Cord could hear the silent ‘but’ hanging in the air. “And?”
“Apparently his family was so wealthy they were able to pay off all his ex-girlfriends to keep them from telling anyone else about him. He only hit me once before I left, but he sent me a couple of death threats after that. Showed up outside my apartment late at night. You know, typical asshole, stalker kind of stuff.” She toyed with a loose thread in the hemline of herjeans.
Cord rolled his hands into fists at his sides, fighting to keep his expression neutral. The thought of any man laying a hand on her made his trigger finger itch. “Have you seen him aroundhere?”
“No, and neither have any of the men. I’m not really sure if it’s him, but someone is definitely pissed. And I have no intention of allowing anyone or anything to threaten my ranch.” Samantha lifted her chin, her beautiful mouth firming into a hard line ofdetermination.
“Has anything else happened besides the cattle and thenotes?”
She caught her breath, the movement slight enough that he would have missed it if he hadn’t been watching her sointently.
“Sam, I need to know everything I’m upagainst.”
“Okay. There was something else. At first I thought I was just imagining it, but then I got the notes…” She straightened from the edge of thebed.
Cord reacted instinctively, grabbing her hand and tugging her back down to his side. “What?”
“I think he may have been in mybedroom.”
Cord didn’t move a muscle as he processed that intel. Even though his insides screamed at the thought, his training kept him calm and collected. As a sniper, he’d been put under multiple high-stress situations. The only thing that had saved him and his teammates, time and again, was cool, logical thinking in the face of fire. “And why do you think that?” He was almost surprised at how calm his voicesounded.
She trembled and he slid his hand up her arm and cupped her elbow insupport.
“I think he ejaculated on my sheets.” She spoke so quickly it took him a full second after she stopped to process herwords.
When he did, he blotted out his pain. Even if she tried to clean it, there could still be trace evidence left. “You washit?”
