“Well, you weren’t there to open it,” he justified.
He’d spent a lot of our relationship justifying his behavior, and for some reason I’d never thought much about why. Hell, sometimes I’d felt bad about it, like I was “nagging” him, forcing him to justify himself.
But he never would have had to do it, if he hadn’t been an asshole to begin with.
“It’s illegal to open someone else’s mail,” I said, trying to snatch the letter from him, but he pulled it away.
“What else was I supposed to do with your letters, Landon? You weren’t there to open them. They might have beenimportant. Like this one, they had your grandmother’s china. I know you care about that crap.”
And that? That was worrying. They had it, he’d said. Not have it.
So they found the box and sent the information to the wrong address.
And now?
“They were supposed to bring it here. I’ve been in contact with them and they?—”
“Oh I told them not to worry about it,” he said, big fake fucking grin again. “I said I would just pick it up.”
Had.
Because now, he had my china. He’d... he’d stolen it. Was he planning on giving it to my parents? Hold it hostage unless I went to his wedding to my asshole brother?
“Then where is it?” I asked, not even realizing I was clenching my teeth until halfway through the sentence, when it came out sounding livid.
He leaned against the doorframe, invading my space, forcing me to either let him in by backing up, or allow him to practically kiss me, he’d placed himself so fucking close to me.
But that?
That was when a hand slid firmly across the small of my back, wrapping around my waist, and Dean tugged me back against him.
He, too, wore a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Unlike Geoff, though, his eyes weren’t cold and unfeeling like a fish or a lizard. His eyes were angry. Blazing with it. With the barely leashed violence of the panther he was.
He tugged me into his chest protectively and watched Geoff with avid, dark eyes. “Hey babe. Why don’t you introduce me to the random guy knocking on our door at ass-o’clock ona Saturday morning? And did I hear him say he stole your grandma’s china?”
Even I wanted to hide from the predator now, if only because I was afraid to get Geoff’s blood on me when Dean tore him open, because that was clearly what he had on his mind.
That... was the hottest thing I had ever seen in my life.
CHAPTER 22
DEAN
“Who the fuck are you?” The man—fuck, what had Landon said his name was? James? Jack?
No, that wasn’t right . . .
Well, it didn’t matter. Clearly, this was Landon’s ex. The smug condescension in his smirk said everything I needed to hear, but once he wasn’t just dealing with Landon anymore, he’d leaned away from us both and clenched his jaw.
“This is Geoff,” Landon said. He didn’t offer Geoff my name, and that was just fine by me. The fucker wasn’t entitled to any part of Landon’s life anymore.
As I slipped my arm around Landon’s hip all the way, he leaned back against me.
“I thought you would’ve wanted your grandma’s china back, but I see you’ve moved on pretty fast, huh?” Geoff shot at Landon. “Forgotten all about your home already?”
His eyes stayed on me. Green eyes. Empty.
