I expanded the document and felt my blood pressure rise as I scanned it. It was a poem that he’d apparently written for her. Her creepy stalker was a wannabe poet… who was declaring his love for… my fiancée. Even after I’d warned him off. Apparently, this guy didn’t know who he was messing with, but he was about to find out.
I handed her phone back to her before I retrieved mine from the inside pocket of my blazer. I cut the engine on my car, to kill the hands-free before I tapped the screen to bring up my contacts. I’d added his contact because I had a feeling this discussion would be inevitable. I’d considered doing it face-to-face, but I didn’t trust myself not to beat the shit out of him, so a phone call would have to do.
“What are you doing?” Briar hissed.
I held my finger up while the phone rang. It took two rings before he picked up, sounding wary.
“I tried to be reasonable,” I said to him. “I gave you fair warning to stay the hell away from my fiancée. That means no contact!” I closed my eyes, trying to regain control. For a guy who thrived in high-pressure, life-threatening situations, I wasn’t handling this well. “You don’t send her poetry. You don’t call her, text her, drive by her house, send her flowers, or any other pathetic thing you can think might sway her. Because she wants nothing to do with you, in case that restraining order didn’t tip you off.”
“I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, Lennox, but there’s no way Briar agreed to marry you.”
This guy was challenging me? Was he for real? “You were in her life for a minute, buddy. I’ve been around for years. Don’t pretend you know her, you don’t.” I couldn’t believe I was stooping to this asshole’s level, letting him get under my skin. But when he challenged my connection with Briar, he hit a nerve.
“I know that she likes to be tied up.” His voice was barely above a whisper when he said, “Spanked. Does she let you do that to her?”
I curled my hand around the steering wheel, white-knuckling it. I hated that Briar had been intimate with this asshole, but that didn’t make the lies he was spewing true. She couldn’t have had the level of trust with him that would have made her consent to being tied up, completely at his mercy, could she?
I slid my gaze to Briar, who was looking confused and anxious, questioning me with her eyes.
“You’re a worthless, pathetic loser, living in a fantasy world. Except your fantasy is my reality, and you can’t stand that, can you?” I knew it was stupid to bait this guy. I didn’t know how unbalanced he was, or what he was capable of, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. Not even when Briar curled her hand around my thigh, presumably to shut me up. “I’m telling you for the last time, leave her alone, or I’m going to pay you a little visit. And that won’t end well for you, trust me.”
I disconnected the call before he could get another word in.
“What did he say?” she asked, wide-eyed, when I slammed my palm into the steering wheel repeatedly, swearing a blue streak.
I never got this emotional on the job. But this was personal. This was crawling under my skin, taking up residence inside my head, twisting heart, and making my gut churn. I wanted this guy out of her life. I wanted to personally eradicate the threat. With my bare hands. And I wanted to forget that she’d ever had sex with him.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I jabbed a finger in the direction of the flower shop. “Let’s just get the flowers and get the hell out of here.”
ChapterNine
Briar
I didn’t know what my psycho ex said to Rhett on the phone, but whatever it was set him off. He’d been on edge all night, snapping at his mother whenever she mentioned the wedding, glaring at inanimate objects, curling his hands into tight fists on the tabletop and barely looking at me.
I was in the kitchen helping his mother with coffee and dessert when she finally said, “Rhett seems a little troubled tonight. Did you two have a disagreement?”
“No, we didn’t.” I bit my lip, trying to think of a plausible excuse for his attitude. “He must have had a tough day at work.”
She waved her hand. “That boy works too hard. I swear, he thinks that’s the most important thing in the world.” She smiled at me. “Or at least he did. But now he has you to set him straight.” She set four mugs of coffee on a silver tray before she added, “To help him find more balance in his life.”
Rhett was a workaholic, but he couldn’t have achieved all that he had without a tireless work ethic. I was proud of him, and thought his mother should be too, but it wasn’t my place to challenge her. Maybe if I really was going to be her daughter-in-law I would have, but since this was only a temporary arrangement, I thought it best to keep the peace.
“You know when you two have kids—”
I sputtered and coughed on the sip of water in my mouth, before patting my chest. With a weak smile, I said, “Sorry, went down the wrong way.”
Frowning, she said, “As I was saying, when you two have kids, you’ll have to keep him in check, Briar. Kids need their dad.” She clucked her tongue. “My husband was always there when the kids were young. Didn’t miss a dance recital, football game, or Christmas concert.”
I smiled sweetly, thinking her husband was a self-employed accountant. It was a little different than being the CEO of a billion-dollar company, like her son was. “Rhett is one of the most reliable, dependable guys I’ve ever met, Viv. I’m sure you don’t have to worry. Family means everything to him.” I knew if Rhett ever decided to have kids, he’d put them first. Just like he’d put me first when I needed him the most.
She touched my face, her eyes glistening. “I can’t tell you how happy I am you two are getting married. I’ve known he was in love with you for the longest time—”
“Excuse me?” My heart was pounding and my cheeks were burning. Had Viv skipped her meds today because she wasn’t making any sense? Rhett wasn’t in love with me… was he?
She nodded emphatically. “I told my husband years ago that you were the girl he was going to marry. I think it was at your college graduation party, you know, the one your parents threw for you, that I first realized he was in love with you.” She rested her hand against her chest. “I saw the way he looked at you when he thought no one else was looking and—”
“Viv, you’re wrong,” I said, feeling slightly panicked. “Rhett and I have been friends for a long time, but—”
