Page 132 of Tender Heart
The book signing.
I grab his arm. “Let’s go. This tub is about to flip on us.”
He tugs his arm from mine. “You don’t touch me,” he hisses.
Holding my hands up in surrender, I grind out, “Whatever floats your boat.”
Should have stayed in bed and let him sink.
I start for the stairs, hoping if I leave he’ll follow. A few seconds later, frantic footsteps catch up to me.
“Right, ladies first,” I say, waving a hand toward the stairs as I glance back.
Something hard smacks into the back of my head. I stagger, grappling for purchase on the tilted innards of the living area. Fingers finding an open cupboard, I steady myself.
“The fuck,” I rasp, hand pressing against my throbbing skull. My fingers come away, blood covering my palm and running down my wrist. “The hell did you do?”
The gangly man closes in, his face twisted with hate. “She ismine, and I have waited for six fucking years. You will not touch herever again.”
“She—”
Evie.
“No,” I breathe.
Rushing him, I grab for his throat. Over my dead body is this deluded piece of shit going anywhere near Evie.
He dodges my advance. I slip on the watery floor, my head pounding.
“You lay a finger on her, get within a hundred yards of her, and I will fucking kill you,” I growl, but the last few words slur as my vision wobbles.
“No, you won’t.” He darts to the side.
A bat swings at my head, and I jolt sideways to avoid it. My feet lose purchase of the floor. My ass hits the water. The boat rocks to the side even further.
Fuck.
The guy rushes up the stairs, slamming the companionway door shut. A lock clunks on the other side.
I stagger to my feet, tripping up the stairs. I slam my fists into the door.
It doesn’t budge.
I roar, releasing every bit of grief I’ve ever accumulated in one agonizing sound.
Stars invade my vision as blood runs down my face and neck.
I pull on the door. Slam my shoulder into it.
Firefly roars from the idle I left her in beside the small boat.
She’s tied to this vessel.
“No, stop!” I holler at the pasty little fucker.
Smashing my fists against the door, I scream. Firefly’s engine growls louder. The whoosh and purr of her blades through the water below us sends a sick sensation right through my gut.
Panic settles to serene nothingness. Bile rises and burns.
