"Bullshit."
My gaze snapped back to his. "You're awful cursy all of a sudden."
"Andyou'reawful evasive."
"Yeah, but you're not listening."
"The hell I'm not." He gave me a no-nonsense look. "So answer the question. Why are you afraid?"
I let out a resigned sigh. "Okay…if you want the truth, he threatened me just a little."
At this, Ryder grew very still. "Do you mean your job or…?"
"Notjustmy job," I admitted.
"So he threatenedyou?"
"Not just me either."
Ryder gave me a look and waited.
"Fine." I swallowed hard. "He threatened meandmy sister."
42
A Slice of Trouble
Ryder
I stared, not because I didn't believe her, but because I was still processing what I'd just heard.That fucker.
Tessa was too quick to say, "I'm not saying he'd actuallydoanything."
Everything slowed, except for my thoughts. "He threatened you. That's doing plenty."
"I know…I just mean—"
"Iknowwhat you mean." I moved closer. "What exactly did he say?"
"You mean his exact words? It was nothing he couldn't weasel out of." She gave a hollow laugh that would fool nobody, especially me. "I mean…it's not like he said he'dkillus."
My fingers flexed. "What?"
"Youdidhear me, right? I just said hedidn'tthreaten to kill us." She glanced away. "Or at least…not outright."
She was full of it.Even ifshedidn't realize this, I sure as hell did. "Terrific. Glad you're safe." I let that sit for a beat. "Anyway…the weather report says rain."
Abruptly, Tessa turned and started walking, probably to get away from the anger simmering under my sarcasm.
Nice try.She'd have to walk a lot faster than that. When she moved,Imoved. And for a few paces, both of us were quiet – her thinking and me plotting, mostly about throwing Evan Carver off the roof of that Chicago bar.
Abruptly, she said, "I knew I should've stalled."
I didn't get it. "How so?"
"Like…five minutes ago, there we were, having a perfectly lovely walk, and now you're all mad."
I didn't bother denying it. "Yeah, but not at you."
