Page 347 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

Revealing a pained look, Dominic sighed. Then his eyes took on a hard light as if he’d accepted her challenge. “Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” she whispered.

He cupped her face and kissed her deeply.

When he drew back, she watched resolution settle on his face. “You mentioned a controlled environment. We’ll set the trap in my barn. I have rope, tools, and I can wait in the shadows until the moment he strikes.”

“I have an idea…”

After she shared her thoughts about creating the lure, he nodded.

“That’s solid, sweetheart. This had better work,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

Determined, she threw her shoulders back. “I’m ready to take back my life so I can share my future with you.”

His face softened with a glow of unspoken emotion. “I’ll take those odds. Any day. You ready to do this…together?”

She tucked the tracker pen into her coat pocket. “Ready.”

* * *

On silent feet Dominic crept out to his barn.

He hated the unknown.

He’d spent his life guarding against them, creating outcomes where action met certainty. And he’d never forgive himself if anything happened to Lara.

Then make sure you’re ready so this doesn’t go sideways.

Maneuvering within the shadows, he used muscle memory, instinct, and the light of the moon to guide his movements.

He gathered convenient weapons throughout the barn. Rope. Car chains. Tools that would inflict serious damage he’d hidden beneath tufts of straw. He rigged two heavy hay bales above the partially open front entrance. Then he balanced a bucket of cast-off bolts, nails, and sharp metal parts above the slight gap in the side door.

He attached a piece of rope to the bucket handle, allowing for some slack as he headed to a dark corner, blending into the shadows as he lay in wait.

The sound of Lara’s beautiful voice carried from his front porch. She spoke in frustrated tones, holding a pretend conversation on her phone. She yelled at her invisible listener. She gave an angsty shout of frustration. Then she slammed the front door of his house.

She sounded damned convincing.

Her stalker must’ve thought so, too, because in less than a minute, footsteps came crunching down his gravel driveway.

A moment later, the back door of his house burst open with a loud smack and then Lara pounded down the steps, heading toward the barn.

“Why won’t anyone believe me?” Her frustrated words let Dominic know exactly where she was.

The sound of the intruder’s creeping footsteps paused.

“It’s not like I made this up!” she shouted to the trees. “I’m not some drama queen with nothing better to do than tell the cops I’m being targeted.”

She let out a loud groan of frustration.

Pacing toward the barn, she announced, “Even Dominic thinks I’m overreacting. Fine. I’ll sleep in his stupid barn. At least there I’ll find some peace from all these accusations.”

Her slim form slipped into the narrow opening between the barn’s large double doors.

The hay bales swayed precariously. Dominic held his breath—but they didn’t collapse.

Once inside, she darted to the pitch-dark corner where they’d agreed she would hide.

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