Page 44 of Snow in Texas

“Colin,” Jenny said, voice strained. Like she was trying to warn him away.

Fuck that.

“Step away, Agent Riley.”

Face red and furious, the agent shoved Jenny loose, hands balling into fists as he turned fully toward Colin. “You just made a huge goddamn mistake–”

Colin inhaled, inflated his chest, and took one giant step toward the man, leading with the gun.

Riley’s teeth clicked shut.

“Explain yourself,” Colin said, “and do it quick. I’ve got an itchy trigger finger, and we’ve got no witnesses.”

The agent’s jaw set. He fumed, in a visual way, hands grasping. But he said, “I have every right to question Miss Snow about her brother and his club.”

Colin flashed him a nasty grin. “Nah. You don’t. Get gone.” He gestured with the gun. “Go.”

Nothing happened.

“One,” Colin said. “Two…”

With a growl, Riley took off, charging around the side of the building.

Colin followed him with the gun’s muzzle. Waited for him to change his mind, to return, to come back with his own gun…

“Oh God,” Jenny whispered. “Colin…”

He moved before he was aware of it, caught her against his chest, one arm banded around her. “Baby,” he said, dropping his face into her hair, breathing the heady scent of her shampoo as his eyes lingered at the corner of the building.

Her arms stole around him and squeezed tight. She shook all over.

His grip tightened on her. He wanted to wrap around her, enfold her. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’re okay.”

~*~

Jenny

Her hand shook as she raised the glass to her lips. Whatever. She took a long slug of wine and the glass rattled again, as she set it on the bar top.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Candy asked.

Colin answered him: “I wish I was. He said he had business with her.” His dark, gorgeous gaze turned on her. “Any ideas?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“He was gonna drag her off to some precinct and try and grill her about us,” Candy said with a snarl.

“Okay, say that’s true,” Colin said. “Why do that now? Couldn’t he have come after you guys whenever he wanted to?”

“Yeah, but he isn’t driving this. His brother is.”

Jenny closed her eyes and tuned them out. She didn’t need to hear the explanation; it was an all-too-familiar nightmare coming to fruition. Jud Riley wasn’t the sort of man to forgive a slight, and what Candy had done to him went leagues beyond that. For revenge and bloodlust alone, he would want to attack the Dogs, and first he would regather his scattered posse of idiots – check – and then use his dirty cop brother in any capacity he could – double check.

“Jen,” Candy said, and she shook her head, opened her eyes.

“What?”

Both men were looking at her with open worry, their expressions different shades of concern, Colin a little more hostile.

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