Page 48 of Strictly Forbidden

Taking two long strides, I had to pry her phone from her hand. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m not going with you. I can’t. I have a life here. I have my work, my house. My dog. You can’t take that away from me.” She tried to punch me, but I easily grabbed her arm.

“If this Zoe contacts the police, they won’t be able to help you. Trust me. They might even die in the process.”

“And you can help me?”

“Yeah, I will. But you have to follow my rules.”

She huffed. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Maybe so but I refuse to allow an innocent woman to die.”

“You are fucking insane! Get away from me.”

I was at my wits’ end and overreacted, wrapping my hand around her long, lovely neck. I shoved her against the edge of her desk, doing my best not to smash her phone. “You don’t seem to get it. So I’ll tell you this. I had no intention of interfering with your life again. It’s not in your best interest, but I was given no choice. See, I had a small army of visitors arrive at my nice, cozy cabin. Their mission? It wasn’t to kill me right on the spot but to force me to watch as they tortured you. Now, do you understand that I am not fucking around or lying to you?”

Her eyes were definitely open wide.

Seeing her in her sexy little PJs, I was already rock hard, which was about as inappropriate as could be but she had that kind of effect on me. “While I adore the way you’re dressed, you might want to change. Where we’re going is a little rough around the edges.” I finally let her go, taking a step back.

That allowed her to crack her hand across my face.

“How dare you put me in this position. You have no idea what I’ve been through or how difficult it was putting my life back together. I will hate you until the end of time. Get my laptop and the power cord.”

She stormed away from me, heading into the bedroom. Exhaling, I shoved the phone into my pocket, grabbing her computer. Maybe that would keep her calm.

Sadly, until I eradicated the enemy, which would take a little while, she would become my permanent guest.

Whether or not she agreed no longer mattered.

Mistakes.

Hell, yeah, I’d made my share in my life, but this had to be one of the biggest.

“Get in,” I told her, waiting as Max jumped in first. It had taken way too fucking long inside her house, and it felt as if a bomb was ticking down extra fast.

Noel obeyed, the dome light allowing me to fully see the extent of her anger and hatred. It was better for her to hate me. That might keep her alive. After slamming her door, I raced to the other side of the truck. By this point the rain was coming down sideways.

As soon as I started the engine, my gut told me to get the hell out of Dodge quickly. I threw the gear into reverse, driving way too fast in my effort to get out of her neighborhood as quickly as possible.

“Put your seatbelt on,” I told her.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.”

“Why do I have a feeling that doesn’t exist?”

She could have a good point. “Seatbelt. Things could get dicey.”

I was all the way down the street when I noticed headlights in the opposite direction. While there were very few homes on the street, that didn’t preclude that one of the neighbors was coming home from an evening out. However, I refused to be a fool, turning down a side street and cruising just far enough down the road I could still see clearly in the rearview mirror. I cut the lights but not the engine after pulling against the curb. Given the single streetlight, I had a clear shot of the make and model of the vehicle.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking to see if we were found.” My gut told me I’d been right. Not a moment too soon. How the fuck had I been this stupid?

She turned around facing the back window just in time to see a darker SUV driving by.

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