Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

Emerson accepted the warm mug of coffee from Tyler. They’d returned to Tyler’s home to talk. Rowan sat at the opposite end of the couch from her.

Tyler’s fingers grazed hers. It felt good.

“I couldn’t not come and check on you after you ended up in a hospital, Emerson,” Rowan said, recapturing her attention. “I needed to know you were okay.”

She shook her head. “Rowan, you’re busy. You absolutely did not need to drive out here.”

“I did. One second you’re safely in your hotel, and minutes later, you’ve been hit by a car? Come on! We may not be married anymore, but I still care about you.”

Her features softened. The man had been a good friend for years, but an even better one throughout the last several months, and particularly, the last week. “It was just a concussion and a few scratches. I’m okay.” Thanks to Tyler.

Tyler pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m just going to do a quick workout in the gym. Call if you need me.”

She nodded, appreciating that he was giving them some privacy. He’d given very little away about how he was feeling since Rowan’s unexpected arrival.

She stared after him as he left the room.

The second he was out of sight, Rowan leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I wanted to make sure everything was okay with Tyler, too. It was only a few days ago that you ran from the guy. Then he went after you. And now you’re staying with him?”

She knew what Rowan was asking. Was she staying with Tyler voluntarily, or was he keeping her here? She would hope that would be obvious with the way she looked at him. But maybe it wasn’t. She also knew Tyler would be able to hear their conversation. She didn’t care about that. In fact, she wanted him to hear.

“Rowan, you already know I ran because I was scared of what he’d do to Levi when he found him, and I was just as scared of what Levi would do to Tyler. At the time, I truly thought it was the only way I could protect them both. But things are different now. I know Tyler won’t hurt Levi. And I’m trusting him and his team to be able to keep themselves safe.”

The second part was a bit harder, because it felt totally out of her and Tyler’s control. But she couldn’t run again. Not only because she physically wouldn’t be able to get away from Tyler’s watchful eyes—ha, like the guy would give her an inch of space—but because she loved him. She felt drawn to him in a way she’d never felt drawn to another soul. So she’d accepted she was here to stay.

Rowan studied her eyes, as if watching for signs she wasn’t telling the truth. He wouldn’t find any.

Finally, her ex-husband nodded decisively, as he often did. “That’s good. I was really worried.” He sipped his coffee. “So…where have you settled on Levi? Will he be locked up when he’s caught?”

She flinched at the way Rowan said “locked up.” There was a time in the recent past when the two men had been friends. “Actually, I’m hoping he’ll be evaluated and they’ll realize he’s not in his right mind, and he gets psychiatric care.”

She knew he shouldn’t be around the public, not in his current condition. But he also shouldn’t just be locked up.

Rowan was quiet for a moment, clearly weighing his words carefully, then he set his coffee on the table. “I’m a bit concerned that you’re basing your entire foundation of his innocence on your belief that he’s suffering from psychosis.”

“That’s because he is. He believes Hylar, a dead man, is still alive. He believes that everyone around him is an enemy and working for a project that’s already been shut down. Hell, he even told me he has a chip in his shoulder!”

Memories of her brother begging her to cut the chip out made a shudder race up her spine.

Rowan gave her a look of surprise. “Emerson, the men from Project Arma did get chipped.”

She shook her head. “No. Just the prisoners.” That’s what the various reports had said. She’d done so much research, she knew almost every detail that had ever been published.

“Did they even check the guards?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but stopped.

She didn’t actually know.

Rowan shuffled closer. “I just want you to really consider where you’re putting your allegiance. You’re a good person through and through, yet you’re fighting for a killer.”

“He’s not a killer,” she breathed.

“He shot an officer. Is the man out of intensive care yet?”

Again, she didn’t have an answer.

“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again,” Rowan continued. “You have to ask yourself—if he shot this officer without even blinking, how many others has he shot, maybe even killed, that we don’t know about? And without a medical diagnosis, you can’t plead his insanity.”

She swallowed around the lump stuck in her throat. “Rowan, I appreciate that you’re worried…but we’re not married anymore. Where I put my allegiance, and who I fight for, is not your concern.”

He blew out a long breath, like he was both surprised and disappointed by her answer. “I’m not saying any of this to upset you. I think you know that. I’m saying it because I don’t want to see you sacrificing your ethics and morals for a man who might not deserve it, just because you love him.”

“I do love him. And I know him. That’s why I continue to believe that, if he was in his right mind, he wouldn’t hurt another soul. It’s also why I continue to fight for him. My ethics and morals are the very things that won’t let me give up on him so easily.”

Now, Rowan looked at her like she’d given the wrong answer on an easy test question. He put his hands up and stood, and she rose also. “Okay. I can see you’ve made up your mind. And I really did come to see for myself that you’re all right, Em. I didn’t mean to push. I’ll go for now, but I booked a room for a few days. I’ll call you before I leave and hopefully see you again. Maybe dinner?”

She nodded noncommittally and walked Rowan to the door. The second he was out, she locked and alarmed the house. Then she pressed her head to the wood.

Nothing he’d said was wrong, yet it felt wrong. Levi had shot someone without blinking. Without pause or hesitation. And that did hurt. Hell, her heart ached for the policeman and his family.

Had her brother truly hurt or possibly killed others that she didn’t know about?

She already knew the answer. Yes. It was possible.

But it wasn’t possible that he was in his right mind. That was something she refused to believe.

“I do love him. And I know him. That’s why I continue to believe that, if he was in his right mind, he wouldn’t hurt another soul. It’s also why I continue to fight for him. My ethics and morals are the very things that won’t let me give up on him so easily.”

Tyler paused his workout on the heavy bag. There was conviction in her words, but there was also something else. Guilt? Pain? Because Rowan had mentioned the officer Levi had shot? Because she was starting to question whether her love for her brother was clouding her judgment?

He listened to their final words and heard as the door closed with a click behind Rowan. One of his brothers was watching the house today. It was the only reason he was allowing her to open the door when danger was out there.

Why Rowan cared so damn much about trying to convince his ex-wife that her brother wasn’t the victim she thought he was, Tyler had no idea. Yes, they were friends. Yes, she trusted him, and he’d helped her when asked, booking the car and hotel. That immediate support was the only reason Tyler had allowed the man into his house.

He waited, listening for her footsteps. They didn’t come right away. Instead, there was a moment of silence. Everything quiet, bar her heavy sigh.

Cursing under his breath, he wrenched his gloves from his hands and stepped toward the door but stopped when her footfalls finally sounded in the hall. Then she was in the doorway, her eyes as sad as her voice had been while talking to Rowan.

“You okay, Em?”

She crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive gesture. “Do you have an update on the officer?”

He gave a slow nod. “Still in intensive care.”

Tears shone in her eyes, but they didn’t fall. “Levi shot an innocent man.”

“Because he was confused.”

“Was he?” She shook her head. “I don’t even know anymore. I don’t know if the trauma of my past and the way Levi saved me are making me blind to his faults. Maybe I want him to be mentally ill. I need him to be, because that absolves him of at least part of the blame from his crimes.”

Tyler reached her in three strides and slipped his arms around her waist. When she didn’t look at him, he lowered his head, touching his temple to hers.

“Hey.”

It took a moment, but she finally lifted her face.

“I don’t think love blinds us. We see the flaws in the people we love. The sickness. The mistakes.” Her brows twitched at his words. “We just fight like hell to get them to a better place.”

“All I’ve ever wanted since he disappeared was to get him help. I know he’s dangerous. I know he shouldn’t be out in the world right now. But I don’t want him to be locked up and his mental health ignored. He’ll only get worse. And then I’ll lose him completely.”

She touched her head to his chest, and he tightened his arms.

“I know, baby.”

“Rowan made me feel like I was sacrificing my principles for Levi. Like loving him is a weakness.”

“Love is never a weakness.” How could it be? He loved this woman, and that love only made him stronger. It made him want to fight like hell to make sure she was safe from danger both in reality and in her head.

Her gaze lifted to his shoulder. “Do you think the guards were microchipped too?”

Anger sliced through him at the memory of those chips. “It’s highly likely. They were a means to control us, and I’m sure Hylar would have wanted a backup plan in case his men turned on him.” His thumb slipped beneath the material of her shirt and stroked her skin. So damn soft.

She reached up and cupped his cheek. Fuck, but he wanted to lean into that touch. “Thank you. You have more reason than Rowan to question my loyalty to my brother. Yet, here you are, helping me.”

“Because your battles are my battles. We’re in this together. You and me.” He’d go to war for this woman.

Something flashed through her eyes—a mixture of relief and gratitude and…something else. Something soft and sensual.

“You and me,” she said quietly.

Heat spiraled through him, and before he could stop himself, he lifted her off her feet, pressed her to the wall, and kissed her.

And damn, but it felt good to have her in his arms. Her lips moved against his, and when they parted slightly, he plunged his tongue inside.

This woman owned him. She took every part of him that had been unclaimed. She destroyed any part that had been unsure.

Hers. He was all hers. He wanted to memorize the feel of her against him. The taste of her on his tongue. So in the small slips of time when she wasn’t near, he had instant recall.

It wasn’t until they were out of breath and panting, forced to separate, that she touched her forehead to his once again and spoke. “Thank you, Tyler Morgan. For making the hard moments a little bit easier.”