Page 22 of Broken By Her Mate
Elena rolled her eyes. “Well, my friend is involved.” She glanced at Laila. “So I want to help in any way I can. Laila and I have come up with a plan to catch the jokers running the whole breeding ring.”
Every muscle in Tolliver’s body went taut. “Is that so?”
“Laila and I think she should stop being a passive target and start being part of the solution. Instead of hiding out, she could help you catch the bad guys.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “You mean make Laila the bait?”
“Exactly,” Laila said. “They’re looking for me, right? I can’t think of a better way to get them faster.”
Tolliver’s eyes widened. He could only stare at the two women as his disbelief turned to outrage. “Have you two lost your fucking minds?” He finally growled when he regained the ability to speak.
Laila and Elena gasped as if they hadn’t thrown out an asinine idea.
“It’s not a terrible plan, Tolliver,” Elena said.
“You’re right. It’s worse than terrible! And it’s not happening.”
“I wasn’t asking for your permission,” Laila stated. “If I want to help catch the shifters, who are after me, I have every right—”
“Not another word, Laila,” Tolliver interrupted. He didn’t mean to be rude, but the thought of Laila offering herself up to a bunch of corrupt shifters was enough to send his blood pressure through the roof. He was barely holding on to his temper and sanity as it was.
He could practically feel the venom in her eyes as they had a stare-down. Her cheeks flushed pink, and her fists balled on the table. “You know what? I’m leaving. I knew it would be impossible to reason with you. Elena, thanks for a great evening. I hope I’ll see you soon.”
She got up and stormed out of the kitchen.
“Laila, get back—”
The front door slammed, cutting Tolliver off. He shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. He could go after her, but maybe seeing him would upset her more. He heard the SUV hum to life and tires screeching out of the driveway. He’d scanned the area on his way home. She wasn’t in immediate danger, so he let her go. Maybe she’d calm down by the time he joined her at the cabin.
When he opened his eyes, he found his sister staring at him with raised eyebrows. “What?” he asked.
“You could have handled that so much better.”
Tolliver gritted his teeth. “And you could have kept your mouth shut and not given Laila crazy ideas about using herself as bait.”
She rolled her eyes so hard that Tolliver thought her eyeballs would dislodge. “I wasn’t the one to suggest the plan. Laila isn’t some helpless victim. She wants to get this whole thing sorted out so she can get back to her life, Tolliver. Imagine if you were forced away from your job and home. You’d go crazy. Hell, you wouldn’t stand for it. And you expect Laila to sit patiently and twiddle her thumbs while the men take care of the problem?” Elena scoffed. “Pull your head out of your ass, big brother. You can be very arrogant and overbearing.”
Tolliver gawked at Elena. She’d never lectured him before. As the older one, he usually did the lecturing. Her words struck a chord, though, and his indignation slowly seeped away. If he were in Laila’s position, he’d want to get his life back to normal as soon as possible. A knot of guilt tightened in his chest.
“I’m trying to protect her,” he explained. “It’s my job…”
Elena raised an eyebrow. “Would you have whisked away anyone else and stayed holed up with them in a cabin?”
He gave her a sheepish look. “Maybe not…”
“That’s what I thought. You and Laila aren’t together anymore, but I know you still care about her. I understand why you’re going out of your way to keep her safe, but look at things from her perspective. You’re not her mate anymore—”
“That can never change, Elena. It doesn’t matter that I…”Rejected her.He just couldn’t say the words out loud. Remorse punched him in the gut as it always did when he thought about it. “The mate bond still exists.”
“Fine, then you’re not her boyfriend anymore. As far as Laila sees it, you have no right to steamroll into her life and tell her what she can or can’t do. She doesn’t think it’s your responsibility to protect her.”
Tolliver scowled. “Just how long have you two been chatting? All day?”
“No. Maybe you should listen to Laila like I did and not dish out orders. You’ll be surprised how much she might listen to you if you stop being a bossy prick.”
Tolliver scoffed his outrage, but deep down, he knew she had a point.
Elena’s expressions soften. “Laila is strong. She isn’t exactly the same woman you left five years ago, Tolliver. If you want her to trust you, it’s only fair that you trust her, too.”