Chapter Twenty
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Tristan’s need to protectCassie was in overdrive as they walked out of the building and into the parking lot behind it.This latest bullshit was petty and not as serious as the other two incidents, but it had taken serious thought, and the emotional and mental damage was cruel.Whoever did this had done it deliberately to humiliate her and trash her reputation.He wanted them to pay.
“You don’t need to take me home.I can—”
“I’m taking you home.”No way was he leaving her alone right now.One shock on top of another, and her admitting out loud to Ryder how shaken she was, told him the toll was way worse than she was letting on.
“All right,” she said, then surprised him for the second time when she gestured to his truck.Giving up the control that driving seemed to make her feel was a clear sign she was overwhelmed.“Let’s take yours.I’ll leave mine here for now.”
“Sure.Gav or Decker can bring it by for you.”
She nodded, got into the passenger seat of his truck with a murmur of thanks when he opened the door for her.“You think he’d really go to that length to get back at me for not sleeping with him?That’s next level vengeful, even if he is a rich, colossal prick used to getting his way.”
“It’s possible.Guys like him think they own the world and everyone in it, but he was so wasted I’d be surprised if he could’ve pulled that off in his state.”He glanced at her when they reached the stop sign at the bottom of the hill, trying to gauge her emotional state.“Ivy will figure out what happened.”
“I’m not worried.I’mpissed.So fucking angry I want to smash something.”
Her expression was set, but she seemed calm on the outside.“Good.I am too.”
The waterfront was fairly quiet.Tourist season had finished around the middle of September, and now it was mostly locals out enjoying the slower pace of the town and shorter lineups at the businesses along Front Street.“Want to stop for anything before I take you home?Grab something to eat maybe?”
“I had a banana and a granola bar before I checked out.I’m good.But stop if you want to get something for yourself.”
“No, I’m okay.”
She sighed as he reached the far end of Front Street and started up the hill to the north of town.“An ambush on the highway, planted drugs, and now making me look like I’m screwing a client.Is there any way they can all be connected?”She shook her head.“I just don’t see how someone could have orchestrated such different kinds of attacks in a matter of days.”
He couldn’t see how they were all connected in terms of orchestration, but they were certainly all designed to target her.That was the link.But the first could have killed her.The second would have landed her in jail.And this latest one would have trashed her reputation within the company and the industry and gotten her fired.
They were so different in scale, but hurting her was the common intent.“If the cops can’t find out who’s behind everything, Ivy and CPS will.”
She nodded and stared out at the road, deep in thought.He didn’t disturb her for the rest of the drive, but he was worried about her.
Her pale green, two-story house sat back from the street, framed by big red maples on either side, the leaves glowing like fire as they caught the dappled fall sunlight.Without a word he got out of the truck and followed her to the front door.Watched as she stepped inside and punched in her alarm code.
It was the same as it had been the last time he was here.“You didn’t change your code?”
“No, Bristol and my mom both use it, so I just left it.”
“You need to change it.”
“I might at some point.”
“No, you need to change it today.”She needed every bit of security and peace of mind she could get, and this was an easy fix.
She shot him a surprised look, then laughed.“Or what?You’ll put me over your knee?”
In that instant, all the heat he’d been trying to suppress around her came roaring to the surface.He pictured her naked, stretched out on her stomach across his lap, her pretty ass all pink from—
Christ.
