Page 88 of When Lies Unfold

“Uh-huh.”

I soften my tone. “You gonna let go of that spoon?”

Her eyes drop to it like she’s just now realized it’s still in her hand. “Oh. Um, yeah.” She glances around for somewhere to put it, but I extend my palm. Once she relinquishes it, I tuck it inside my suit jacket pocket, my focus never veerin’ from her.

“Andro had no business layin’ a hand on you.”

When her shoulders stiffen, I wonder if she’s expectin’ me to give her shit over what she did. But all she says is, “I can handle myself.”

I let out a grunt. “Pretty obvious to everybody who was in that room just now.”

She lowers her focus to where the top two buttons at my throat are undone. Her words emerge carefully with a touch of remorse. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but?—”

With my fingers beneath her chin, I nudge it upward, forcin’ her to meet my gaze. Those big brown eyes are so fuckin’ earnest.

Maybe that’s what it is about her that draws me in. ’Cause I’m much more familiar with betrayal, shady shit, and people who talk out both sides of their mouths.

She hitches her chin in that obstinate way I’ve come to admire. “I suppose you’re planning to punish me now.”

“What?”

“You know…for what I did to Andro.”

I drop my hand from her and force myself to retreat a step. Feelin’ far too fuckin’ antsy for my likin’, I link my fingers atop my head.

My tone isn’t the least bit controlled, but I don’t give a shit right now. I’m irritated as fuck. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you just see me draw my weapon on my nephew?” I let a pause linger for a millisecond. “For the second time, I might add.”

“Yes.” Her dark brows draw together. “I saw that.”

Releasin’ my hands, I let them drop to my sides. “Then you know when I draw on somebody, I’m ready to pull that trigger.”

That crease between her brows grows deeper, and my fingers twitch with the urge to smooth it out. “But?—”

“No buts. Just facts.” At my interruption, her troubled expression intensifies. “He was tryin’ to hurt you again. And I’m not about to let anybody hurt you.”

She lets out a tiny laugh of disbelief. “Says the man who’s kept me hostage this whole time.”

I lean back against the wall and cross my arms. “Have I let anybody hurt you?”

She rolls those pretty eyes. “Not exactly, but?—”

“A simple yes or no will do.”

That fiery stubbornness sparks in her expression, and it’s a hell of a lot better than the shell-shocked one she had a moment ago. I welcome it with open fuckin’ arms. She grinds out a firm, “No.”

“And I hold true to my word.” I lower my chin while still maintainin’ eye contact, my tone filled with warnin’. “Unless you decide to fuck with me.”

Bold as fuck, she glares up at me. “I’m really tired of being constantly threatened.”

“That so?”

“Yes. That’s so,” she replies hotly. “I’ve had guns pointed at me multiple times as well as a knife, been assaulted by your nephew, endured a middle-of-the-night interrogation, been forced to fill in as a nanny, have my every move watched, and had to put up with the woman who warms your bed!”

Exasperation cloaks her voice, which rises incrementally as she tosses her hands in the air. “I never asked for any of this! All I want is to be left alone!”

Her chest heaves, and fuck if she’s not a sight to behold. Somethin’ stirs deep in the recesses of my chest, but it’s probably just the mix of my aggravation and fury with Andro.

Droppin’ my arms at my sides, I stretch my neck from side to side and flex my fingers. Our eyes hold while the air sparks with a different sort of tension. “You really want me to leave you alone?”

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