Page 18 of Swallow Your Fear
I had half a mind not to go back through the door, but then the bull of a man grabbed Doug by the collar of his shirt, lifting him out of his seat. “I said where the fuck is she?!”
McKenna tried to grab my arm, knowing damn well that announcing I was here wouldn’t end well, but I had no choice. The man seemed like he would tear this place apart brick by brick until he found me.
I shoved through the door, evading her grasp, and said, “Right here.”
The man was a lot more intimidating on this side of the window, and I instantly regretted my decision. There was no going back now. Not as he tossed Doug aside like a piece of meat, then jumped over the counter, closing in on me. I didn’t move. If I did, I’d look scared, but quite frankly, I was fucking petrified.
His unsettling gaze roamed over my body,head to toe, before his face was in mine. He had a good foot and a half on me at least, but he crouched, which somehow made him all the more intimidating. That, and his bald head and full beard.
“Where’d your little boyfriend run off to, skank?”
The insult made me want to coil in on myself.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
But bull man didn’t give a shit. He grabbed my shirt in both fists, shoving me back so that the edge of the counter dug into my lower back. The awkward angle in which he held me hurt like hell, but again, I refused to show it.
“You want to keep lying now?”
McKenna moved like she wanted to step in, but he’d just toss her aside like he did Doug, and I didn’t want my best friend getting hurt because of this pig. Subtle enough so he wouldn’t see, I sent her a slight hand gesture to stay put.
“I’m not lying. If he isn’t at his house, then I have no clue where he is.”
His fists tightened, his jaw clenching. “Don’t play the little innocent act. I see right the fuck through it.”
“Then you must need your eyes checked, because there’s nothing to see through.”
I probably shouldn’t have said that, because next thing I knew, my body was shoved harder against the counter, pain surging up my back.
“Next time, you better know where he is. Otherwise, I’ll take you as his payment.”
He dropped me to the ground, my feet hitting the linoleum with a thud. Rather than jumping back over like before, he walked around the bar, leaving the diner.
McKenna was next to me in an instant, her hand on my arm. “Who the fuck was that?”
One of my hands rubbed at my chest, the other on my lower back. “No idea, and I don’t care to find out.”
Her fingers shook slightly, and I felt terrible for it. “What if he comes back?”
“He won’t,” I said. “And if he does, he’ll figure out soon enough that I have no information to give him.”
But he’d given me intel he didn’t know I benefited from.
The couple from the booth had darted out as soon as the man jumped the counter, but Doug remained, staring at us from where he stood. “You ladies alright?”
I nodded. “Fine. Thanks, Doug. Sorry he took things out on you.”
He waved me off, grabbing his newspaper and folding it into a neat rectangle. “It takes a lot more than that to rattle me. But whatever he wants, he’s motivated. I’d be careful if I was the two of you.”
With a swallow, I said, “We will.”
At least, as best we could.
Booker, Henley, and Austin were nowhere to be found when I’d gotten back to the ranch after my shift, so I’d headed upstairs, hiding away in my room. I was fully content with spending the rest of the night in this bed. The mattress was softer than any other I’d slept in before, the comforter like a giant cloud against the lingering pain in my lower back. There was no better way to be wrapped than inthe comfort of these blankets, and I hoped like hell none of them would check on me. Not that they would, anyway. I meant nothing to them. I was here for one purpose, and that was to get them their deed back. The information I now had could wait until tomorrow when I wasn’t so shaken up.
I hated even thinking the words, knowing that I’d let that guy get to me. Rattling me was his every intention, and he’d been successful. Giving him that satisfaction, even if he didn’t know it right now, filled me with disappointment and rage. Both feelings were aimed towards myself—knowing that I was so weak for letting my mind dwell on what happened for this long.
With the white comforter pulled up to my chin and my head buried in a pillow, I heard the door softly open. If the house hadn’t already been silent, I wouldn’t have known, but who stood in the entry to the room was all too obvious as Booker’s presence filled the space.
