Let her decide

(Asher) Harlow returned to our section looking pleased with herself. She dropped onto the couch beside me and stole the bottle of water I'd been drinking. I didn't bother asking how the conversation with Ridge had gone. Her expression told me enough. "He said no," she announced. "Shocking." "Then he admitted he couldn't make the decision for me." I looked at her. "Ridge admitted that?" "I know. I nearly asked Mira to record it." I laughed and reached for my water. Harlow held it out of reach, then took another drink just to annoy me. My injured leg was stretched along the couch, and she knew I wasn't getting up to chase her. She handed the bottle back when I gave her a look. "You two didn't kill each other, then?" "No. He told me how scared he was when I disappeared." That took the humor out of it. I'd been there when Ridge was trying to find his sister. I'd also been the man assigned to protect her before Tyler's men took her. Neither of us had forgotten what that failure cost. "He wasn't exaggerating," I said. "I know. I don't want to scare him again." "You can't promise he'll never worry." "I'm not trying to. I just want to work without feeling guilty for wanting it." I pulled her closer and kissed her temple. She rested against me for a moment before looking at my leg. I knew what was coming because she'd been watching me move all afternoon. Apparently, I wasn't allowed to hide anything from her. "How bad?" she asked. "Manageable." "That's not a number." "Since when do you ask for numbers?" "Since my boyfriend thinks he's indestructible." I moved my foot and regretted it. Harlow noticed immediately and reached for the cushion near the other end of the couch. She placed it beneath my leg without asking. I let her because arguing would only give her another reason to lecture me. A knock interrupted us. "If that's Ridge, I'm pretending we're not home," Harlow said. "He knows we live here." "Then you answer it." I called for whoever it was to come in. Ridge opened the door and stopped when he saw Harlow beside me. She looked at him, then at me, and smiled like she'd just been handed a present. I knew she intended to make this as uncomfortable as possible. "I'm leaving you boys to talk," she said. "You don't have to leave," Ridge replied. "Oh, I absolutely do." She kissed me and headed out. Ridge watched her go before closing the door. I pointed toward the chair opposite us, but he remained standing. He looked more tired than angry, which told me their conversation had gotten to him. "You told her to go back to work?" he asked. "No. I told her she could decide whether she wants to." "You were supposed to help me talk sense into her." "When did we agree to that?" "We didn't. I was hoping you'd be difficult." "I can still be difficult. Just not about this." Ridge finally sat. I expected him to repeat every reason Harlow shouldn't return to real estate. Instead, he looked toward the door she'd walked through. I'd seen that expression on him before, during the hours we couldn't find her. "She thinks I'm trying to run her life," he said. "She knows you're scared." "Doesn't make me any less scared." "I know." He looked at my leg. I'd been injured protecting people I cared about, and now I was sitting here unable to follow Harlow down a hallway without paying for it. Ridge didn't mention that. He didn't have to. "If she goes back, we need a plan," he said. "Agreed." "Not a bunch of brothers following her into every house. She'd kill us." "Probably before the first showing." "Then what?" I thought about the things Harlow had told me. She hadn't even called Greta yet, so making decisions for her now would only start another fight. But we could offer help without taking over. Ridge needed to hear that part. "We ask what safety measures the agency already has," I said. "Then we ask Harlow what she'd be comfortable adding." "And if I hate her answer?" "You can complain to me. Not to her." Ridge stared at me. "You're volunteering for that?" "Don't make me regret it." He gave a brief laugh, then stood. I thought we were finished until he stopped at the door. There was something he hadn't said yet, and I waited for it. Ridge rarely asked anyone for a favor directly. "If she does go back," he said, "don't let her think I'm angry because I don't trust her." "Tell her yourself." "I tried." "Then keep trying." He nodded and left. I sat there thinking about the difference between keeping Harlow safe and making her feel trapped. It was a line Ridge and I had both crossed before. Neither of us could afford to cross it again. My phone rang a minute later. Turner was calling, and he didn't usually interrupt me unless something needed attention. I answered and heard voices behind him in the clubhouse. "What is it?" "I've been checking the cameras around the east entrance," he said. "There's something you and Ridge need to see." "What something?" "A vehicle that passed through twice yesterday. Same plates, both times. It stopped near the gate." I sat upright. "Did anybody get out?" "No. But I checked the earlier footage, and it was there the day before too." "You told Ridge?" "I'm calling him next." I looked toward the door. Harlow was somewhere in the compound, finally beginning to think about getting her old life back. I wasn't going to drag her into a panic over a vehicle we hadn't identified. But I wasn't ignoring it either. "Send me the footage," I told Turner. "Already did." My phone lit up with the file. I opened it and watched the vehicle stop outside the gate. The driver stayed hidden behind the windshield. Then the camera caught something I recognized on the rear door. I called Turner back. "Get Ridge," I said. "Now."