“Did that get your attention?”
“What do you want?”
He removes his suit jacket—because of course he’s wearing a suit—and tosses it over the back of the couch as he moves toward me. It’s not his usual saunter, the one he uses in LA to announce he’s the most important man in any room he enters. It’s slower, controlled, and if the shattered pottery isn’t enough, this tells me I need to leave.
I don’t know when Grant will be here, but I may not be able to wait. I may have to run and figure out how to handle him outside rather than caged in here.
He’s rolling up his sleeves like he’s got plans for me, plans for those hands, and I curl inward as he speaks.
“Isn’t it obvious, Samantha? I know you’re stupid, but it must be worse up here in the thin air.” His sneer pulls what I once thought a handsome enough face into something garish. “I want you back.”
Air rushes out of me. “How would insulting me and invading my space and breaking my things accomplish that?”
His jaw hardens and his eyes get that dead look that makes my heart stutter. I’ve seen it a few times, but the most vivid was when he finally put his hands on me.
Dread and primal fear sluices through my veins in a hot rush.
The bell rings and I whip toward the door, running to open it, but Andrew smacks his hand against it to hold it shut before I can yank it open.
“Delivery.”
It’s Grant. I’d swear it. I want to cry.
Instead, I say, “Just a sec!” but Andrew speaks, too, shouting, “Leave it.”
There’s a beat, then Grant’s voice comes out commanding and crisp despite the panel between us. “This is the police. Open the door.”
Andrew stiffens, then turns to me, but I jump away, stumbling into the coat rack in the corner. Sirens sound somewhere outside, and Andrew is coming at me.
Several things happen at once.
First, I know in my gut Andrew is going to hurt me and my fight instinct is kicked into high gear. Igrab at anything I can reach and find a large umbrella I yank out of the basket where it rests at the base of the rack and swing it as hard as I can at him. It connects with his shoulder, the impact powerful enough to send a jolt of vibration into my wrist. He makes a horrible sound and clasps at the place I hit right when Mr. Bingley charges and sinks his claws into Andrew’s calf. My little guard kitty looses a fearsome yowl, Andrew yells, and I’m ready to swing again.
At the same time, the door bursts open, the small table sliding away, and Grant, followed by several more familiar faces, proceeds inside, weapon drawn.
“Hands up! Andrew Slatten, put your hands up and get on your knees.”
It’s a blur, then. Grant holsters his weapon and comes straight for me while two deputies deal with Andrew.
“Are you okay? Where are you hurt?” Grant’s concern shines through, but he’s all focus as he pats me down just shy of roughly looking for injuries.
“He didn’t touch me. I hit him with the umbrella.” I hold it up only to realize I broke the thing and now errant wires formerly tethered to stays of the material poke out at odd directions.
A smile flashes. “Didn’t even need me, huh?”
I laugh, but it’s watery. I feel the adrenaline dumping out of me and tears gather. “I did. Thank you for coming. Thank you for getting here.”
He shakes his head, then clutches me to him. “I’ll always come. But I’m so sorry this happened.”
“No, I’m sorry.” Then I remember what he was doing, and why we weren’t together this afternoon. “Where are the girls? Are they okay?”
“No apologies from you, not one.” His blue eyes are bright and insistent until I nod, then he adds, “I left them atthe station with Diego, and May was on her way to them the minute he called her. They’ll be just fine, especially after they can give you a hug.”
He gathers me close again and I take a slow breath. The bubble that closed around us when he came to me pops with Andrew’s shouted threats.
“I’ll sue every one of you in this Podunk town! I’ll bankrupt your little department, your town, maybe even your county! I’ll buy up every free plot of land and bring in commercial chains to put every pathetic little business in the red, and then I’ll start bulldozing anything even remotely historic. I willendJuniper View.” Andrew’s wild eyes reach me. “And then I’ll start with you.”
“Nope.”
