Page 83 of Reckless Harmony

Fuck you, she thought hysterically as she ran toward the steps. Fucking asshole thought he could -

She screeched out a cry when her feet slipped on some ice, and she went down like a graceless deer. Her left elbow slammed into the hard ground, and she shouted a curse as pain shot up her arm. She rolled to her back, but before she could scramble to her feet, Louis dropped on her like a fucking bowling bowl, straddling her and grinning down at her.

She grunted and shoved at his chest, ignoring the pain in her elbow and arm. “Get the fuck off me, Louis.”

“All you had to do was give me my dog, but you just had to be a bitch about it, didn’t ya, Rayna?” Louis sneered.

“I said get the fuck off me!” she shouted before punching him in the gut.

His breath hissed out in a startled oof, and she heaved her body upward. Louis shouted in surprise, his body nearly tipping off of hers before he caught his balance and shoved her flat to the ground again. He snarled out a curse and slapped her hard across the face.

“I’m going to kill you, motherfucker!” Rayna screamed, hot anger flashing through her body.

“You stole my fucking dog!” Louis raised his hand again, this time balling it into a fist. Rayna cringed, but the blow never came. A thick arm wrapped around Louis’s throat, and he was dragged off her, kicking and sputtering.

She sat up, staring wide-eyed at Stark as he tightened his arm around Louis’s neck. His eyes blazing with anger and his face a hard mask, he squeezed tighter. Louis clawed at his arm, his body twisting and his face turning a dark red.

Rayna scrambled to her feet. “Stark, stop!”

He ignored her, squeezing even harder as drool slipped from Louis’s mouth, and his hands weakened around Stark’s arm.

Rayna yanked on Stark’s arm, but it was like trying to bend steel. “Stark, let him go. You’ll kill him!”

It was like he didn’t hear her, and his arm didn’t loosen one bit. Panic rushed through her, and she cupped Stark’s face, forcing his gaze to hers. “Isaac, please stop.”

He stared at her before his face twisted, and relief washed over her when he released Louis. Leaving Louis gasping and coughing in the snow at his feet, Stark pulled Rayna against him. He wore just a t-shirt and sweatpants, but the cold didn’t seem to affect him. He studied her cheek before rubbing his thumb over it. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said.

Keeping one arm wrapped around her, he pulled his phone from his pocket and called 911.

Stark leaned against the counter in Rayna’s kitchen. He studied Rayna, who sat at the table with a bag of frozen peas pressed against her elbow. Thick silence filled the room, broken only by the sound of Bea’s snoring from her bed in the corner.

Rayna glanced at him, her gaze immediately skittering away to land on the table. He didn’t blame her. Despite how hard he tried to contain it, the rage inside him was a living, pulsing thing, and he was confident his expression didn’t hide how angry he was.

He’d listened silently as Rayna told Sheriff Walker what happened with Louis Hapson, and that terrible rage had only intensified. He welcomed the anger. It was an easier emotion to deal with than the terror that had washed over him when he’d seen Louis on top of Rayna on the ground.

He took a deep breath, his hands clenching into fists. What would have happened to her if he hadn’t heard the screaming?

Sheriff Walker returned to the kitchen. He sat in the chair next to Rayna and gave her a reassuring smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” she said. “What did Louis say?”

The sheriff glanced at Stark. “He’s pretty drunk, but he wants to press charges against Mr. Stark.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rayna said.

“Unfortunately, no,” Gideon said. “I’ll toss him in a cell for tonight, let him sober up, but you know what Louis is like. I doubt being sober will change his mind.”

“He trespassed on my property and attacked me,” Rayna said. “Stark was saving my damn life.”

“I know,” Gideon said. “If you press charges, I can keep him in jail until -”

“When Louis sobers up tomorrow, tell that asshole I won’t press charges if he doesn’t press charges against Stark,” Rayna said.

“What? No,” Stark said. “Absolutely not.”

She glared at him before turning back to the sheriff. “Tell Louis if he presses charges against Stark, I’ll not only press charges for assault, but I’ll sue the fucking pants off of him. Tell him I won’t stop until I own everything he has, including his goddamn farm.”

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