Page 36 of Brutal Ice

“I’m going outside.”

Going outside…with his gun. Showing no fear at all while she was biting her lower lip so hard that she worried she might draw blood at any moment. He’d shielded her right before that window had shattered. Covered her with his warmth and strength. But now he’d pulled away and he was just rushing right outside like it was nothing.

While I’m trembling like a victim. Because that was what the freak had made her. “Be careful,” she ordered.

“Always.”

Then he was gone. He’d slipped out the front door with his gun drawn. The alarms were still blaring, and she had to move. She whirled and rushed for the kitchen. Distantly, she was aware of the car alarm stopping.

Violet grabbed for the knife block on her countertop and hauled out the butcher knife. Her sweaty palm closed around the handle even as a picture of a dead victim from Royal’s file flashed through her mind. Violet’s grip tightened on the knife.

The house alarm was driving her crazy. She rushed back through the dark and disengaged the alarm. The sudden silence sent unease racing through her. And she knew that she couldn’t stay in that house any longer. What if this had been some divide and conquer technique? What if the attacker had circled around the back and he was coming for her while Royal was outside? Or, what if, heaven forbid, something had happened to Royal? What if he’d been lured outside and attacked? Killed?

Even as fear rose to choke Violet, her lights flashed on.

Violet blinked. Royal stood in the doorway. He’d come back inside, shut the front door behind him, and hit the light switch. Now he looked at her. Then the knife. One brow arched. “What are planning to do with that, sweetheart?”

Honestly? “Whatever needs doing.”

He smiled at her. “That’s what I like to hear.” He tucked the gun in the waistband of his pants and closed the distance between them. “Awfully sharp. How about we just…” He reached for the handle of the knife. His fingers curled around hers.

Heated awareness pulsed through her.

Wrong time. So wrong.

But he felt right.

“Don’t want you cutting yourself. Or me.” He tugged the knife from her grip. “Also don’t want the cops bursting in and finding you brandishing a knife. They’ll be here soon, you know. The alarm will send them charging over. We need to get our story straight.”

“Did you see someone outside?”

His jaw hardened. “I saw that some asshole had thrown a giant rock or brick or some shit like that through the windshield of my car.”

She sucked in a breath.

“Then the same asshole threw another rock through your window. I can only surmise that the prick in question doesn’t like me being here with you.”

Someone had been watching the house. Watching me. Her racing heartbeat shook her chest. “Do you think it was the man who took me?”

“Do you have other enemies I should know about?”

“No.”

“Then, sure, let’s go with the idea that the sonofabitch came back tonight. In order to be here tonight, he would have needed to know that you moved out of your brother’s place. That means he was watching you. Monitoring you.”

Her stomach knotted.

“But then when he came here for you, you weren’t alone.”

I am so glad that Royal was with me.

“You won’t be alone again. He just realized that I am going to be one very serious problem for him. In order to get to you, he’ll have to go through me.”

She could not look away from him.

“I’d had guards on you, but since I was staying here, I texted and gave them the night off. Dumbass move on my part. Just didn’t expect the attack so soon.” Rage drifted beneath his words. “Next time, be sure that I will have extra eyes outside.”

Eyes that could catch the attacker.

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