Guarding Her Desire – Tessa Brooks

Her voice was hoarse and strained. “They knew things about me. They knew personal things. They knew about my family. They knew about my younger sister, Emily. She lives in Portland. She works as an elementary school teacher. She has two kids.” Riley felt her stomach drop through the floor. She knew Emily. She’d met her twice at company events when Emily visited Los Angeles. Emily was a sweet woman with a quiet demeanor, nothing like Sloane’s hard-edged intensity.

The sisters were close despite living in different cities. “They showed me photographs,” Sloane continued. Her voice cracked on the last word. “They showed me pictures of Emily leaving her house in the morning. They showed me pictures of her walking her kids to school. They had pictures of her going to the grocery store and the park.

They knew her entire schedule down to the minute. They knew where she lived and worked and what route she took every single day.” “And they threatened her?” the prosecutor asked. “They said she would have an accident.” Sloane’s hands clenched into tight fists on the table. “They said that accidents happen all the time to people who are not careful enough.

They mentioned car accidents on busy streets. They talked about house fires from faulty wiring. They described random violence from strangers. They were very specific about all the possibilities.” The prosecutor made notes. “What did they want in exchange for her safety?” “They said if I wanted Emily to stay safe and alive, I would need to cooperate with them.

They told me I would provide information about Apex’s protection protocols. They said I would tell them about client locations and security arrangements. They demanded I give them everything they needed to compromise our operations.” Riley leaned closer to the glass. Her entire body felt cold despite the warmth of the observation room. “What specific information did you provide to them?” the prosecutor asked. “I gave them locations mostly. When we moved Dani Vega from one safe house to another location, I would tell them where she was going.

I gave them addresses and basic security protocols for each location.” Sloane looked up at the prosecutor with red-rimmed eyes. “But I never gave them tactical information. I never told them about response times or specific vulnerabilities in our systems. I only provided locations and general protocols. I gave them nothing that would get anyone killed… and Riley is so good I knew she could beat them, that there was no real danger.”

“Just locations,” the prosecutor repeated. His tone was flat and skeptical. “Ms. Keller, a professional sniper, fired at Ms. Vega through her studio window. An armed assault was made on her life at a safe house in the Hollywood Hills. Another armed ambush occurred last night at a remote gas station.

Riley Carver locked the sedan and stretched her shoulders. Three weeks in San Diego had left her tight in places she’d forgotten could ache. The contract was done, the client was safe, and the payment was already clearing. She should have felt satisfied. She felt hollow instead. The drive north to Los Angeles usually cleared her head. Today, it just gave her time to think about things she’d rather avoid. It had been six months since Claire walked out, and Riley still found herself reaching for her phone at odd moments.

Her thumb hovering over the call button before she remembered there was nothing left to say. Claire had been ice wrapped in charm. Beautiful in that sharp-edged way that made people look twice. Riley had mistaken her cool control for strength, her emotional distance for independence. It took years to realize that distance wasn’t a choice.

It was all Claire had to offer. The first time Claire pulled away, Riley blamed herself. So when she came back, she worked harder, she tried to be more understanding, and gave her space. But Claire left again. She came back eventually, warm for a few months before the cold crept in again. The third time, Riley recognized the pattern but couldn’t break it.

Hope was a stubborn thing. The fourth time, Claire hadn’t bothered with excuses. Just packed her things methodically while Riley sat on the couch and watched her whole, carefully constructed relationship dissolve into nothing. Claire shouted that she was too needy, that nothing was ever enough. Riley would have laughed if it didn’t make her want to cry. She was the least needy person you could find.

She just wanted her partner to be there, to be open and emotionally available. Claire was none of those. Whenever they got close, she got scared. Riley had tried to tell her she would come to therapy with her, but no, Claire couldn’t face her demons. Now she’d been gone for six months. It should have been enough time for Riley to let her go… the problem was, six months was the normal time when Claire wanted to come back.

Riley made a detour. Six months made Claire feel safe enough to try again.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: f1acac7887293981
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,664,282 bytes (1.587 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 266
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 349.02 minutes
• Total Words: 69,805
• Total Characters: 415,954
• Average Words per Page: 262.42
• Average Characters per Page: 1563.74

Most Frequent Words

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