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But the flashing camera, then and there, was too convenient to be anything but a setup.
“Ah, so that’s how this is going to go.” I grinned down at her and heard her swallow hard once more, her eyes filling with anxiety as they shifted around in search of…help? To see if she was getting the attention she’d hoped to draw? It didn’t matter. She’d had a decent plan, but she hadn’t realized who she was trying to fuck with. “You didn’t do your homework on me at all, Mayra. Did you think ambushing me and causing a scene that will land the two of us on the covers of all the gossip magazines will get you whatever it is you’re after?”
“That hurts! You’re going to break my wrist,” she exclaimed, trying to pull free.
“This hurts?” I twisted my hold, feeling a sick pleasure when she whined. There was nothing fake about the physical pain I caused her. Good. Maybe she’d get a taste of what she’d put Madalyn through. “But I’m only defending myself.” I nodded toward the building behind me. “There are high-definition security cameras at every angle that overlook the street and parking lot, as well as every entrance and exit. They will have recorded you grabbing me and then me pulling you off me. In case your small brain didn’t already know this, that is called self-defense. There are scratches on my arm that are openly bleeding. All that adds up to proof you attacked me first. I’m simply protecting myself against an unhinged, potential psycho who ambushed me in the parking lot at work. Given your past relationship with my fiancé, I could even argue that you’ve been stalking me and finally dared to approach me with the intent of causing bodily harm. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think that’s considered a felony in this state.”
“Please,” she cried louder. “My wrist. You’re going to break it!”
“That’s it, Mayra. Cry louder,” I urged, tightening my fingers so hard my knuckles turned white. “Get the attention of the security guards just inside the building. Let someone call the cops. I would love to file a report against you. Then I can text Jarrett and tell him what his fucked-in-the-head ex did. You know, he mentioned there were consequences if you ever tried to cause trouble for him or the kids again.”
All the blood drained from her face. “I-I haven’t approached Madalyn or Banks. And I-I haven’t contacted him. Not once. I haven’t broken any of the stipulations the Russian woman spoke about.”
I kept my face neutral at this new information. What Russian woman? Why did Mayra suddenly appear terrified? Did I even care enough to want to know? Locking those thoughts away for later, I lifted a brow at Mayra. “But you’re here, fucking with me. Do you think Jarrett will take that as an attack on himself?”
She licked her lips nervously. “I just wanted to annoy you a little. Cause you some PR trouble so you couldn’t plan your wedding as easily as you appeared to be doing.”
“I’m not an idiot. I knew what you were doing,” I snapped at her. “But I don’t play games. You came at me, thinking you could embarrass me or hurt the people I love by attacking me. I can handle myself just fine, but if what you do causes pain for Madalyn or Banks, then I get a little twitchy.”
“Why would you care so much about them? They aren’t even yours.”
The utter confusion in her voice only pissed me off more, and I wrenched her wrist a little harder. “That’s where you’re wrong. Maddie and Banks are mine. You had your chance to love and protect them, and you failed at that spectacularly. Now I get the very amazing privilege of being their mom.” I lowered my head and my voice as I stared her in the eyes, making sure she understood every word that left my mouth. “You haven’t seen crazy until you’ve seen me in momma-bear mode. And lady, you so much as look at my kids, and I will tear you apart piece by piece.”
“You’re not even their stepmother yet,” she tried to argue, but her voice still quavered, the bravado she tried to show failing miserably.
“I will be soon, but being married to their father doesn’t mean anything. They’ve been mine from the beginning. Now, you’re going to take yourself, and whatever dumbass you hired with a camera over there, and leave. Go back to Texas or move anywhere else in the world. I don’t really give a fuck as long as you never show your face to me, or them, ever again. Because if I so much as see you in a crowd, I will call you out. You will have to deal with me for real then, Mayra. And then, once I’m done with you, whatever Jarrett threatened would happen should you break the rules will fall on your head with a snap of my fingers.”
“I-I’m not scared of you, little girl.”
My laugh sounded manic even to my own ears. “You should be. But don’t take my word for it. Fuck around, find out, and then we’ll see what’s left of you when I’m finished.” Releasing her, I dusted off my hands, trying to get rid of the filth on them. “I might be surrounded by rock stars ninety percent of the time but test my inner gangster. Go on. I fucking dare you. Because where Madalyn and Banks are concerned, I will walk away with assault charges with zero regrets.”
“Trinity?”
I stepped back from Mayra at the sound of Aunt Emmie’s voice. Putting a smile on my face, I turned to face the redhead who had just stepped out of the back of her SUV. Marcus, one of her personal bodyguards, stood with his hands crossed in front of himself, assessing the situation with slightly narrowed eyes.
“Who is this?” Aunt Emmie asked, giving Mayra a slow appraisal before dismissing her.
Knowing she most likely already knew the answer to her question, I shrugged it off. “Someone who lost her way. I was just giving her directions to the airport.” Bending, I picked up the tote I’d dropped. “Marcus, I hate to be a bother, but would you mind carrying this up to my office? Oh, and I dropped a wedding invitation brochure by my car. Would you grab that too, please?”
“You’re never a bother, Trin,” he said as he walked over to pick up the brochure and then the box. As he did, he placed his body between Mayra and me, and he stayed there, sensing an unseen threat. What he didn’t understand was that I was the dangerous one. I wanted to rip her hair out, maybe scratch up her pretty face a little. The fight I’d gotten into with Shaw over the summer was nothing compared to the beating I wanted to give Mayra. “Shall we?”
“Please,” I said, offering him a warm smile before glancing at Mayra. Fighting the urge to slap her around—would it have been so bad to hit her once or twice?—I winked at her. “I’m sure you can find your way now. Right?”
Her eyes shifted from me to Aunt Emmie, then to Marcus, before snapping back to my face. “Y-yeah. I’ll be on the next flight to Texas tonight.”
“Perfect,” I said chipperly. “Bye-bye now.”
Without sparing her another glance, I walked over to where Aunt Emmie was still standing, her hand clenched tightly around her phone as she stared Mayra down over my shoulder. “I think I have all the files ready for Legal concerning the next tour venues,” I said, pulling my aunt’s attention to me. “But I’ll drop them on your desk to look over before we finalize the contracts.”
“I’m confident you covered all the bases,” the redhead assured me as we entered the building.
As we passed the first security guard, she paused. “There’s a woman outside. Black-and-white jumpsuit. Ugly shoes. Get a clear photo of her from one of the camera feeds and then show it to all the guards. If I find out she’s within a hundred yards of this building again, I’ll fire everyone on duty.”
“Y-yes, Mrs. Armstrong,” the man rushed to assure her. “I’ll take care of it personally.”
Biting my tongue, I waited until we were on the elevator before commenting. “That wasn’t necessary. Mayra is nothing more than an annoying fly trying to buzz around and get herself some attention.”
“She can buzz the fuck back to wherever she came from,” Aunt Emmie gritted out. “That cunt isn’t going to bother you again, or she’ll have to deal with me.”
