Page 39 of Protector

“Who?”

He barely got the word out before I hooked one hand on his wrist and the other around the back of his neck, slamming his torso over the top of his desk. “Wrong answer, Brendan.”

“Shit, what the hell is this about?” He squirms beneath my hold, huffing air over the papers on his desk, making them flutter. “You can’t just come in here and—”

“The fuck I can’t! Now shut up and listen to what I’m saying. Shay Cane. You know damn well who she is, and if you try to tell me again you don’t, I might just have to break your scrawny little neck.”

“Yeah, yeah, I knew her, barely. We hooked up one ni—”

I squeeze his neck harder, cutting his words off. “Hooked up? If that’s what you consider hooking up, then you and I are going to have a blast.”

“Okay, stop, please. What do you want?”

“What I want is for you to pay for what you did to Shay and for you to leave her the hell alone.”

Suddenly he stops squirming, strains his head to meet my eye. “What are you talking about? I haven’t seen her since that night.”

I scoff and lean down next to his face. “Bullshit.”

Then, I hear the faint sound of a toilet flush, followed by water turning on and off. I look past the desk to the other side of the room just in time to see another door, the knob turning, and a tiny little girl with bouncy brown curls coming out in jeans and a T-shirt with a rainbow on it.Shit.

“Daddy?” Her eyes go from Brendan to me and back to Brendan as I loosen my hold on him, and he sits up. Straightening his shirt, he gives her a small grin. “Tessa, honey, it’s okay. Go out front and draw me a picture, okay?”

The little girl, who couldn’t be more than four, walks slowly past us, her eyes bouncing to mine with a suspicious scowl that I admire. Of course, she deems this piece of trash worthy of her concern—she doesn’t know any better.

When she reaches the door, Brendan says, “Shut the door, please. And when I’m done talking to this man, we’ll get something to eat.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she says just before shutting the door behind her.

That was definitely the last thing I expected when I came here, but it doesn’t erase what he did to Shay, and it certainly doesn’t rule him out as a suspect.

We both stare at each other a moment—me still affected by this unexpected interruption and turn of events—before he raises his hands. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m sorry for what happened with Shay…”

I shake my head and fold my arms across my chest. “See, that’s the problem right there. ‘Whathappenedwith Shay’ is your weeny-ass way of removing yourself from the scenario.” I take a step closer and wait.

“Fine. I’m sorry for whatIdid to Shay. I was an arrogant idiot, and I regret my actions. As soon as my roommate walked in, I realized what I was doing. Kicked my ass good and well too. Honestly, my life has been downhill ever since.” He nods to the closed door. “Except for Tessa, that is.” Then he turns to me and stands. “But I swear I haven’t seen or talked to Shay since. Why would you think otherwise?”

I’m not convinced yet, so I don’t waver in my stance or my watchful eye on his every response. “Because some psycho has been sending her messages and harassing her.”

“And you thought that was me?” he says incredulously.

I simply lift a brow.

He slumps on the edge of his desk and sighs. “Look, you can investigate me however you need to to be convinced. I’m sure I’ll have alibis or whatever, but just so you know, after being disowned by my parents for my poor choices, I got my drug-addicted girlfriend pregnant, and after having our baby, she took off on me, left me with the baby.” He shakes his head. “So I’ve been a little freaking busy to be stalking anyone.”

I take that all in as I walk around to the other side of his desk. Then I take a seat in the chair, drape one ankle over my knee and wait for him to turn and face me. “Let’s say I believe you…which I’m not sure I do. That doesn’t excuse what you did to Shay and whether or not she presses charges is her business.” He starts to protest, and I lean forward, elbows resting on my knees, stopping his words. “So you’re looking at your judge and jury right here. I’m going to go ahead and set you up with some community service, expect you to go to some counseling, and probably make some donations to one of Shay’s favorite charities.”

“Are you freaking serious right now?” he says, collapsing in his chair. He swivels back and forth, his arms spread wide. “Does it look like I have any discretionary income? I’ve got a kid to take care of, for Christ’s sake.”

“Your problems are not my concern. Besides, you have plenty of time. You can volunteer your time until you have the funds.” I stand and give him a single nod—“I’ll be in touch”—before heading for the door.

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

Shay

Lying on the bed, I stare at the ceiling and resist the urge to grab my phone and post something on one of my accounts. It’s become such a habit for me, it’s almost hard not to—but no one is supposed to know I’m here. Of course, it wouldn’t take a ton of investigating to figure it out, especially since I’m not alone, and it’s not like Mom’s going to confiscate her friends’ phones.

The winery tour with my mom and three of her closest friends was just as I suspected: long, hot, and mostly boring conversations about being middle-aged women. The only time they grabbed my attention was when Cassie, my mom’s bestie since college, shared about her weekend romp in Paris last year with a famous actor she wouldn’t name. She only told us he’s been in movies with some serious A-Listers. So, of course, the others spent the whole afternoon trying to get her drunk and get the name out of her.

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