Page 17 of Reclaim (Deadly Hearts 3)

“Oh, really,” I drawl. “Not one to blow your trumpet?”

“Not one to blow my own anything,” he says in a sexy tone that hits me in the stomach.

“Stop that,” I warn him. “You won’t like the outcome if you pursue me.”

“Who do I have to fight to get to you?” he asks and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was being serious. There again…I don’t know better. I don’t know him from…err…Adam. I groan inwardly at my own bad pun.

“Two scarily huge guys, a man who can shoot you from a mile away and not miss, his twin who is part of the Irish mob and a man who can disable your entire operation with just his iPad,” I say.

“Hm, give a fella pause, why don’t you,” he murmurs, but looks about as nonplussed as only a true badass can.

“That’s the point,” I murmur and then take a step back when the door bursts open and Tiff strolls in, pointing a gun at me that she clearly has no idea how to use.

“I’m not going back,” she growls, waving the weapon in my face. “And you aren’t swanning in here and taking Adam, either.”

I stick my hands up midway to show her I’m unarmed, as it were, and no threat to her. “I’m not taking you anywhere,” I say carefully. “And I have no interest in Adam,” I add with a sidelong glance at him. He rolls his eyes.

He wasn’t joking. She is seriously deluded.

“I’m not stupid,” she spits out. “I know you’ve come from Vinnie’s. You’re wearing my fucking clothes!”

“I am. Yes, he sent me here to retrieve you…but…!” I say loudly when she advances on me, “Adam has explained the situation and I’m not taking you back to Vinnie. Okay? You’re safe.” I take a step forward and snatch the gun out of her hand before she even knows I’ve moved. I hand it to Adam, who disarms it instantly. “You shouldn’t play with guns,” I state. “Especially when you don’t know how to use one.”

She sulks and folds her arms over her chest.

“Get back to the house,” Adam says. “And stay there this time.”

She turns and does as she’s asked, sloping off with her tail between her legs, but at least she isn’t a problem I have to deal with anymore.

Facing Adam, I say, “We’ll swing by Solitaire, see what the situation is over there and then head back into Manchester. I want to surprise Vinnie and make sure he knows he fucked with the wrong woman. Whatever the consequences of that are…I will have to face.”

I am done being beholden to anyone else. My game, my rules. Everyone else can fuck right off because I’m angry and sick of being used. I grab my coat and put it back on, ignoring the niggle at the back of my neck. I march out of the offices and across the garden, fully expecting Adam to keep up the pace, or be left behind on his own turf.

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