Page 16 of Vicious Sabotage

Jerking his head, he followed her gaze. She pulled her arm from his grasp and started toward the closet for a broom to start cleaning up.

His tough fingers bit into her flesh as he grabbed her again. “Don’t move. Let me check out the rest of the bar first.”

She nodded, feeling more unsteady than she let on. It wasn’t the first time a pissed-off customer had broken into Badlands and unleashed their anger over being thrown out. Back in the day, her father had endured the same thing several times before he figured out who was responsible and handed over the matter to the cops.

But the last thing she needed was for the police to get involved. They’d ask to pull her security footage—and there was a small clip of her shooting a man out back.

Wolfe appeared at her side. He slipped the weapon into the waist of his jeans, along that glorious spine of his.

“You don’t look shocked that somebody broke in and smashed up your bar.”

She shook her head. “It’s not unusual. This is why I have cameras.”

“I’ll check the footage.”

“Not without the password.”

“Then add me to the account.”

She shook her head. “You’re already too involved. Call your friends to take you back to the Gracey Ranch. I’ll get busy cleaning up. We open at lunch, but if I start here with the bar, I can get it clean enough—”

He reached up and cupped her jaw in his palm, forcing her to focus on him. She jerked at his touch, but he refused to let her go. Under his strong hand, she felt delicate. He could easily break her with a mere flick of his hand if he wanted to.

But he wouldn’t do that. Wolfe was here to protect her, even if she didn’t want him to.

“I need that footage.”

“You’re not getting my password.”

They glared into each other’s eyes for a long heartbeat. Then he released her and began prowling around the room, boots crunching on broken glass.

With shaky hands, she pulled up the security app on her phone to check the camera footage.

“Hold up, Livia. Don’t bother checking that footage.”

She looked up from her phone. “Why not?”

He stared up at the camera mounted high on the wall. “The cameras have been tampered with—someone spray-painted over them.”

* * * * *

Livia didn’t seem surprised that her cameras had been painted over. As if this happened all the time. If this was a regular occurrence, Eden was a more fucked-up town than Carver originally guessed.

“Livia.”

She swung her stare to his. Her sapphire-blue eyes were dry without a tear in sight.

Tough cookie.

One with a soft, gooey filling if he was right about her.

He waved toward the smashed bottles. “I can’t imagine a scenario where a drunk I tossed out took a tantrum and vandalized Badlands. There has to be more to it. Damage like this doesn’t come from a drunk, belligerent customer.”

She compressed her full lips, and that dimple popped in her cheek.

He slowly closed the gap between them, purposely invading her personal space. First, because it would force the truth out of her.

And second, because he couldn’t stop this urge inside him to stay close to her.

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