shifter,
come out to the fight club out east of here tomorrow night and
fight my champion. Spike knows where it is. My champion's a good
fighter, but I've seen you, and I think you'd have a chance against
him. You win, I leave you and your lady alone forever. You testify
at my trial, do whatever you want. If my champion wins then you
agree to not to testify, get out of town, and leave me the hell
alone. Got it?"

Elizabeth longed to shout at him, to lambaste
him for coming here and expecting her to cut a deal, when he'd been
the one who'd shoved a pistol into her face and tried to take away
everything she had. What should she do, apologize for not being a
helpless victim? She clamped her lips closed, struggling against
the words.

Ronan's Collar sparked again. "Not
interested," he said.

He started walking, directly at Julio. Julio
sidestepped, and Ronan pulled Elizabeth along past him. Nate and
Spike closed in.

"You're going to want to take my deal," Julio
called, voice edged with desperation. "Don't walk away from me so
fast . . .
Rachel
."

Elizabeth knew she shouldn't stop, shouldn't
react. She should ignore him, have every inch of her body language
say,
Who's
Rachel?

But she froze, one foot in the act of
striding, while fear hit her so hard she wanted to be sick. She
sensed Ronan slow beside her, felt his curiosity, his caution.

"Rachel Sullivan," Julio went on, glee in his
voice. "You have a juvey record longer than mine. Yeah, I can see
what's in old files. My brother got into bed with a
hacker--literally, she's screwing him. Mouthy bitch, but she knows
her stuff. You got mixed up with a very, very bad dude, didn't you?
I bet he'd love to have Pablo call him and tell him he knows where
Rachel Sullivan is."

Ronan's growls rose as he spun around, his
Collar throwing out sparks like lightning. Nate and Spike flanked
him.

Julio backed away, but he didn't run. "Kill
me now, and an email gets sent to his phone in the morning. If you
agree, and I make it home before the message is timed to send, I'll
erase it. You say no, or you kill me . . . well, there will be no
one to push the delete key. Then you have to deal with
him
."

Elizabeth finally spoke. "I take it your
brother doesn't know about this little deal?"

"Pablo told me to take care of my problems on
my own. So I'm taking care of them. But my brother and his hacker
chick know all about you and your sister. The foster homes, your
arrests for pick-pocketing and shoplifting and your little scams,
you avoiding jail by the skin of your teeth."

"I never went down for armed robbery,"
Elizabeth said, voice tight.

"You would have, eventually. You were a
desperate little
chiquita
."

"You aren't desperate," Elizabeth
snapped.

"I told you. I did it for fun. Well, Shifter?
You gonna show up and fight? Or let your
punta
's ex find
her and let her know how pissed he is at her for leaving him?
Probably he'll show you too."

"No, Ronan," Elizabeth said. "Don't bargain
with him."

Ronan's voice cut over hers. "Get the hell
out of here, you little shit, before I let Spike rip you
apart."

"Take my offer, Bear," Julio said, stepping
backward toward the darkness. "Take it or that email goes."

"Fine. Spike."

Spike rushed him. Julio turned and ran,
satisfactorily fast, but he called back, "See you tomorrow
night!"

He melted into the darkness, a kid well
versed in getting away as quickly as he could. Spike loped after
him and Nate followed.

Ronan watched them go, remaining planted
until he was well out of sight. He took Elizabeth's hand again.
"Come on. Let's go home."

Elizabeth ripped herself out of his grasp.
"Don't you dare say
let's
go home
like nothing's
wrong."

"Let's go home and talk about it, inside,"
Ronan said emphatically.

"Yes, all right." She was shaking. Hearing
her real name come out of Julio's mouth had made bile rise in her
throat. "You can't seriously mean you'll do what he wants."

"I don't," Ronan said. He leaned to her.
"Now,
let's
go home.
"

*** *** ***

Elizabeth held it together long enough to
ride behind Ronan through the streets of Shiftertown to his house
tucked beneath spreading trees. Ronan drove around to the back of
the house and shut off the bike. No lights glowed in the house and
they didn't have outdoor lights to illuminate the back--Shifters
saw well in the dark.

Ronan lifted off his helmet and hung it on
the bike, and did the same with Elizabeth's. Before she could move
toward the house, he put large hands on her shoulders and turned
her to face him.

"Tell me the guy's name."

"Not if you mean you'll go after him. He's
too dangerous, Ronan. If you think Pablo Marquez is dangerous, he's
small potatoes compared to this man."

"I know he's dangerous, and I know Marquez is
too. I told Julio I'd agree to the fight so he wouldn't send the
damn email. Julio's a brat, but he can hurt you just by being
stupid. Tell me his name. We need to know."

"What is wrong with you?" Elizabeth's voice
rose, and she didn't care. "You Shifters think you're unstoppable.
Well, you're not. You wear Collars, for God's sake. You have to
live in Shiftertowns, you're treated like second-class citizens.
What makes you think you can go after a huge drug lord and survive
when the cops, the FBI, and even other gangs can't make a
dent?"

"Because Shifters don't give a rat's ass
about Collars and Shiftertowns and idiotic human rules!" Ronan
shouted back. "The humans feel so good that they've restricted us
and controlled us, don't they? So safe, because the beasts are in
the cage. Meanwhile, if you hadn't noticed, we do whatever the hell
we want."

Yes, Elizabeth had noticed that. She
remembered the courtroom, where the judge, prosecutor, and bailiff
had been nervous and ill at ease, while Liam and Ronan hadn't been
worried at all. They'd been in control, and they'd known it. Ronan,
also, nonchalantly escorted Elizabeth to her store every morning,
blatantly disregarding his restriction to remain in Shiftertown. He
took precautions not to be caught, but he went.

"I still don't want you fighting whoever
Julio's coerced into working for him," Elizabeth said.

The glint in Ronan's eye was maddening. "Why
not? It might be fun."

"Ronan
."

"You let me worry about the fight, and you
let me worry about this drug lord. Now, who is he?"

"Damn it, Ronan, if you go up against him,
he'll kill you. He won't wait to talk. He'll kill you and all your
Shifter friends. I'm not kidding."

"I'm not kidding, either. Why do you think
Pablo Marquez has left you alone all week? Because Dylan and Sean
went and had a little talk with him. Marquez is making plans to
shut down his business here and open up somewhere else."

"I never heard that."

"Of course you didn't. The Morrisseys, they
do their shit, and they shut up about it. I didn't tell you,
because I liked seeing you not worry about him. Now I want to make
sure you never have to worry about this other guy--whose name
you're about to give me."

Elizabeth pressed her hands together. She
didn't know what to do, and her indecision and fear made her eyes
blur with tears.

Ronan softened his touch. "Sweetheart," he
said in the tender tone she'd come to love. He drew her against
him. "Don't be scared. I take care of you now. That's what it means
to be mate-claimed."

"But I could lose you." Her voice broke. "I
finally found something good, and I'll
lose
you
!"

Ronan cuddled her close. "Lizzie-girl," he
said, lips brushing her hair. "Shh."

They stood together in the night breeze that
cooled the humid air, rocking together. The pain that laced
Elizabeth's heart made more tears spill to wet the black T-shirt
stretched over Ronan's chest. She'd had so few good things in her
life, so few good people, that everything in her cried,
Don't
let go.

She wiped tears from her eyes as she rose on
her tiptoes and kissed him.

Ronan's mouth was a warm place in the night,
tasting of heat and spice. Elizabeth clung to him as he kissed her
back, his tongue stroking hers with gentle possession.

This man had become, even in such a short
time, a rock in her life. To have someone take him away from
her--
no
!

Ronan warmed her back with his big hands, his
touch soothing. "We should get inside," he said. "Not the house.
Rebecca's upstairs taking care of Olaf, and your sister and Cherie
are talking like crazy in your room. Shifter hearing. And scent,"
he said, by way of explanation as to how he knew this. "Besides, my
room's always a mess."

He gave her a little shamefaced smile as he
said this last, which made Elizabeth kiss him again. He gestured
toward the Den, and she nodded. Ronan took her hand and led her
there.

* * * * *

Chapter Thirteen

The Den empty, dark, and quiet. Ronan turned
on a lamp and closed the shades against the night.