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“And what do you want us to do when he gets here?” Pete asked with venom, his fists clutched against his ribs. “Let him in to talk?”
“Yeah, actually,” Dego nodded. “Grant will record the conversation. If anything comes up that we can use to get a restraining order against him, that would be perfect. Otherwise, we’re looking at blackmail and possible extortion to keep him away—”
“Blackmail and extortion?” I exclaimed, rising to my knees so I could fully see each man over the edge of the couch. “You’ve got to be kidding me! This situation can’t be this extreme—”
“He made a police report on the East Coast to report you missing about a week ago,” Grant winced. “He has friends on the force, by the looks of it.”
“He reported me missing—”
“He said you stole from him and went on the run,” Dego said firmly, giving me a look that immediately had the fine, downy hairs on my arms standing on edge.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Pete asked with a significant bite in his voice.
“I didn’t steal anything from him,” I hissed. “I don’t understand—”
“He’s trying to set himself up to look like the victim here, Sierra. It’s not a matter ofifhe’s on his way to Hot Springs, butwhen. I expect him to reach town tonight.”
“And he’s going to come here to try to make himself look better in this situation?” Pete asked, choking on a laugh. “He’s not setting foot on my property—”
“Pete, this is the last thing that needs to happen before Sierra is officially free of these people and you two can move on,” Grant cut in. “I’m going to be here for it. I’ll make sure and record the conversion to play it back to him and use whatever he says against him if need be. A restraining order is one thing, but this man is out to try to save his reputation. We have enough dirt on him to make it hard to ever run for office again already, but this would be the nail in the coffin.”
“And then I’m done?” I asked.
The room went quiet all around me.
“You’re underestimating them,” I said. “No, they can’t drag me away. But they can make my life miserable from afar. They can do exactly what Jonah is trying to do by saying I stole something from him in order to try to get my attention and come back. They are going to haunt me for the rest of my fucking life. This is… I don’t want to deal with this anymore.” I turned to Pete. “I don’t want any of you have to deal with this. Grant, you shouldn’t be out running around in the middle of the night—”
“This is what we do for each other here, Sierra,” Grant interrupted. “Plus, if they try to make any moves, or spread any rumors here in town… Pete’s had his fair share of that already.”
I pursed my lips and stole a glance at Pete, who was red in the face with fury.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll keep my cool if that bastard comes here,” he snapped. “Him, or her mother.”
“What about my dad? Has he been seen at all?”
When Dego shook his head no, I could have sworn I felt a pinch of… grief. My dad hadn’t been a very present father, but compared to Mother I could describe him as somewhat loving.
“Who would be worse to run into?” Pete asked me over his shoulder. “Jonah, or your father?”
“That depends,” I breathed, a ghost of a smile brushing over my lips. “Are we going to announce you got me pregnant?”
To my surprise and great relief, Pete actually smiled. A real, broad smile that made his cheeks dimple.
“Oh, God. I cannot wait to see the look on Jonah’s face when I tell him I not only stole his woman, but got her pregnant and am about to put a new ring on her finger—”
Heat blossomed in my core at that feral look in his eyes, but Grant cleared his throat.
“Let’s get back on track, please,” he breathed. “Dego is leaving, like, now. He has a flight to catch, so it’ll just be us in this.”
“What exactly do you need us to do?” I asked.
Grant heaved a breath, tucking his hand in his pockets.
And then we made a plan to end this once and for all.
Grant was asleep on the couch when I finally tore myself from the kitchen and crawled into bed beside Pete, who was very much awake. I tucked the blankets over us, shivering a bit as Islid my cold feet down his warm legs. He flinched, wrapped his arms around me in a hungry embrace.
“We are not having sex with Grant sleeping right outside the door,” I hissed against his lips.
