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“You and I need to talk,” he started off saying, but I was already moving in his direction, the goal to get the hell out of there.
“Hey, can we talk later, or tomorrow?” I asked, doing my best not to look at him for fear he would read past my BS and see the real reason why I was leaving. “I’m beat. It’s been a long—” I never got a chance to finish my sentence or leave the room. Lock had never broke stride. When I was close to him, he grabbed me by my arm and halted my escape.
“Oh no, we’re talking about this shit now.”
He pulled me back into the room, turned me around, and propped me on the back of the sectional.
“You lied to me,” he declared, folding his arms against his large chest.
My eyebrows shot up to my forehead. “How? When? I didn’t—”
“I specifically asked you if there was anything to Schindler’s warning about what you’re into and you said no.”
“And there isn’t,” I argued, quite lamely I might add. And Lock called me on it.
“Bullshit. What do you call having to put a bat to a man’s legs to get out of a situation?”
It was my turn to fold my arms and put upmydefensive walls. “Protection or retaliation,” I shot back.
“Yeah and I call it dangerous. You put yourself in a dangerous situation with no back up.”
“I had backup.”
“Who? Reed Watson and Garrett Tyler? They were outside somewhere. They weren’t by your side. They weren’t there to have your back. You went into a hostile, unknown situation alone. You had no idea what this man had at his disposal. What if he had a gun? What if the moment he saw you, he killed you? He would’ve been in his right. You do realize that. You were inhishouse withouthispermission, probably dressed in all black, looking as if you were there to rob him. He would’ve been justified in killing you, then where would you be?”
Damn I hated when he made sense. It was a risk every time I went to pick up someone, especially if their significant other was home. So far, no one pulled out a gun on me, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen or couldn’t happen. The man had a point, but I was in the mood to argue, so I didn’t let him rest his point.
“Despite what you think, I’m not always in those types of situations. Most of the time no one is home but the person I’m there to help.”
“Yeah, and what about the other times.”
“Lock, it doesn’t happen often.” I reiterated, but it didn’t do any good with him.
He leaned forward, lining up our lines of sight. “It only takes one time, Phoebe. Only one.”
I growled and stood, moving away from him. “Argh… what do you want me to do? I can’t not help them. I won’t.”
He followed my movements until I found a wall to lean up against, far away from his immediate reach. “Oh, but you will.”
“No, I won’t!” I exclaimed, anger rushing through me like a tidal wave.
Lock took two strides and once again he was invading my space.Dang, he had long legs.And boy did he look pissed the hell off. Good.
“The fuck you will,” he stated, his voice rising an octave or two. “You will not put your life in danger like that again. Do you understand me? I will not allow it.”
That caught me by surprise. I leaned back from him, giving him my best incredulous look. “You will notallowit?”
“That’s what the fuck I said. Your vigilante shit ends now.”
“Who do you think you are?” I contended, placing my hands on my hips, letting myblack girlattitude out in full force. “You’re not my father, or the Almighty.” I pointed to the sky to make sure he knew who the Almighty was before pointing at his chest. “You can’t tell me what to do. I don’t belong to you.”
“Oh, you don’t belong to me?” He stepped closer until we were inches from each other, his face pinched tight, nose flaring.
I raised my chin in defiance, despite the weakness in my knees or the beating of my fractured heart. “No, I don’t. I belong to God. That’s who I answer to.”
“No, youdidbelong to Him. You belong to me, now.” His voice deepened, darkened. His fingers crawled along the back of my neck into my hair. He wrapped his fingers around my thick tresses and adjusted my head to one side, leaving me open, vulnerable. If he was a vampire, I’d be done.
My breath hitched in my throat, and I tensed as he leaned in close. “He gave you over to me the moment you ran into me at Hatch’s. Don’t you know that? Didn’t youfeelthat?” He ran his nose along my neck. “You’re mine, Phoebe Marie Gates.”Oh no, not my whole name… “Fucking. Mine.”
