I chuckle and check the trash cans to see if they need to be emptied, but it looks like Frankie already did it this morning. Plants appear to be watered . . . She’s got everything taken care of. I check the mailbox, freezing when I see a letter addressed to Kelly from Billy Akers. I tear into the envelope as my blood pressure soars.
Junior,
Long time! Hope you’re well . . .
I mutter under my breath,Fuck this guy.
My eyes dart across the lines of text, reading as fast as I possibly can. He wants to know “how it’s going” since I took over Black Rabbit.That’s nice.As if he didn’t almost destroy the Everhart name and drown the business Clyde built from the ground up. After I fired Billy and nearly bankrupted myself trying to clean up the mess he left, he had enough money to retire out west like he always wanted—and that’s where I hoped he would stay.
The fact that he’s reaching out to Kelly has me seeing red.
My molars grind as I finish the note. It seems friendly, but Billy is a fucking snake. He’s fishing for information. I wouldn’tdoubt if he fucked up whatever scheme he was running out there and now thinks he can slither back here and manipulate Kelly the way he did Clyde . . . Not a chance in hell. Not that any of us even knew it was happening until it was too late—and to this day, Billy, Casper, and Thor are the only ones who know the truth. I’ve worked hard to keep it that way.
I stuff the letter back in the envelope, folding it in half and tucking it into my back pocket. Billy is up to something. Especially because he sent it to the shop. If he really wanted to reach out to her, he would have sent it to her house directly—this feels like a message for me. Testing me and reminding me he’s still out there. He knows Kelly is my weakness, so this is his way of hitting me where it hurts. He can try, but he’ll quickly learn that this time, I’ll strike back. Hard.
I figured out how to block him in every digital capacity, but nothing like the good ol’ United States Postal Service to come through for him. I just need to figure out what his angle is and get ahead of it.
I can’t waste any time obsessing about this since my next client will be arriving soon, and I need to get my shit together before they show up. My gaze drifts to the large picture windows at the front of the shop and the tension drains from my shoulders—until my eyes focus on a man with a bouquet of roses coming toward the shop.
Oh, fuck no.
Jason.
I’m not letting him anywhere near Kelly. Things are already in motion and I don’t undo my own work. There’s no way in hell I’m giving him access to her. They’re done.
I stand behind the desk, his five-foot-nine height no match.
The door swings open, and his dress shoes clack as he makes his way toward me.
“Is Kelly here?”
“She’s off today.”
He knits his brow. “I know she works Tuesdays.”
He doesn’t know shit. Not even her birthstone, apparently.
“I don’t know what to tell you, man,” I reply with a shrug.
He sighs, clutching the red roses at his side. “Look, I just wanna talk to her for five minutes.”
“It doesn’t take five minutes to say goodbye, but I’ll pass along the message anyway.”
He takes a deep breath. “Let me talk to her, Logan.”
“No. Whatever you thought you had is dead, and you’re going to leave it buried.”
He cocks his head to the side and narrows his eyes. “What the hell do you care anyway?” He lifts his chin. “You want my sloppy seconds?”
A grin slowly spreads across my face, and based on the way he just took a step back, I think it makes him uneasy. I chuckle.
“What?” he seethes.
“That you thought she was ever yours to begin with.”
“She stillismine. Kelly’s just hung up on some trust issue bullshit. It doesn’t involve you, this is between me and her.”
“No,I’mthe one between you and her.” I furrow my brow. “Besides, it sounds like you have enough side pieces to keep you busy.”
