I wanted to pat myself on the back for how calm my question came out, though I was seething just beneath the surface.
The memory of Mia crying the night we returned home from surveying the damage done to her shop pissed me off. Hearing her express concerns over having to pay for a new window this early in her business when cash flow was tight. Thankfully, that concern wasn’t founded because her insurance company immediately worked with her to restore the damage.
Still, the hurt and anguish on her face that night rattled around in my mind. And if this motherfucker were responsible for that look, he would meet my wrath before day’s end.
“What are you talking about?” Vincent questioned with quirked eyebrows. “Hey,” he said, holding his hands up, “if that bitch is trying to pin— Oof!” He grunted when I smacked his stupid ass across the face with the employee manual still in my hands.
“Watch your fucking mouth,” I said calmly, ignoring his groans of pain as he held his nose. I saw blood spill out between his fingers. “You’re going to want to get that checked out once you leave here …ifyou leave here,” I amended.
“This is a crime!” he bellowed. “You just assaulted me,” he screeched, still holding his nose.
“You tripped and fell.” I shrugged. “I happened upon you in the hallway and brought you into our office to make sure you were all right.”
That would be the made-up version I’d tell anyone who asked.
I stepped closer, and when he tried to move away, I stomped down on his foot with my much larger one. “Vincent, listen to me.”
I got dangerously close.
“Now, I’ve already spared you once. Well, not me.” I pressed my hand to my chest. “Mia did. After the gala, I asked her how she wanted me to handle that situation. You could’ve lost one of two things. Your life or your job.”
His eyes bulged as my comment settled in.
He squirmed to free his foot, but I pressed harder, making him wince.
“It’s by the kindness of my woman that you’re still breathing. She chose your job.” I sent another grim smile his way. “So, it pains me to know that you would squander her act of altruism by then going and breaking into her shop. Truly.” I made a pained expression for emphasis before releasing his foot.
“Did you vandalize her shop?” I asked. Though I had my suspicions, I couldn’t be sure. Vincent was the first person I thought of who might hold a grudge against Mia. Naturally, he was the first one I sought out to question about the break-in.
But there was something not quite right about it.
Whoever had done the break-in also tried to utilize the backdoor’s alarm code to get inside. They’d failed, but something about that to me screamed that this wasn’t some group of teens who just happened by a coffee shop and wanted to mess with it. Nor did it seem like Vincent, not exactly. Nothing in his background indicated that he had experience with B&Es.
Yet, he was a vindictive SOB. I recognized that the moment I met him for the first time. And someone who wanted vengeance was capable of just about anything if pushed far enough.
“I never touched her fucking shop,” he said, that false bravado returning to his voice, even though he continued to hold on to his nose. “And you can add slander to the list of reasons I’m going to sue your ass.”
“Really? What lawyer will you get to take on the case?” I glared at him. “Look around you. Do you know where you are? Do you think the people who own this building don’t know you’re down here? Do you honestly fucking believe I’m that fucking stupid not to cover all of my bases?”
He glanced around. “I’ll sue the Townsends, too.” His voice had much less bravado than time around.
The laugh that spilled out of my mouth was genuine.
“Good luck finding a lawyer in this city, this state who isn’t already in their back pocket. And what will you use to hire them? The two hundred dollars that’s in your bank account?”
That got his attention. He blinked.
I again crowded his space. “You’re fucking with some shit you have no idea about. I let you walk away with your life once. I don’t give second chances. Did you vandalize her shop?”
I asked, but I knew he wouldn’t come out and say it if he had. I just needed to look him in the eyes as he answered to find out the truth.
“No,” he screamed. “Fuck no. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
I stared into his eyes, looking for any hint of deception. A new tension coiled in my belly when I didn’t see any. As much as I wanted to crush his skull for that bullshit he’d pulled at the gala, I held back.
“Where were you last Thursday night?”
His forehead wrinkled, and he suddenly snapped his fingers. “I wasn’t even in town last Thursday night.”
