[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

husband stood over her with a satisfied smirk on his
arrogant, blood-streaked face. ‘No one can have her
now,’ he said before shooting himself in the head.
The monster didn’t even give me the satisfaction of
beating him to death.”
“I’m sorry, Presley.” Amber rubbed his arm. “I’m
sure you did your best to keep her safe.”
“No, I didn’t.” Presley swallowed bitterly. “She’d
been calling him almost every day. What kind of
bodyguard doesn’t even realize the person he’s pro-
tecting is calling the enemy? She was so damn weak,
I should have known. I should have expected that
47
Crystal-Rain Love
and planned for it.”
“Presley?”
He looked into eyes full of compassion. “Yeah?”
“What exactly was your job?”
He frowned, unsure why Amber wanted him to
basically repeat himself. “To protect Nina from her
husband while getting her to Canada, where I was to
put her on a plane to Spain.”
“Right. You did that to the best of your ability. It
sounds to me like the only thing you failed to do was
protect Nina from herself, and you weren’t hired to
do that particular job.”
He’d been told something similar by Ray and his
mother for the past four years, but still he couldn’t
let go of the guilt. “It was my job to protect her, plain
and simple. I didn’t do it.”
“Well, it’s not your job to protect me,” Amber re-
sponded adamantly, “so if you’re offering me a job
and place to stay out of guilt for what happened with
Nina, you can get over it.”
Presley stared open-mouthed at the little spit-
fire and then barked out a laugh. “You sure do have
some sass in you, you know that?”
“Refreshing, isn’t it?”
She’d made the remark as a joke, but she didn’t
know how right she was. He’d seen her on the road-
side, wet and worn, by all appearances a frail damsel
in distress. Then he’d approached her and she’d
grabbed the first weapon she could find. He’d seen
the fear in her eyes, the knowledge that she couldn’t
possibly outfight him, but behind that fear he’d seen
pure determination. He’d seen a will to survive. It
was damned refreshing after spending the past four
years wallowing in guilt over not defending a weak
woman who hadn’t had the slightest will to live.
Nina Garcia had almost seemed to want to die
rather than leave her abusive husband.
“Presley?”
Amber
raised
a
pale
eyebrow.
48
Guardian Cowboy
“Where’d I lose you to?”
“Nowhere.” He gave her a warm grin, taking in
her stubborn brow. “I was just thinking how right
you are. You are very refreshing, Miss Barlow.”
Her brow creased as she considered his state-
ment, and her breath visibly caught in her throat as
he pushed a tendril of light brown hair out of her
face. “We made a deal, remember?”
“We did?”
She batted her lashes innocently and Presley
chuckled at her attempt to pretend obliviousness. “I
answered your question, Amber. It’s your turn.”
She sighed heavily, and pushed her hair back
over her shoulder. “My parents died in a car accident
when I was twelve. I ended up in foster care, and
went from one bad home to another. When I was fif-
teen, I met Carmen. We banded together while stay-
ing with this wretched old lady who thoroughly en-
joyed beating our knuckles if we so much as spoke
above a whisper. She was two years older than me so
she got out of the system first, but she always kept
in touch with me, promising me we’d be roomies
when I was eighteen and free.” Amber looked down
at the hands she twisted together and Presley held
back the need to reach out and cover those hands
with his own. He had the feeling if he did, she
wouldn’t continue with the story, and he needed her
to because the background check on her turned up
zilch. However, the background check on the owner
of the Omni, a Carmen Hernandez, turned up
enough to worry him, especially if Amber had lived
with the woman.
“Carmen kept her word and once I was free to
leave foster care, she took me in and got me a job
with her. But we could barely keep up with the
rent.” She glanced up, met his eyes for a quick sec-
ond before averting her gaze, and Presley instinc-
tively knew she wasn’t giving him the complete
49
Crystal-Rain Love
truth, but let it slide. He already knew what type of
job Carmen had. He also knew what the woman did
on the side thanks to her arrest record, and hoped
for Amber’s sake that she hadn’t been involved in
that. “I was young and naïve when I met Richard.
He had money and he offered me security. I’d never
had security, much less someone lavishing me with
compliments. He sucked me right in and next thing I
knew, I was a prisoner in his home.”
“He hit you.”
Amber nodded. “The first time I disagreed with
him. It was ironic because when we’d met, he’d said
my spunk was what attracted him, but once he had
me my will was intolerable.”
“Because he wanted to break you like a damn
wild mare,” Presley said, his hands balled into fists.
One of the reasons he enjoyed riding broncs was be-
cause the horses were allowed to maintain their
wild, free nature. He despised seeing a beautiful
creature’s spirit broken, and the thought of someone
trying to do that to Amber caused acid to churn in
his stomach. “You’re still strong-willed. He didn’t
succeed.”
She raised her head, jutting out her stubborn
chin to display her smug grin. “I don’t break that
easily. I may have taken the beatings for way too
many years, but I wasn’t about to just lie down and
give up my life. The last time he beat me was the
final time. I’ll never go back.”
“Damn straight.” Presley knew this woman had
the guts to stand on her own. She was small and
physically not much of a threat, but he had her cov-
ered there. The problem he’d had with Nina wouldn’t
happen with her. Amber was too strong to go back to
someone who would only try to break her down. It
made him want her more. “Will he look for you?”
“I’m sure he has been since I left Chicago. It’s
why I barely made any stops, until you found me,
50
Guardian Cowboy
and I’d had no choice in that stop.”
Presley nodded, taking in the information. It ex-
plained why Amber hadn’t had anything with her.
She’d most likely escaped right after Richard’s last
attack. He pushed the ugly image that created out of
his mind. He needed to focus on keeping Amber
away from the man if he caught her trail, not ac-
tively seek the creep out for retribution, despite how
good the idea sounded. “What does he do for a liv-
ing?”
Amber averted her gaze again. “Illegal stuff.”
Presley shook his head, even more disgusted. He
had a feeling Richard was more than a former boy-
friend to Amber but knew he couldn’t voice his sus-
picions yet. “I’m guessing this means he’s a shoot
first, ask questions later if ever kind of guy?”
“Pretty much, which is why I don’t want you in-
volved.” Amber looked him square in the eye. “I
mean it, Presley. I appreciate all the help you’ve
given me and the kindness you’ve shown me, but
this is my problem.”
“It became my problem the moment I met you,”
Presley cut her off, returning her gaze with absolute
sternness. “I’m ex-military and an ex-bodyguard. I [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]