Guarding His Witness. Lisa Childs

was damn good. She’d held her own in the vice unit. She was far tougher than she looked. But none of the other bodyguards had the incentive Clint had to make sure Rosie stayed safe.

      They hadn’t made a promise to her brother like he had.

      That was his only incentive.

      It wasn’t because he had personal feelings for Rosie. Hell, if he did—if he really did—that might prove more a hindrance than a help. A distraction and a detriment over an incentive.

      No. He did not. He could not have feelings for Rosie Mendez. Sure, she was beautiful—inside and out. And strong and brave and smart.

      But she was also stubborn and hateful and...

      The door opened, and she stepped out into the hall. And all his negative thoughts left as he gasped again at her beauty. Even the dark circles beneath her big brown eyes didn’t detract from her appearance. She was exhausted but beautiful.

      Maybe that exhaustion was why Parker told him, “Take her to the safe house now.”

      She must have been too tired to fight hard enough to get him fired. That wasn’t like her. She was so strong, such a fighter.

      And now he looked at her with concern. When he’d jumped out that window with her in his arms, he’d been careful so that he would take the brunt of the fall. And his throbbing shoulder attested to the fact that he had.

      But had she been hurt as well? Despite his efforts?

      “Are you okay?” he asked her.

      She nodded, but she didn’t look at him. Then she brushed past him as she headed toward the exit. Clearly, she was ready to leave.

      She definitely had to be exhausted.

      But before Clint could head out with her, Parker caught his arm.

      He suppressed a wince as the movement jarred his injured shoulder and turned toward his boss.

      “Are you sure you’re up to this?” Parker asked.

      And Clint knew the other man wasn’t talking about his shoulder. He was talking about Rosie.

      No doubt she’d made it very clear to him, and to the chief who was studying him as well, how much she hated Clint. They confirmed this when Parker said, “Luther Mills might not be the only one you’re in danger from.”

      If Rosie really wanted him dead, she would have killed him when he’d shown up for Javier’s funeral. And she certainly wouldn’t have been as concerned as she’d been in the SUV about his injury. No, Rosie Mendez was no killer.

      And Clint had to make certain she didn’t become the next victim of one.

      “I’m fine,” he assured his boss and the chief. “I’ve got this.”

      But because she’d already made it across the lobby to the front doors, he had to rush after her. Not that any of the perimeter guards would have let her step outside without protection.

      Hell, they followed both of them to the SUV. While he opened the passenger door for her, one of Cooper Payne’s team had already opened the driver’s door and checked inside and underneath the vehicle. Cooper’s guys were all highly trained former Marines.

      They knew to check for explosives and other potential deadly threats. Luther Mills was probably quite a bit like the terrorists they’d faced on their missions. Crazy and determined with no conscience.

      So it was good the former Marines were his backup. But as soon as he closed the driver’s door, Rosie turned toward him and asked, “Can you lose them?”

      “Who?” He glanced around the lot. Had someone followed him or the others? Was the area not as secure as he thought?

      “Those guards,” she said. “They’re going to follow us, right?”

      Given how everyone had been the most concerned about her—and after the shooting attempt, with good reason—Clint had no doubt the Marines were his reinforcements. “Probably.”

      “Then can you lose them?” she asked.

      “If I wanted to,” he said, and he wasn’t trying to impress her, he was just stating a fact when he added, “I could.” But he didn’t want to. He wasn’t exactly a hundred percent after diving out that window into the dumpster.

      “If you really want to protect me, you need to,” she advised him.

      “Why?” he asked as he started the SUV and shifted into drive. “Don’t you trust them?”

      Had she recognized one of them from Luther’s crew? Clint didn’t know any of the ex-Marines very well. He didn’t even know if they were from River City or not. They could have once worked for Luther. Pretty much everyone in her neighborhood had except for Rosie.

      Luther didn’t give his workers any choice. Just like he hadn’t given Javier a choice.

      But the young man had made one of his own. He’d chosen to stop the dangerous drug dealer. But that choice had cost him his life.

      “I don’t trust you,” she said.

      He flinched even though this wasn’t news to him. Of course she didn’t trust him, not after what had happened to her brother.

      “I’m going to keep you safe,” he promised as he drove the SUV out of the parking lot of the Payne Protection Agency.

      “How?” she asked. “If that shoulder wound doesn’t get treated, you’re going to develop an infection or you’ll just eventually bleed out. You need medical attention.”

      She was probably right—after all, she was the one with the medical experience. And Clint couldn’t deny that he felt like hell.

      But he shook his head. “I need to take you to the safe house first.” Just like Parker had ordered. “Then I’ll go once I know you’ll be okay.”

      “You’ll spend hours waiting to get seen at the ER,” she said. “Unless I go with you.”

      He narrowed his eyes and glanced across at her face. Was she up to something? Did she intend to shake off his protection at the hospital?

      She wouldn’t lose him as easily as Clint had lost those shooters, as easily as he could lose the Marines if he chose to. “Why can’t they come along?” he asked with a jerk of his head toward the SUV following them.

      “Because I don’t want everyone at the hospital to know that I’m in danger,” she said.

      “Don’t they know about the trial?” he asked. “That you’re going to testify against your brother’s killer?”

      “No,” she said. “I haven’t told anyone.”

      That had probably been a damn good idea, given that anyone could be affiliated with Luther and his crew. Rosie hadn’t survived growing up in her neighborhood by luck. She was street-smart.

      But as smart as she’d been to keep everything to herself, it must have been lonely as well. Had she had no one to support her through the loss of her brother?

      “You didn’t tell anyone?” he asked. “Not a friend? Or a boyfriend?”

      She snorted. “With the hours I work I barely have time to sleep, let alone have a relationship of any kind.”

      So she needed the people she worked with to be her friends, like Clint felt the people he worked with were his. But unlike him, she felt like she couldn’t trust her coworkers.

      Clint glanced into his rearview mirror, at the lights shining in it. Parker would give him hell if he purposely lost his backup.

      But Rosie was right. If she walked in with an entourage, everyone would know that something was wrong, that she was in danger. But even if she walked in with him...

      “How are you going to explain me?” he asked.