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This was exactly why she should be glad they hadn’t spoken. He screwed with her mind as well as her body, and only one of those was acceptable. “You’re pathetic,” she mumbled as she turned into her long driveway. “What the…?”
As Izzy coasted closer to the house, she leaned forward, and her heart dropped straight out of her chest. “No!” She slammed the car in park and flew out the door, not bothering to shut it. “No, no, no.”
Her house, her pride and joy, had been vandalized in the worst way. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she slumped to her knees in the grass. All six of her gorgeous windows had been smashed to smithereens. Sharp shards of glass glittered everywhere she could see, inside the house, on her porch, scattered throughout the bushes and grass.
Her heart stung with an ache similar to what she experienced when her mother died. It was dumb. A house was a house, a thing, but it was hers. One hundred percent hers. Something she’d worked and saved for all her adult life. She’d achieved it all on her own. The house was so much more to her than wood, nails, and drywall. It was a symbol of her independence. A validation of her choice to remain single, unattached, and trudging through life without help.
Now, it was a huge fucking mess that would take all weekend to clean up. Not to mention the expense of replacing six large windows. Did homeowner’s insurance cover that sort of thing?
Of course, if it did, she’d have to report it to the insurance company. And they’d probably demand a police report. Which would no doubt be a problem for the Handlers. First the diner, now her place. This reeked of Lefty, and her involvement with the MC would come to light if she called the cops.
Shit.
This was a crotch kick to the bank account for sure.
Anger burned in her gut, hot and lethal, chasing away the unshed tears. Who were these pieces of shit to think they could mess with her sanctuary and get away with it? They could do their fucking worst, and she’d bounce back every time. Some broken glass was nothing compared to what she’d battled in her life. With that thought, she tried to ignore the heartache caused by the loss of her beautiful windows.
“Well, fuck them.”
First, she’d get some lumber to board up the house, then once she’d simmered enough to have a reasonable conversation, she’d call Copper and ask him what the fuck he planned to do to stop these assholes. Izzy rose just as the rumble of a motorcycle came cruising up her driveway.
Great, her watchdog. How could she have forgotten?
As she stormed back to her car, LJ hopped off his bike, his face a picture of disbelief. He’d backed off on the flirting—she had a sneaking suspicion Jig had said something—but was still very protective and sweet toward her. “What the ever-lovin' fuck? Izzy, you okay? What the hell happened?”
“How the fuck should I know? How about you find Lefty and ask him?” She jammed her hands on her hips. “Actually, that’s a great idea. I’d like about five minutes alone with that guy to ask him myself.” Shaking her head, she back-walked toward her car.
“Izzy, wait, where are you going?” LJ pulled his phone from his pocket. “I gotta call this in to Copper.”
She gave him her back and waved a hand in the air. “Do what you gotta do, buddy. I’m going to the hardware store.”
“Iz, wait!” When she didn’t stop, he roared, “Goddamnit! Isabella, get that tight ass back here.”
She slid in the driver’s seat and called out the open door, “Don’t you Isabella me, you overgrown babysitter. Call Copper if you need to. I’ll be at the hardware store.” With that, she slammed the door and peeled out to shouts of “goddamnit!” and “woman!”
In the ten minutes it took her to drive to the hardware store, she hadn’t cooled in the slightest. In fact, stewing in her anger had caused it to swell to epic levels. She parked like shit, shoved out of the car, and marched into the store, right past LJ who’d rolled in just behind her.
Once inside, she beelined straight for the lumber. Since she’d recently measured for the valences, the window dimensions were fresh in her mind. She wandered the aisle, trying to determine precisely what she needed when someone called her name.
“Hey, Izzy.” Stephanie and Mav walked over hand in hand, smiles on their faces. If LJ had reached Copper, the president hadn’t gotten the word out yet.
“Hey, guys.” She blew out an unsteady breath and tried to still her shaking hands as she hugged Stephanie and accepted a kiss from Mav.
“You doing some work on your house?” Mav asked.
“Uh…” She swallowed. Lying had never been her strong suit, but she really didn’t want to talk about what happened until she had time to process it.
