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that shield. Which only made him more determined to break through. He wanted to know her secrets. What made her afraid. And he also wanted to know . . . her. On a more intimate level.
    That shocked the holy hell out of him. He nearly rocked back on his heels over that revelation.
    Women in distress were nothing new to Donovan. There had never been one whose circumstances hadn’t enraged him. He felt empathy toward each and every victim KGI had rescued or helped in some fashion.
    But he’d never felt . . . this. Whatever the hell this was. His emotions had always been involved. His brothers well knew that. They knew women and children were his Kryptonite. No secret there. But this? This was something else entirely that had nothing to do with Eve being a woman on the run. This was something deeper and he suddenly knew he was in some deep shit.
    Because this was not a woman he could simply ask out on a date. Exchange good conversation, good food, maybe a goodnight kiss with the hope of a second date and maybe more in the kissing department. Not a woman to be slowly wooed and courted until the moment he took her to bed and made love to her all damn night and woke up to the next morning knowing that he held something special in his arms.
    Fuck.
    There wasn’t another word that more aptly described this entire situation. It was fucked and so was he.
    “I wouldn’t want to impose,” Eve said in a husky voice that sent a jolt down Donovan’s spine. “I appreciate your offer. You’ve been very kind to Travis—to all of us. But we have what we need.”
    She hadn’t said
all we need
. There was a huge distinction between having
what
she needed and
all
she needed.
    Rusty grimaced and Donovan saw the realization that they couldn’t push more. Not yet. But Donovan wasn’t giving up. He was on a mission now, and when he set his focus on a goal, he never backed down. Eve didn’t realize it yet, but whether she wanted it or not, he was going to help. He just had to decide how the hell to go about it.

CHAPTER 5
    EVE breathed a huge sigh of relief as she watched through the window as Rusty and Donovan pulled away. Then she turned back to Travis, who stood in front of the sofa where Cammie sat, her eyes muddled with confusion—and fear.
    God, but Eve hated that fear. It gutted her that her baby sister at such a tender age had learned that the very person she should be able to trust most had proved to be a monster. No child should learn fear at such a young age. It made Eve want to weep, but she couldn’t give in to her despair. At least not in front of Cammie and Travis. They depended on her. They needed her. They needed her to be strong. To show no fear or uncertainty. If it killed her, she’d swallow it all back and put up a brave front for her siblings.
    “How did they know where we lived?” Eve asked Travis softly.
    Guilt surged into Travis’s eyes and she hurried forward, touching his shoulder, having to reach up to his greater height. So tall and strong. A man long before his time. Like Cammie, he should still be a child, with a child’s innocence, and without the knowledge they now held like poison.
    “Trav, it’s okay,” she reassured.
    He shook his head. “No, Evie, it’s not. I wasn’t careful enough. They must have followed me from the hardware store. I saw a truck following me but I didn’t want to draw attention by running. I had . . . I had hoped it was just a local going in the same direction and when I turned down our road, I paused to look back, but they drove on. They must have doubled back. I’m sorry.”
    She pulled him into a hug. “They seem nice. They came all this way to pay you what she owed you and to work out hours you could go in. I’m sure they mean no harm.”
    The lie passed easily from her lips. Yes, they seemed nice. Normal. But appearances could be deceiving, as she well knew. Her stepfather was the picture of normal, wholesome. Wealthy. Well connected. A philanthropist.