Page 49 of The Bourbon Bride

“I don’t care how much money your mama and daddy paid to keep your bad behavior quiet. I’m not a business deal and I won’t be a pawn in this farce.”

My voice trembles in rage and Cerberus takes a taut step closer to the unwanted visitor in front of us, his posture stiff and his shoulders bunched, ready to attack if I so much as breathe the word. Garrison doesn’t respond to my comment on his family paying off Mama.

“Not that simple, sugar. The deal is as good as done whether you accept it or not, so you might as well relax and enjoy the ride. I might even make it pleasurable for you if you’re good.”

I don’t know what kind of stupid he’s made of, but he tries to reach for me right over Cerberus’s head. The dog snarls, his ferocious bark loud and evil. His jaws snap at the hand before it can graze my skin and Garrison yanks it back.

“Cerberus, you’re a very good boy,” I say quietly.

The dog stops snarling but doesn’t look away from the potential threat in front of us. I look up.

“What kinds of commands do you think he knows? I haven’t tried them all out yet, but he’s a smart boy and he doesn’t like you any more than I do. You better start walking back to that car out there if you want to keep both of your hands.”

“I’m not leaving without you,” he says, anger and fear creating an irrational and scary gleam in his brown eyes.

“Everything okay, Paige?”

I turn at the sound of my name and give Hayes a grimace before it turns to appreciation. He’s shirtless and toweling sweat off his chest as he walks down the hallway. His perfection isn’t even marred by the bandage on his shoulder. He just looks more beautiful, and incredibly dangerous.

“I’ve got a visitor from Savannah set on seeing me home, thanks to my crazy mama’s scheming.”

He stops beside me and opens the door wider, taking in Garrison’s frozen form in front of a growling, slavering Cerberus, who takes a step closer to Garrison, edging him off the porch and onto the top step of the stairs.

“You’re on private property, boy.” His words snap with authority. “That dog doesn’t seem to want you here anymore than we do. I suggest you see yourself off it if you know what’s good for you.”

“I’m taking my girl with me if I’m going anywhere,” Garrison challenges, his chest puffing to extend like the paunch that hangs over his belt.

I scoff and take a step back, aligning with Hayes in the doorway. Garrison is cuckoo crazy if he thinks that’s going to fly.

Hayes shakes his head slowly. “She’s not now, nor has she ever been, your girl.” His voice is deadly quiet and lower than normal, reverberating with dangerous intent. “I should gut you just for showing up here after what you did to her all those years ago. It might actually teach you a lesson you’ve taken too long to learn.”

“You can’t touch me,” Garrison throws back, but his tone is much less convincing.

My eyes widen for Garrison, because this is not a side of Hayes he should be making angrier than he already is. I have seen Hayes in action now. I know what he’s capable of when threatened, and I highly doubt Garrison is ready for the punishment that would be doled out if he tried to touch me right now. Hayes might spring on him if he so much as looks at me wrong, for all I know.

“There’s a lot I can do and you’d still deserve worse. Leave, now.”

Garrison’s lip hitches up in his own snarl. “You’re just a bump in the road to our future together. She’s got a duty to her family and a role to play, just like I do. She’ll see it soon enough, if not today.”

Hayes steps forward, his anger palpable. “You’ve got some fucking nerve. I have enough dirt to put you away for years. The other inmates will treat you just like you’ve treated the girls who were paid off to stay quiet about your proclivities for date rape.”

Garrison’s face pales and he shifts nervously from one foot to the other. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he denies.

So much for being a lawyer. He isn’t convincing me of anything other than his own guilt. Still, my head swings to Hayes, wondering if it’s true.I wasn’t the only one?I look back at Garrison, really appraising him now.

“Go home while you still can, Garrison. Tell my mama I won’t be a part of this sham and she can write me out of her will for all I care.”

Hayes and Garrison break their staring contest to turn to me as I prop my hand on my hip.

“I’d rather be penniless and working a normal nine-to-five than accept any part of this godawful archaic clause to secure my own legacy.”

“You’re going to regret that, Paige,” Garrison says, dropping his attempt at wooing me with more smarmy Southern charm. “Say goodbye to everything you’ve ever known or wanted, because there’s no way in hell your mama and daddy will let this slide. You’ll never so much as step foot in The Mansion again for how you’re breaking your mama’s heart.”

“Don’t say another fucking word to her or I’ll rip your tongue out of your head and shove it up your ass.”

Hayes takes a step closer to Garrison on the porch, Cerberus right at his side, and I’m not sure which is more intimidating at the moment. I follow a step behind, a little scared that Hayes may really take the opportunity Garrison presents to fight. True, Garrison would deserve every punch Hayes lands, but I don’t think it’s the right move unless Garrison does something incredibly stupid. Given he showed up here today, it’s not unlikely.

“Oh, good, right on time,” Hayes says, looking over Garrison’s head as a police cruiser comes into view around a bend and rolls down the long driveway to the house. Cerberus snaps his jaws again and forces Garrison down, step by step, until he’s standing on the driveway.

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