Under His Protection Read Free

he might comfort her but stopped himself. “Is it the first one?”
    Again she shook her head, hating that Ivan of all people was seeing her like this. “No, but I’m handling it. And I don’t want to talk about it.”
    Frowning, he opened his mouth to respond when her phone started buzzing in her hand. She jumped then cursed her reaction. It was the number to her shop which meant it was Ruby calling. “This is work,” she said to Ivan. “Do you mind?” She looked pointedly at the door.
    When he just crossed his arms over his chest and gave her an almost challenging look, she blinked in surprise before annoyance surged up. She so did not have time for this. Turning away from him, she answered the phone. “Hey, Ruby.”
    “Hey, boss. Someone on a motorbike just drove by and threw a rock through the window. There’s something white wrapped around it with a rubber band. It looks like a note, but—”
    “Don’t touch it.” Julieta’s heart plummeted. She knew Ivan was still behind her but she couldn’t do anything about his presence. “Have you called the police?”
    “Yeah, they’re on their way and I wasn’t going to touch it. And I’ve also put up the closed sign. Nothing was damaged and no one was injured, but there’s glass everywhere and… I didn’t know what to do.”
    The dull throb of a headache started at the base of her skull. She closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck. “You did exactly the right thing. I’m on my way. If the police arrive before me tell them I’m coming.” After they disconnected she took a deep breath and turned around.
    Yep, Ivan was still there. And he looked furious.
    “Police? What’s going on?” he demanded, as if he had every right in the world to ask.
    “Nothing I can’t handle. It’s just work stuff.” And she’d ask Lizzy for help before she asked a virtual stranger. She went to step around him but he moved with her.
    Frowning, she looked up at him and glared. Even when she was in heels the man still towered over her. At five feet one inch tall she tended to wear four or five inch heels most of the time, but considering he was a little over six feet in height, her shoes didn’t give her much of an advantage. She placed her hands on her hips. “Is there a reason you’re still in my way?”
    “Julieta, I just want to help.” The concern in his voice nearly did her in.
    She dropped her arms from their defensive pose. “Ivan, I…I need to get to my shop. I can’t handle…” Your concern. But she didn’t say that. “For two months you’ve either ignored me or glared at me so don’t be all concerned about me now,” she finally snapped before sidestepping him and hurrying from the bathroom. She hated to leave early, but she had no choice so she went in search of Mina and Lizzy.
    Owning her own business meant she had to take care of certain things. She just hoped the vandalism and the weird texts weren’t related. Hopefully the vandalism was just a stupid teenage prank. Unfortunately her instinct told her the two things were very related and she had a big mess to deal with.
    * * *
    Taken completely off guard by her dismissal, something that was rare for Ivan, he stared at the luscious backside of Julieta Mederos as she fled the bathroom. What the hell had she been talking about? Ignored or glared at her?
    For the past two months he’d barely been able to keep his eyes off her. Whenever she was around he forgot how to think and sometimes breathe. She was the reason he’d come out to the party today. Not for the damn food. He’d known she’d be there and he’d needed to see her like a fucking addict needed his next fix.
    And she’d actually said his name for the first time. Ivan. God, he’d be replaying that in his head later. Hearing Ivan on her lips—fuck. He scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d fantasized too many times about what it would be like to hear her say his name but under much different circumstances.
    He shouldn’t