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Sam smiled. “Miss Rayna said she would come by with some magazines I can look through to see where we’ll go shopping next.”
“Really,” I stuck my head over her shoulder. “And you’re going to shop at…the Bowling Alley?”
She rolled her eyes. “That's just an Ad. Are you sure you’re smart?”
“Hey!” I narrowed my eyes. “No more smart-alecky comments from you, miss lady. You’re walking on thin ice already.”
Sam laughed and then grabbed the magazines. “I’ll go look these over in my room.”
When she left, I took her vacated seat and stretched out a leg to brush Rayna’s. “How are you?”
ChapterTwenty-Two
Rayna
“Pretty well, considering,” I brushed a few tendrils of hair from my face, then met his eyes. “About Mr. West, did you prove it?”
“In all but me getting a solid yes from the colossal douchebag, pretty much,” he replied. “I may have added another layer to our animosity, but it was already higher than the Empire State Building, so—” he shrugged a single shoulder. “—I ain’t crying no tears. When Ben and I got there, he put us off, saying Maria was not there, but as we left, I saw her through the window above the patio.”
“But…” I paused, trepidation curling in my gut. “…why scare me? I have no…forgive me for saying this; beef with them. Why try to run me over?”
John looked as if he’d swallowed something bitter. “Because if you’re with me, they need to get rid of you too, or at least show that you’re in danger of being collateral damage.”
“Should I go to the police then?” I asked worriedly. “Maybe tell that same detective who is handling your case? Perhaps it would deescalate the problem?”
I considered it. “It couldn’t hurt.”
“Then I’ll do that,” I replied, reaching out to him. “Are you sure this is going to be okay?”
“It will be,” John replied. “I’m just on edge, expecting West to retaliate, but what grabs my garters is I don’t know when or where that will be. I don’t know what he’ll bring this time, which drives me up the wall. I mean, can you imagine what is next after killing five calves? Mass genocide? An ambush? Going after my kids?”
John jerked dead at those words, his eyes flying wide as the unconscious thought soon became very conscious and real. His face reddened, and his jaw went hard as flint. He spun. “If that motherfucker thinks he can even lay a finger on my kids—”
I lurched from my seat and grabbed him. “John, look at me. Calm down. We’re not there yet. And God forbid we ever get there.”
The look on John’s face made me want to run and hide. I was sure the devil himself was not as ferocious looking as John was at this moment. “Listen to me. When I make this report, and they warn him, he will think twice about doing such a thing.”
The iron in his spine flagged, but his face still remained fierce. Eyes flashing, he said, “If we were elsewhere, I’d be kissing you right now.”
It took a lot for me not to smile or, even worse, slip into his arms. We were outside, and anyone could come across us at any moment. Still, I did my best and wrapped my hand around his arm. It was paltry comfort, but it was the best I could do.
“Do you think it will do any good to tell them about it? To warn them about West?”
“No,” he replied staunchly. “It’s my responsibility as their father to ensure it never gets that far. I’m not filling their heads with unnecessary fear.”
“And I’ll do my part, too,” I replied, reaching for my handbag. “Sam and I are shopping tomorrow, so I’ll go to the police now.”
I went to head out, but John broke his rule and reached out, held my arm, and pulled me in for half a hug, brushing his lips across my temple. The intoxicating smell of leather, male spice, and his heat flooded my senses and tempted me to stay but…another time.
“I’ll be back,” I promised, then slipped away and headed out to my car to do whatever I could do to help John.
* * *
“Miss Everett?” Detective Juliann said while striding through the local police department lobby. “You asked for a meeting?”
“Yes,” I said while shooting an apprehensive look to the cops operating the front desk and the other few lingering around the coffee machine. “Um, may we talk in private?”
“Sure,” she nodded. “This way, please.”
