What He Shields (What He Wants Book Seventeen) Read Online Free PDF

romance covers at our wedding?   My mom would have a conniption, I think,
although she definitely reads them.   They’re shoved in a bin under her bed that’s marked ‘Winter Sweaters.’”
    I looked up from the cover, the smile on my
face fading as I took in Noah’s dark expression.
    “Charlotte,” he said again.   His voice and demeanor were controlled,
so controlled it sent a shiver of trepidation through my body.   He reached out and took the book out of
my hand, placed it back on the shelf, not bothering to make sure it was in the
right place.
    “Yes?”
    “I was just on a business call,” he said,   “when Jared called.”
    My breath hitched.
    So that was it.  
    Jared had told Noah, had told him about John
and how he’d come up to me in the car.
    “Charlotte?” Noah prompted.
    “I was just about to tell you about that,” I
said.  
    “You were just about to tell me that you were
followed by a crazy person, and that you not only chose to engage with him, but
you gave him a way to contact you and then failed to mention it to me?”
    “No.”   I shook my head.   “No, that’s
not what happened.   What happened
was he told me that he knows where Mikayla is.”
    Noah’s nostrils flared, and he reached out and
grabbed the bookshelf closest to him, his hand tightening around the metal.
    “I was in the car the whole time,” I said.   “And Jared shouldn’t have told you about
it.   I was going to tell you.   I was just about to.”
    “Don’t you dare blame Jared for this,” Noah
said.   “I should fire him for not
telling me sooner.”
    “No.”   I shook my head.   “No, it’s
not his fault, he didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “When you are not in my sight, when you are not
in my care, Jared is next in line.   If he is not capable of keeping you safe, if he is starting to feel a
misplaced loyalty to you, then he will have to be let go.”
    “No!” I said.   I would feel horrible if Jared lost his
job because of me.   And besides,
Noah needed him.   Jared was a good
man, a good driver.   I reached into
my bag and pulled out my phone.   “ Here.   I’m
sorry, I was going to tell you, I swear.   His name is John.   He wants
to meet with me tonight.”   I showed
him the text.
    Noah’s gaze held mine for a long moment before
sliding down to the phone and reading the text.
    His jaw twitched.
    “Absolutely not.”
    “What?”
    “No.”
    “No what?”
    “No, you are not going to some rundown
apartment in Harlem to meet with a stranger.”
    “But he might be able to help me find Mikayla.”
    “Charlotte,” Noah said, his voice raising and
echoing through the stacks.   “Enough
with this!   Enough with Mikayla.”
    “But you just said the other day when I came
out of the jail, you said this was just how we were.”
    “Yes, Charlotte, I understand you think you
need to do this, but I will not sit by and let you put yourself in danger.   It is my responsibility to protect you,
and I will do that at all costs.   Even if that seems unfair or inconvenient to you.”
    “Unfair or inconvenient?” I repeated
incredulously.   “Are you kidding
me?   I don’t see what could possibly
be unfair or inconvenient about trying to save a girl’s life.”
    “You can’t save her, Charlotte.   You cannot save everyone.”
    His words cut through me like a knife, and an
image of my dad, how small and helpless he’d looked on his last days, after the
cancer had ravaged his body beyond repair, flashed through my memory.   “I know,” I said.   “But I can try to save her.”
    “You don’t know anything about where she is,
who she is, who she could be caught up with.”
    “That’s why I need to go see John!” I
said.   “So I can get more
information.”
    “No.”   He shook his head.   “I won’t
allow it.”
    “Oh, really?” I said.   “Okay, fine.   Then I’m not going to allow you to
represent Lilah.”
    “What?”
    “You heard me.   Talk