He could have laughed. “No, Jamie. You did that all on your own.”
“If it wasn’t you, then it was Sadie.”
“Hardly. And she told me about your little visit.”
Jamie lifted a brow. “So? It wasn’t a secret.”
“If you ever threaten her again, I’ll make sure you wish you hadn’t.”
“Is the mighty Eastern Walker threateningmenow?”
His back teeth ground together. “Why do you suddenly want Avery back so badly?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I miss her. And Matty wants to meet her.”
If Eastern had thought he was angry before, that was nothing compared to this moment. “Matty?” Was that some fucking guy she was dating? Was she doing this forhim?
“Yeah, Matty. We’ve been seeing each other for a few months. I told him I had a daughter, and he wondered why I’m not with her. So I told him he could meet her if he wanted.”
Over his dead fucking body. He inched closer and lowered his voice to a threatening growl. “Our daughter isnota tool for you to use to keep your boyfriend. I suggest if you don’t plan to stick around and be an actual goddamn mother, then you get the hell out of Misty Peak, because it will be a cold day in hell before I let you have access to her when you don’t intend to stay.”
Instead of appearing angry, she just lifted a brow. “Really? Well, I hope you’ve lawyered up. And seeing as you won’t play ball, I plan to go for full custody.”
He wasn’t scared, not even a little bit, because he knew there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening. “Try me.”
“Don’t worry. I plan to.” She turned, her hair flying as she walked away.
Eastern didn’t move from his spot, instead watching her as she climbed into her car and drove away, anger still beating through his veins.
When he finally felt like he could move again, he turned to storm back to his car.
“Eastern!”
The sound of Marie Alvaro’s voice did nothing to help his mood. Pretending that he didn’t hear, he kept moving.
“Eastern. Wait!”
He didn’t stop, and when Marie grabbed his arm, she was out of breath. “Hey. Didn’t you hear me calling?”
“What is it, Marie?”
Her brows flickered but she straightened. “I haven’t seen those patrol cars you promised around my apartment building.”
“I made sure they did a few drive-bys after you mentioned it.” He started walking again, and it took two of Marie’s steps for every one of his for her to keep up.
“And then they stopped? You know he’s still there.”
“The lurker?”
“Yes. He hangs around the building almost every night. I think it’s that ex of Sadie Sandler’s.”
Eastern stopped and turned. “Why do you think that?”
“Because I have eyes.” She touched a hand to her hip. “Look, I don’t want any trouble around my daughter, so take care of it, okay? Sheisyour girlfriend, after all.”
Before he could get another word in, she was gone.
The next breath was more of a hiss because there were too many goddamn outliers in this town, and he was damn well over it.
