Page 140 of The Christmas Wife

He nods. "Seeing you fall apart?—"

"I didn’t fall apart—" I snarl.

"—then give in, for the first time in my living memory, showed me, you have a human side. You’re not as obnoxious as you come across."

The headache between my temples intensifies. Should I even bother to make sense of what is happening around here?

Arpad saunters in. "What are you still doing here?" He asks.

"That was my next question," Damian chuckles.

"I don’t care either way, by the way," Liam drawls.

I glower. He steps back, then brushes his sleeve, as if to rid himself of all trace of contact. Wanker. Hold on… That’s what I was…or had been… Then she’d swept in, and damn, if all those carefully built walls hadn’t come collapsing around me like confetti. Did I just think confetti? Does that word even exist in my vocabulary?

Liam turns to leave, then shoots me a look over his shoulder.

"Oh, and Mother said to invite her over when you see her." He stalks off.

"When am I going to see who?" I glower.

"You gonna enlighten him?" Damian smirks.

"Nah, it’s inevitable. It’s more fun to watch him fight it." Arpad leans his hip against the bar.

Damian glances at me, "Tick-tock, ol’ chap."

The blood drains from my face. I stumble, then right myself.

"Fuck." Damian leans forward to grab my shoulder, "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that. Of all people, I should have remembered about your triggers."

"Fuck that," I growl. "The Mafia; they broke into her bakery."

"When?" Damian straightens.

"She mentioned it to me, when we first met."

"But you weren’t connected with her?—"

"They’d have seen her at Sinclair’s, then at Saint’s wedding." I squeeze the bridge of my nose. "If they have been watching us?—"

"They may have followed her to the cabin—" Arpad mutters.

"Which was broken into." My heart begins to race. "Fuck. And I let her leave. She’s home, alone. If something happens to her..."

"It won’t."

"By now, they must realize she means something to me. I brought her to meet my family, after all." Fuck. I’d put her in the path of danger.

"The cops—" Arpad ventures.

"We can’t trust them," I growl. "We know they are connected with the Mafia. One leak and—" I don’t voice my fears. "Besides, no way am I waiting around here. I need to make sure she is safe."

I stalk past them, toward the door.

"I have to go to her."

"Hold on," Damian calls after me, "You're not planning on driving, are you?"

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