In His Keeping (Slow Burn #2) Read Online Free

reassured.
    “She’ll be good until then,” Ginger said, smiling and cooing nonsense at Ari.
    Then she glanced up at Gavin, her eyes full of love and warmth.
    “We’re really a family,” she whispered in awe. “This is real .”
    Gavin smiled and leaned over to kiss the top of Ari’s downy curls, inhaling her sweet baby scent. Then he captured his wife’s lips and kissed her thoroughly, savoring the private moment with his wife and child.
    “Yes, sweetheart. This is our life now and it’s real. No one will ever take it from us.”
    His was a quiet vow, but determined all the same. Nothing or no one would ever take from him what was his. And he would forever shield his wife and daughter from the harsh realities of life. No matter the cost.

THREE
    FOUR MONTHS LATER . . .
    GAVIN squealed to a halt outside his home and left his steel-reinforced, bulletproof Mercedes before his driver had come to a full stop. His gun was in his hand, fear pounding a vicious cadence in his head. Ginger had been hysterical. Had told him to come home immediately, that something was wrong.
    It took all his strength not to ram through the door and burst inside, laying waste to whatever threat there was to his wife and child. Instead he reached over from the side of the door and flipped the handle, allowing the door to ease open and give him an unimpeded view into the living room.
    Ginger was pacing the living room, distress radiating from her like a beacon. As if sensing his presence, her gaze flew to the door and she called out, “Gav? Is that you? Are you home?”
    Gavin relaxed, the terror slowly subsiding. He managed to put a shaky hand out to ward off his personal security men who’d converged the moment Gavin had called them. Even his driver was behind Gavin, gun up and drawn.
    Not in a hurry, Gavin tucked his gun into his shoulder harness and slowly pushed himself to his feet, hoping he didn’t humiliate himself by face-planting on his own doorstep.
    Never had he been as afraid as he’d been for the last fifteen minutes when his wife’s terrified voice had pleaded with him to come home.
    Gavin didn’t often leave his wife and child. Once a week, however, he left them both, a veritable army guarding their estate, and he went into downtown Houston to take care of business or items that required his attention. After today he was wondering if he’d ever be able to leave Ginger and Ari again.
    The door flew further open and Ginger stood there, eyes huge with fright, her face pale and her entire body trembling. While she might be all right, Ari’s safety was still in question, and if his daughter was okay, then what the hell had frightened his wife so badly?
    “Gavin, you have to come!”
    Then she took in the men in position and Gavin could see her grapple with what he’d been through. But her face didn’t soften in apology or regret. Her cold hand slid over his and pulled him inside, quickly shutting the door behind him, cutting him off from his security.
    “Something or someone has been in Ari’s room,” Ginger said, her breath hitching as she hurried up the stairs, dragging Gavin with her.
    He went rigid and once more drew his weapon.
    “There’s no one there now,” Ginger said in a whisper. “She’s napping. Put the gun away!”
    Reluctantly, he re-holstered his weapon and as soon as they were inside Ari’s room and he could see her adorable little diapered behind pooched up with her knees tucked underneath her, thumb inside her mouth, he was finally able to breathe again.
    “What the hell is going on, Ginger?” Gavin demanded, a bite to his voice.
    She flinched and looked startled by his anger.
    “You took fifteen years off my life. Never do that again.”
    “But someone has been in her room,” Ginger hissed. “I am not crazy, Gav. The first couple of times I thought it was my forgetfulness. That I just hadn’t remembered leaving the two stuffed animals in her crib. But then I started paying meticulous