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“I didn’t. He showed up here lookin’ for a fight. I gave him one.”
“You should’ve walked away.”
“I didn’t do a damn thing that was outta line. I’d do it exactly the same way if I had to do it over again.”
“Is that macho cowboy bullshit supposed to impress me?”
“No, it was supposed to protect you. I was just defendin’ myself, and you, and what’s mine.”
“I don’t need you to defend me.”
“You really think you would’ve stood a chance at keepin’ that guy under wraps if he’d’ve come after you? Were you gonna try to reason with him?”
“Yes.”
“Give me a goddamned break,” Kade snapped. “That guy was pissed off, outta control and lookin’ for trouble.”
“No, you’re out of control. You’re a hundred times more trouble.”
“What the f**k is that supposed to mean?”
“Just like I suspected, the little bit of control I allowed you wasn’t enough. Now you want all the control in my life and take it at the first opportunity.” Skylar spoke through clenched teeth. “You’re not content to call the shots in the bedroom any more. You want to do the same here. Guess what? Not happening.”
Kade could not believe she’d thrown that in his face. Control wasn’t the issue and she damn well knew it. “Well excuse the f**k outta me.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I’ll put aside your ignorant, wrong and just plain damn petty insult and give it to you straight. This is about safety, not control. And guess what? Your security measures are piss-poor, darlin’. First, that guy shouldna been able to get that close to the building.
Second, he coulda waltzed right in the front door. Know how I know that? Because I’ve done it several times. No one stoppin’ me, no security inside or out. You, or whoever is in control doesn’t even lock the goddamn door during workin’ hours.”
Skylar’s icy glare continued.
“This is a business. If you’ve hired women with a history of domestic violence issues, you oughta be more vigilant about security issues than normal, not less. Alarms on the doors and windows. A gate with a code box to keep out trespassers. You already have a damn gate, hell, you have two gates, why would you leave them open night and day?
You’ve got kids in there, Sky. You’ve got my kid in there. And the way it sits, ain’t nothin’ stoppin’ an angry ex or a pissed-off boyfriend from stormin’ the joint with a gun and killin’ every last person in there.”
“That wouldn’t happen. Not here.”
“Wrong. It happens all the time and you know it. So you’d better fix your security problems pronto, because after this incident today, I ain’t about to let you put my daughter in danger any more.”
Skylar bristled. “What are you getting at?”
“Just what I said. Fix the problems or I’ll yank Eliza out of here so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Don’t f**kin’ push me on this because I’d do it in a f**kin’ heartbeat. And yeah, if you wanna be technical, I’m exercisin’ my parental control and right to remove her from a potentially dangerous situation. I’ll make sure my kid don’t become another tragic statistic because you have too much pride to admit you are wrong.”
Footsteps splashed up next to them. “You two oughta take this inside.”
“We’re done.”
“Done? What the hell do you mean done?”
“Oh, honey, you have a gash on your jaw,” Annie said to Kade. “Why don’t you come in and I’ll take a look at it?”
“I’m fine. Probably had worse.” Kade rubbed the sore spot and his fingers came away bloody. Sucker did hurt. “I gotta take off pretty quick anyway.” He didn’t bother to hide the anger in his eyes. “Think about what I said. And don’t wait up for me tonight.”
“Where are you going?”
He said, “Out,” and walked away from her without looking back.
Out.
Damn him.
Why did he make her feel like she was in the wrong when he was the one who’d been involved in a fistfight, with her employee’s husband, in the parking lot of her business, in front of her employees? And then he had the balls to tell her how she’d been putting everyone—including their child—in danger?
He’d threatened to take Eliza away, just like she’d feared.
Why had she believed Kade would be different from any other man who’d been in her life? Charm her and then take what they wanted and leave her broken.
Kade isn’t like that.
Yes, he is.
Chase him down and hash it out.
No, let him cool off first.
Talk about a split personality.
“Sky, you should go back in. It’s five o’clock.”
“Did everyone see what happened?”
“Pretty much. Dee shooed the kids away, but Nadia watched the whole thing.”
“How is she?”
“Mad. Scared. Embarrassed.”
“I’ll talk to her and try to calm her down before she leaves.”
As she trudged inside, Skylar wondered who was going to calm her down.
Chapter Twenty-three
“What the hell happened to you?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Kade signaled the waitress and held up Cord’s bottle of Budweiser.
“Where’s Buck?” Cam asked with a snicker. “I gotta admit, it’s funny as shit he’s changed his name after all these years.”
“He’s sick as a dog. I wasn’t at the ranch today and he didn’t answer his cell, so I called Ma and she said he’s got a bad cold, chills, fever, the whole works. Been in bed since yesterday.”
“That sucks. But I’m glad he stayed away. I don’t need to drag that shit back to Iraq with me.”
Chet said, “When you leavin’ again?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
Blake whistled. “Damn short trip.”
“Yeah, but what can you do? Better’n nothin’, since Ma threatened to hop a flight to Baghdad if I didn’t get my ass home soon. Been damn near three years since I’ve been here.”
“A lotta shit’s happened since then.”
“No kiddin’. Good and bad. I almost made it for Carter’s weddin’.” He knocked back a swallow of beer. “Didn’t know about Dag until the day before his funeral. Same with Uncle Harland.”
