Page 167 of The Woman By the Lake

She was getting heated…again.

“Not sure why you’re here telling me this crap,” Riggs returned.

She leaned into him and shouted, “Because I’m your son’s mother!”

Riggs sighed, too mellow from weed and Nadia and firelight to bite, and he repeated, “Go home, Angelica.”

“You’re not invited, means you’re trespassing,” Murphy put in.

Harry let her go, but moved to put himself between Angelica, Storm and Riggs.

Murphy moved up to his side, Easton to his other, and Jaeger was approaching.

“He’s right. You need to be smart, Angie,” Harry suggested calmly.

Arm straight, she pointed Riggs and Storm’s way, and yelled, “They get off, there’s consequences,”—she jerked her thumb to herself—“and I’m the bad guy?”

“Didn’t happen exactly that way, woman,” Easton growled. “And you fuckin’ know that shit.” He left his killshot for last. “You should change your name to Audrey.”

Oh yeah.

Word had gotten around.

At raising the name of a woman who was well-known in those parts as having been single-minded in her determination to find a man, no matter the costs (and the costs turned out to be extreme), Angelica’s mouth dropped open in offense.

She closed it, but immediately reopened it to say something, but someone behind him, a woman, he thought it was Lynne, hissed, “Sss.”

“Sss,” one of the other women joined in.

“Sss,” more joined.

And they were moving, still hissing, closing in on Angelica.

Easton stepped back to give them room, Murphy did too, but Harry stood his ground. Rus shifted to his side, shielding Riggs and Storm even as Angelica started shuffling backward.

Harry finally pushed through the women, approached her, and they stopped hissing when he offered, “I’ll walk you to the car.”

“I can walk to my own fuckin’ car, Harry.”

“It’s late, it’s dark, and I can walk you to it, or I can follow you and make sure you get to it safely,” Harry returned. “Half a dozen and six to me.”

Angelica glowered at him, aimed this at Riggs and Storm, then she turned and stormed off.

Harry cocked his head side to side before he followed her.

Christ, Riggs didn’t know how he faced it, day in and day out. Couldn’t even kick back on a Saturday night with his buds without having to take care of business. His friend had the worst job in the world.

Rus moved to shadow Harry.

“Don’t let her break the mood, man,” Easton called to Riggs. “It’s a good night. Let’s just get back to it.”

Riggs nodded to him but looked at Storm.

“Your lawyer contact her?” he asked.

“Yup,” Storm answered. “I told him not to mess around. Probably should have given you that heads-up. Sorry about that.”

“We gotta share every time she fucks with us, or forces us to fuck with her, I’d have to let you and Viggo move in so I don’t have to bother hitting your name on my screen every five minutes.”

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