Page 70 of Elling & Jackie

"Knock it...?" Stassi dropped to her feet and stumbled backward. "Have you lost your mind?"

Not trusting her sister to attack Elling again, she grabbed Stassi's hand and squeezed. Growing up with older brothers and a dad who worried about them, they'd both learned how to fight, and fight dirty, but they couldn't take down a man the size of a house.

"Who is he?" Stassi tugged against her hold until Jackie let go. "He's wearing Slag colors."

"He's...he was a guest at the hotel." She glared at Elling, hoping to scare him into keeping his mouth shut in front of Stassi.

"I need to talk to your sister." Elling directed his attention to Stassi. "Then, I'll leave."

"How do you know she's my sister?" snapped Jackie.

His mouth firmed into a straight line, and his eyes turned glacier. "We can talk here, or you can take a ride with me."

"Jackie, don't you dare leave with him," said Stassi, grabbing for her arm that time.

Glancing between the two of them, Jackie could see no way out. If Elling left without talking to her, Stassi would still demand answers from her.

She looked back at Elling. If he thought she owed him two minutes of her time, he was crazy.

"Talk, because I have to go to work." She crossed her arms.

"In front of your sister?"

She blinked, closing her eyes an extra second, and shook her head. "I don't care anymore."

His gaze narrowed. She stared him down. He'd broken her trust.

She would get over falling in love with him. The man she chose to love would never betray her or use her. He couldn't hurt her any more than he already had.

His actions toward her personally only made her mad at herself. But, nobody messed with her family.

"I can't do that," he said.

Needing him out of her room, so she could get ready for work, she turned to Stassi. "Can you give us a few?"

"No." Stassi glared at Elling. "He's a Slag."

"I know." She forced her sister to look at her, pleading with her to trust her. "Please?"

"Chief's going to kill you and then me for letting him be here," she muttered.

"Then, we'll die together." She shook Stassi's shoulder. "I need to get ready for work. This won't take very long at all. I'll yell if I need you."

Stassi shot another dirty look at Elling and walked into the bedroom. Jackie noticed her sister hadn't shut the door.

"Make it quick." She crossed her arms again. "I have no doubt my sister is getting the pistol that is always in her bag and will shoot you."

"What's with the attitude?" he asked softly.

She gawked at him. "Seriously?"

"You're mad because I took off without saying anything, but it was necessary." He kept his voice low, she needed to concentrate on hearing him. "You should understand that, being raised within Brikken."

She shook her head. "You're messed up. This has nothing to do with how you treated me—you are nothing to me. You tipped off the Feds to come after Brikken. For that, I might let my sister shoot you right in the heart. Oh, wait—you don't have a heart. Now, get out."

Elling rocked back on the heels of his boots. "Jacqueline, you're wrong."

She closed him off. Half turning, she said, "Get out."

Her body vibrated. Twenty-four hours ago, he was inside her body, making her feel like the most special woman in the world. Filling her with hope that she could spend more time with him, indulging their need to keep things only between them.

She turned to tell him to leave again and found him gone. The door open.

Swallowing hard, she blinked the tears blurring her vision. "Innocent my ass," she mumbled.

She had to get to work. Stassi would have to wait until she got off later tonight for an explanation of what just happened.

In the meantime, she needed to calm down and think.

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