Liz grinned. “No problem.” Going to one knee, she briskly took the towel over PB’s wet fur. The dog loved it.
Never before had she seen her aunt with an animal, so she’d definitely never witnessed her toweling one dry. Awed by the novelty of it, Glory smiled down at them.
When movement in the yard drew her attention, Glory glanced up—and there stood Mike.
The sight of him rocked her foundation, making it impossible for her to move. Mike,here?
He was supposed to be at the park. Kam was headed there to confront him. But instead... The puzzle pieces finally snapped together. It had all been a ploy to get her alone. Except she wasn’t alone. Aunt Liz was here, and now she was at risk, too.
Mike’s narrowed gaze darted everywhere, seeing and discounting Liz. He wore a chilling smile, until he took in Glory’s injuries and unkempt appearance. Facial features contorted into a mask of disgust, and he lost his smile.
The intimate scrutiny sucked all the air out of her lungs.
A slow deep breath didn’t ease the restriction in her chest—a restriction that had nothing to do with injured ribs.
Could he hear the erratic thundering of her heart?
Given her physical shape, she didn’t stand a chance of running. But even if she could, Liz was still down on one knee with PB, oblivious to the danger.
Lunging at her before Glory could do more than gasp, he finally gained Liz’s and PB’s attentions.
“You should have been alone. It would have made everything much easier.”
The little dog went wild, snapping and snarling.
Poor Liz dropped back on her tush. “What in the world?”
“Shut up,” Mike said, as he roughly jerked Glory around to lock her back against his chest. The rough handling sent piercing pain lancing through her.
Liz scuttled to her feet. “Stop that!You’re hurting her.” Barely maintaining her hold on PB’s leash, she reached out.
And Mike wildly swung his fist at her face.
Glory gathered enough breath to scream, but she wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the storm. In reaction, Mike crushed her closer, stealing her breath and sending agony through her shoulder and ribs.
With the way her vision blurred, it took her a second to realize he hadn’t struck Liz, had in fact missed her, but only because Liz had fallen back again, harder this time, landing mostly sprawled on the floor of the terrace. PB got free and immediately clamped her teeth onto Mike’s leg.
Cursing, Mike loosened his hold enough to kick at the dog. He missed, PB darted back to bite him again, and Mike lifted his foot to prepare for a stomp.
Glory grabbed him. With both hands.
Where she found the strength, she didn’t know, but her pain became secondary to protecting PB. In a guttural snarl of her own, she snapped, “Don’t youdare.”
It was as if her words froze everything else in the room. PBwent still. Liz blinked. And Mike stared at her as if he’d never seen her before.
“Jenn?” he whispered, his confusion evident.
Wondering if he’d lost his grasp on sanity, Glory searched his bewildered eyes. “Who’s Jenn?”
Only a second later, the fog cleared and he viciously gripped her arms, yanking her to her tiptoes. “You will not speak to me like that, Glory. Do you understand?”
Yup, the stabbing pain returned in a rush, but at least PB darted out into the rain. Mike wouldn’t be able to hurt her, but would she get lost? Injured?
Struggling for every shallow, agonizing breath, Glory wheezed,“Please...”
Excited approval curved his mouth. “Yes, that’s better. You will do exactly what I tell you to, isn’t that right? You’ll be more malleable this way, not so mouthy. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you—once we’re away from here.” He licked his lips and whispered, “I can’t wait to get you alone.”
“If you had any furniture out here, young lady, anything at all, I would use it to bludgeon this cretin. A wrought iron side table would be especially helpful right now. Or even a potted plant.”
