Which was ridiculous. This was my Christmas tree guy.
Bastion strode toward me and nudged Hogan’s smashed-skull with a non-too-gentle prod of his steel toed boot. “How long has this trash been hurting you, Clara?”
Chapter Seven
Bastion
Thick tears poured down Clara’s rosy cheeks.Scheiße.She was so pretty when she cried. I hadn’t seen her shed tears since the second grade when Timmy Brown stole her Christmas candy on the playground.
“Is that why you’ve been stalking me lately? Because you thought you were protecting me?”
“That doesn’t answer my question, Clara.”
Her eyes flashed with anger. “You know what? Fuck you. Or however you say that in German.”
“Fick dich.”
“Fick dich, asshole.” She swore at me in my first language and topped off the insult by flipping me off.
Clara was pretty when she cried, but she was even prettier when she stood up for herself.
It made my cock so goddamn hard.
She continued with her rant. She was angry, sure, but there was no missing the relief banked in her eyes. Like she was finally safe to let her true feelings out.
“You thought you were helping but you just made everything worse. Hogan was pissed tonight because he thought I was cheating on him with you.”
My brows furrowed. “How? We’re never together.”
“Yet you’re always hanging around the shop for some reason. He thought you had me bent over my desk on the nights I worked late.”
My cock ached again as I imagined it, but even as my dick thickened, something akin to guilt set it. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help the feeling that you needed someone to watch your back.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard!” she snapped. “I can take care of myself. I can save myself.”
I couldn’t help but hope my inscription in the book I’d gifted her had inspired her to stand up to Hogan. Then again, she’d always had it in her. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I… A while, okay? I don’t want to talk about it. Doesn’t matter anymore anyway, the fucker is dead and I have a body to hide. So are you gonna help or not?”
A while.
The answer was vague yet it told me everything I needed to know. Long enough that she didn’t want to think about it. The couple had seemed happy before Clara’s mom passed. Clara thenfocused on her dream of saving up money to buy her mom’s old commercial building and Hogan, being the needy baby he was, started to drink from the lack of his fiancé's attention. Then came the obvious shift in his personality. That was two years ago.
The knife of guilt sank deeper into my ribs. Had Clara been abused by Hogan for two whole years? Fuck. Why hadn’t I figured it out sooner? I loved that she hadn’t ended up needing me in the end, but I could have saved her so much pain if I’d noticed…
Maybe if I didn’t focus so much on keeping the Krampus locked beneath my skin, myknackfor sniffing out motherfuckers in need of punishment would be stronger.
My fists clenched at my sides and another German curse barreled out with my frustrated snarl.
Clara took a step back, probably thinking I was angry at her. “You don’t have to help me. I didn’t answer your question. Just… Don’t tell anyone. Please? I mean, if I end up in prison—” her voice trembled and cracked. “Fine. I deserve it. I mean, yes, he was trash, but I killed a man. A man with a family. A man who once, a long time ago, made me happy. But if this town is as magical as everyone says it is this time of year, and some bat-shit Christmas miracle comes true, I want to stay here in Leavenworth. With…With you.”
Her confession had my cock blazing hot in my jeans while the ice around my heart seemed to melt some.
“I won’t tell anyone, Clara.” I stepped closer to her and this time she didn’t step away. I reached out, brushing her cheek—her tear tracks now crusted with ice—and swept a lock of hair behind her ear. “Now. How are we doing this?”
She looked up at me with sparkly eyes and the monster beneath my skin groaned, yearning to taste her.
It felt so fucking good to finally touch her.
