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Before she could respond, he pulled something out of his pocket. The next instant, she felt a painful electricity surge through her body. She fell, dropping her suitcase and hitting her head against the table she kept by the door.
The entire room was spinning when she finally hit the floor. Then everything faded away.
Vic satin his home office. A glass of good bourbon sat untouched. It had nothing to do with the time of day and everything to do with the idea that his world had been demolished.
He heard footsteps and knew that Justin had come to check on him.
“Hey, loser, what happened last night? I was expecting you and Addy.”
He said nothing as he reached for the glass. “Things change.”
Justin said nothing to that. He walked around and looked at him.
“You let her go. Goddammit, I told you not to do that.”
“I had no choice. Bartlett was going to go after her if I didn’t.”
“You’re not thinking with your head, Vic. Seriously. What the fuck are you thinking?”
“I told him she was just another woman. That she didn’t matter.”
“Jesus, you’re stupid when it comes to women. How did you pass the bar?”
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Justin. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Bartlett isn’t going to give a flipping fuck if you let her go now. He knows she meant something to you. And, because of you letting her go, she’s more exposed. You should have told her what was going on.”
“What, that the father of the man I had to kill on our last mission has decided to kill me? That would win her over.”
“Oh, and what do you have now?” He shook his head. Disgust stamped on his features. “You’re a coward. You did this because it was easier to let her go than for her to know about you. It has nothing to do with her safety.”
“Oh, Dr. Phil, tell me more,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his words. “Because I don’t see you settling down with anyone.”
“If I had a woman like Addison, I would do it in a heartbeat. I would fight tooth and nail to keep her safe, to make sure that nothing bad ever happened to her. You did this because it was the easier thing to do.”
“Easier!” He screamed the word as he stood. The room wobbled a little bit. Damn, he realized it had been almost twenty-four hours since he’d eaten. He shook his head, trying to clear it, making it much worse. “Do you think ripping out my fucking heart was easy? Jesus Christ, there is a fucking maniac threatening her.”
“And you left her out to dry. You left her with no protection.”
For a second, it all came into focus. He had thought distancing himself would protect her, but he realized what he had done at that moment. Fucking bloody hell.
“Ah, you get it. I say we go over there and get her.”
He nodded, but his phone rang with an eight oh eight area code.
“Yes?”
“Is this Vic?”
The female voice was familiar, but he wasn’t sure where he had heard it before.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Amanda.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“I want to know what you did to my best friend.”
