Page 40 of Protecting Bree
Mateo smirked. Women were good for one thing only. Spreading their legs and letting men take what they wanted. She’d learn that or die. It was that simple. He’d spent good money on the bitch, and he’d get that money out of her one way or another. That’s how his operation worked. Training the bitches was the fun part. Breaking them. He loved to see the life drain out of their eyes as they accepted their new reality.
Bree Haynes would be no different. She washis—and he always got what he paid for.
CHAPTER NINE
Bree was cautiously optimistic. She and the rest of Smiley’s team had a phone call with the mysterious Tex yesterday afternoon, and he’d confirmed again that he and his crew of computer geniuses not only had proof that Mateo Castillo was in Riverton, but now, they also knew where he was staying—and had relayed that information to the FBI, the Riverton PD, and the sheriff’s office.
Today, the Fugitive Apprehension Tactical Enforcement Unit, part of the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, had been preparing to apprehend him, and that was supposed to go down any moment now. Castillo was apparently wanted in several countries for kidnapping and for his involvement in the sex trade. The various police forces were surprised he was in the United States, but they weren’t going to waste time wondering why.
Hopefully by tonight, Bree’s nightmare would be over and she could get her life back on track. Of course, that was kind of scary too…because she’d been enjoying living with Smiley here in Riverton. She was becoming closer to Kelli, Remi, and all the women, and honestly, she didn’t want to go back to Las Vegas.
But while things with Smiley were going well, or at least she thought so, she wasn’t sure either of them were at the point where they wanted to move in with each other permanently.
Well…Bree was pretty sure that’s whatshewanted, but she wasn’t going to assume anything when it came to Smiley. He’d taken her in out of necessity.Hernecessity. And from what she understood, he’d been somewhat obsessed with finding her ever since she’d snuck away from his truck that awful night when he, Preacher, and Blink had come to rescue Josie from her ex-boyfriend’s mother and sister.
The truth was, Bree was a little torn. A small part of her missed her old life, the one that was predictable and boring…but safe. A bigger part was lovingthislife. Being with Smiley every minute of every day. Cooking with him. Watching TV. Laughing. Making love. She didn’t like that she had no money of her own coming in, but she was confident she could find a job here in Southern California.
Shaking her head, she reined in her wayward thoughts. She had no business planning a life here in Riverton until her current shitshow of a life was figured out. With luck, Tex and the law enforcement officers would get in touch in a few hours and let them know Mateo had been apprehended and her life on the run and in hiding was done.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Bree blurted.
Smiley looked over at her from behind the wheel of his truck and frowned. “Sure what is okay?”
“You bringing me to My Sister’s Closet to meet up withFiona and Julie. It has to be old, shuttling me around everywhere.”
“Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Smiley asked, instead of directly answering her question.
She shrugged. “Because I can’t imagine hanging out at a woman’s boutique is your idea of a good time. And again, because you’re a badass Navy SEAL who should probably be making plans with your teammates to go off and save the world or something. And instead of doing that, you’re driving me around like you’re my chauffeur or something.”
To her surprise, Smiley pulled over and stopped his truck. He reached out and put his palm on the side of her neck as he spoke. “I told you when this all started that I wasn’t letting you out of my sight, and I meant that. You want to go visit with Julie and Fiona and find some more clothes, that’s what we’ll do. I’ve been trying to get more clothes in my closet for you since you got there. As far as work…I have so much leave time saved up it isn’t funny. Which doesn’t even matter in this case, because we only left thirty minutes early. And the commander and the team know that at the moment,you’remy priority.”
“Not sure taking me shopping counts as a priority,” Bree mumbled, dropping her gaze from his. “Especially now that Mateo is about to be caught. I can go access my storage unit in Vegas again.”
“Look at me,” Smiley ordered.
Bree lifted her eyes.
“This isn’t about clothes,” he said, in a tone that was in direct contrast to the grumpy exterior he always showed the world. “It’s about you needing to do something while we wait to hear from Tex. It’s about you connecting with two women who lived through an experience like the oneyou’ve been running from for months. It’s about me proving thatyoucome first, that I support you unequivocally. All right?”
Bree’s belly churned, her breathing sped up, and all she wanted to do was throw herself at the man next to her. He made her feel seen. Important. Wanted. It was a heady feeling. And she so wanted to show Smiley her appreciation.
“Later,” he said with a twitch of his lips, proving that he really was a mind reader.
“Thank you, Smiley. Seriously. I’m really anxious about Mateo. About finding out what happens. I don’t want anyone to be hurt, but I definitely want to hear he’s in custody. Do you really think I’ll be safe if he’s caught? Won’t there be others on my trail? Like, people he works with?”
Smiley’s fingers caressed her cheek for a moment before he dropped his hand and turned back to face forward. Checking for vehicles coming up behind them, and seeing it was clear, he pulled back onto the road and continued toward downtown Riverton and Julie’s secondhand clothing shop.
“Tex went over this. He doesn’t think so. For some reason, it’s Castillo himself who seems determined to complete the sale your asshole ex made. I’m guessing the rest of his crew sees you as a liability. They could get their hands on other women much more easily.”
Bree frowned. She hated the sound of that, even if it was true.
“How about we worry over what comes nextafterwe hear back from Tex.”
“Okay,”Bree agreed.
Smiley deftly pulled into a parking spot in the public lot down the street from Julie’s store. He took Bree’s hand as they walked toward My Sister’s Closet.
“I’ll try not to be too long,” she told him, still thinking about how he couldn’t possibly want to spend time at a women’s boutique.
