Page 28 of The Mountain Man's Untamed Bride
"Fun wilderness fact," I continued. "I can make your body disappear and feed you to bears before anyone knows you're missing."
His eyes darted toward the door, calculating escape routes. The confidence began to crack.
"You're threatening me," he said, voice rising. "That's assault."
"No," I corrected. "This is assault."
I moved faster than he could process, closing the distance between us. One hand broke his grip on Scarlett's arm while the other executed a pressure point hold on his wrist that had him gasping in pain. I spun him, using his own momentum against him, and had him face-down on the floor with his arm twisted behind his back before he could even shout.
"Scarlett," I said calmly, "the landline is on the kitchen counter. Call Mabel at the general store. Tell her to get the sheriff out here for a break-in and assault."
She nodded, backing away toward the kitchen, rubbing her arm where angry red marks were already forming.
"You can't do this," Langley wheezed beneath me, struggling ineffectively. "Do you know who my father is? The connections I have?"
"Out here?" I applied slightly more pressure, making him yelp. "Your connections mean less than bear scat. And I'd love to explain to the sheriff how you broke into private property to enforce your 'engagement' to a woman who clearly wants nothing to do with you."
Fifteen excruciatingly long minutes later, the sheriff's cruiser pulled up outside. The aging lawman took one look at the situation, sighed deeply, and pulled out his notepad.
"Another city slicker causing trouble, Wilder?" he asked, eyeing Langley with the weary resignation of someone who'd seen too many tourists create problems.
"Breaking and entering, assault, and threats," I confirmed, finally releasing Langley but staying close enough to intervene if necessary. "And possibly stalking across state lines."
Langley immediately launched into a tirade about his rights, his family's importance, and how Scarlett was having a breakdown and needed to return to her family. The sheriff listened impassively, then held up a hand.
"Son, I don't care if your daddy is the President. You broke down a door on private property and put hands on a woman who doesn't want your attention. That's enough for me to take you in while we sort this out."
After taking statements and photographs of Scarlett's bruised arm and the broken door, the sheriff led a handcuffed and still-protesting Langley to his cruiser.
"I'll need you both to come in tomorrow to make formal statements," he told us. "And Miss Montgomery, might want to call your folks, let them know what's happened here. Seemsthere's been some miscommunication about your whereabouts and intentions."
When the cruiser disappeared down the mountain road, the silence felt oppressive. Scarlett stood in the center of the living room, arms wrapped around herself, looking smaller and more vulnerable than I'd seen her.
"You okay?" I asked, keeping my distance despite wanting to pull her into my arms.
She nodded, then shook her head, then let out a strangled laugh that sounded dangerously close to a sob. "I'm sorry I brought this to your door."
"Don't," I said firmly. "None of this is your fault."
"You don't understand," she whispered, sinking onto the couch. "I didn't tell you everything about what was happening with my family."
I sat beside her, leaving space between us. "I'm listening."
"My father's church had financial trouble last year—a scandal involving misappropriated funds," she explained, her voice hollow. "Langley's father bailed them out, but it came with strings attached. The biggest one being me." She looked up, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "I knew about the arranged marriage part, but I didn't know they'd go this far. That talk about a 'wellness center'—I think he was serious."
"He's not taking you anywhere," I assured her. "Not without going through me first."
"Why are you helping me?" she asked suddenly, those green eyes searching my face. "I've brought nothing but trouble since I arrived."
"That's not all you've brought," I said.
"What else?"
I struggled for words, not my strongest skill at the best of times. "Life. Before you came, I was just... existing. Going through motions. You brought chaos, yes, but also..."
"Also?" she prompted when I trailed off.
"Light," I finally managed. "You brought light back to a place that had been dark too long."
