Jameson was stupid enough to laugh.

  Pepper refused to stop barking, the growls she issued displaying her fury.

  I don’t know how anything out of Jameson’s mouth could surprise me any longer. He believed he could own people by just snapping his fingers. It was too bad he’d hidden his rich and obnoxious actions for as long as he had. He’d sucked me in with his sweet gestures, gifts, and sensual texts over months. I’d bought it, the buzzard luring me in with fresh bait every time my instincts told me we weren’t getting along.

  Jameson was surprisingly agile for a man who’d been decked by a massive boulder. He advanced toward Shephard, stupid as always and I watched in a combination of amusement and continued anger as the mountain man turned hero gave three brutal punches to Jameson’s face and stomach.

  When he stood over Jameson, I was certain there would be additional bloodshed. Instead, Shephard hunkered down, using the weight of his body to crush Jameson’s chest.

  He wheezed and coughed, struggling to free himself all over again.

  Shephard took his time, glancing up at me then toward the moon. “You know. It occurred to me that you still are under the belief that Denise ever gave a damn about you. She doesn’t. Even if she did, it’s over. That’s because she belongs to me. Now, I’m going to offer you one last opportunity to get the fuck out of this city and this state and never return. And before you ask what will happen if you don’t, I’ll be happy to tell you.”

  Jameson was fuming, the bright light shining directly in his eyes. If I knew it wouldn’t come back to haunt me, I’d kick him while he was down. Right now, I just wanted him to get the hell out of my life permanently. I would ordinarily bristle when any man declared ownership, but the way Shephard did it was entirely different.

  My entire body was tingling.

  “Just let him go, Shephard. He will leave and never bother me again. He knows why.”

  Shephard tilted his head in my direction. The man could look right through you in a split second. He finally rose to his feet, keeping the gun handy as he moved by my side, but far enough away to allow me space.

  And control of the situation.

  He would ask what I meant later. I could see it in the limited reflection in his eyes.

  Jameson took his time getting up, rubbing his chest for a few seconds before slowly turning to face me. “I’m getting married. You act holier than thou about our past, Denise, but you forget I know you too well. I will do what’s necessary to keep you from attempting to destroy what never belonged to you. Keep that in mind. I know people.”

  “Go now. My trigger finger is itchy,” Shephard snarled.

  He knew I had the goods on him to do exactly what he feared. His grin was the same one he’d used after punching me in the face. It was one I’d never forget.

  On the flipside, Shephard was entirely different. The man oozed not only power but sex. Even now when I’d just been threatened. I found it ironic all I could think about was seeing myself through his eyes. He was pouring hot fudge all over me, prepared to lick off every drop. My body throbbed in a way it hadn’t before even with our rounds of extreme passion.

  He’d claimed ownership and I liked it.

  No, I loved it.

  I forced myself to look back at the jerk before I possibly made a fool of myself. “Now, get out of here. I am the law around here and will arrest you if you dare set foot on my property again.” He didn’t need to know the sheriff would have a coronary if I did that.

  “I’m warning you. I won’t let this drop until you give me what you owe me.” Jameson acted entirely different. He was on edge. His company’s stocks had all but tanked. He’d lost the respect of dozens of people and his father had even turned his back on him.

  In other words, the man could be considered dangerous. But enough to commit murder? I wasn’t certain.

  Shephard slapped his gun against his other hand, walking closer to the man.

  It took a few seconds, but slowly the bastard disappeared into the night. What surprised me almost as much as his sudden arrival was the fact I almost crumbled. He’d managed to rip a part of my confidence away.

  Shephard didn’t budge at first, but when he did, I could tell by the look on his face he remained furious. “Let’s get inside.”

  It wasn’t a request but a command that I followed. I was happy to. By the time I made it inside, I was weak in the knees, shaking like a leaf.

  “Oh, God.” My cry was muted, but full of anger.

  “You’re going to be okay,” Shephard insisted.

  “Pepper. He hurt you. I’m so sorry. I will never let him touch you again.” I dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms around my pup. There was no reason for tears—that would be giving in once again to the man’s horrible tyranny—but they streamed down my face anyway. That embarrassed me more than I wanted to admit to myself. I buried my head in Pepper’s neck, trying to keep the sound down.

  “Go. Sit down. I’ll grab drinks,” he said, his voice gentler than I’d heard before.

  I managed to get to my feet, checking to see if the door was locked. I moved to the window, unable to see the asshole. Somehow, I had a feeling I’d collapse if I didn’t sit down. Which I did.

  I seriously doubted a man like Shephard Fox could tolerate a weak woman. I was proven right when he re-entered the room, stopping only a few feet away from the couch. I’d sensed his presence seconds before as I always did when he was in close proximity.

  Maybe I expected him to say something, chastising me for being stupid or walking out in the middle of the night. But he didn’t. He placed the drink on the table in front of me and moved to the chair opposite. His silence was almost as unnerving as everything else had been.

  He also wasn’t the kind of man to ask questions, which I would ordinarily appreciate. Now? I wasn’t certain. It was almost as if I was all alone in a war I wasn’t certain I could win.

  When he did speak, it was so obvious he’d done a deep dive into my ex’s life that I was impressed instead of being pissed. He knew his way around information that Jameson’s family had tried hard to suppress.

  “Jameson Charles Reynolds. First-born son in a family with a lineage in Atlanta that goes back to the Civil War. They own half of the eastern seaboard in either commercial or residential land development. They are rich yet have several secrets lurking in their closets. That makes them highly dangerous. Your affair was expected to be shoved under a rug, something he was used to, since I hate to tell you, but you weren’t his first.”

  “Or his last. I was just the girl who recently accepted a position in Charlotte being charmed by an asshole. I didn’t know anyone and I don’t make friends easily. You figured that out.”

  He didn’t have any expression on his face. “Make no mistake, Denise. His threat shouldn’t be considered harmless. He is highly dangerous because he’s gotten away with murder before.”

  The news was as surprising if not more so than the fact the jerk had shown up. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean he killed a former roommate over a girl and Daddy managed to sweep it so far under the rug, the only mention of it is in deep, dark archives.”

  “That you found.”

  “I have my sources.”

  Pepper eased off the couch, immediately heading in Shephard’s direction. “Who are you really?”

  “Someone who knows a dangerous man when I see one. You’re going to come stay at my cabin for a few days until I make certain he’s out of town. I’m not risking your life for that prick.”

  “I… can’t do that.” Why was he offering? It wasn’t like I didn’t have weapons. He knew that.

  “Yes, you can.”

  “You’re a cocky son of a bitch, aren’t you? Used to getting your way.”

  “I’m not cocky, sweetheart. I’m confident.”

  “And I can take care of myself.”

  He leaned forward in his chair, locking eyes in such a way I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to. “You don’t seem to understand, Denise. I’m not offering you a place to stay. I’m telling you that you’re coming with me.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Shephard

  I was no fool. I’d checked and rechecked the rearview mirror as I was driving away from her home, certain the bastard would try to make good on his threats.

  He would at some point. I was as positive of that fact as I was the man was not worth the space he occupied.

  Scum.

  I’d dealt with the worst of humanity over the years, men who enjoyed torture and took pleasure in destroying all those around them. I didn’t have a second thought when taking the lives of those who had no regard for others. Whether it was from greed, entitlement, or it was simply that they were sick sadists, I pulled the trigger and happily went on with my life.

  Not with the bastard who’d abused the woman I cared for.

  The very one I’d acted as if I owned. Some men treated women as nothing more than possessions, pretty little things they could take out of a cage or off a shelf when it suited them. Jameson was one of those assholes. He’d been taught by his father and grandfather that he could have anything he wanted.

  I could have easily killed the man. I’d had my finger on the trigger, ready and eager to blow his brains out. I could try to say common decency had prevented me from doing the deed. Or perhaps the fear of imprisonment, but neither one was the case. The man continued to breathe because I’d become emotional in the moment.

  Not good for anyone.

  Including the tough but fragile Denise Parker. For all her bravado, when accepting the job in Charlotte, she’d left everything and everyone she knew in Maine. The distance kept her from driving home for a weekend, taking comfort or advice from her mother or sister, who remained there.

  He’d wooed her. I’d seen a couple of pictures that came out after the horrific scandal. I’d almost smashed the computer when noticing the look of contempt in his eyes as he held her elbow. I could only imagine how abusive he’d gotten. For her to up and leave a job I knew she’d adored meant the time she’d spent with him continued to give her nightmares.

  My rage burned deeper. I wanted him dead.

  I’d easily found out about her torrid affair with the creep. Initially discovering the nasty press items and the obvious attachment had irritated the fuck out of me. She’d been treated badly in the press and by the man’s family. She’d been called the most horrible names, her house vandalized because the Reynoldses had been so beloved in the city. My God, the fucking abuser was still considered a golden child, everyone looking the other way when he fucked up.

  And he had multiple times, Daddy or a politician always coming to his rescue.

  When I’d learned just how far the asshole would go to get what he wanted, I’d become livid. But he was in Charlotte and she was here. Running. Hiding. No longer living the life she wanted.

  Until tonight.

  I thought through my options, weighing them carefully. If she really had absconded with information that could ruin him, it could mean the end of Jameson’s reign. But if she was discovered as the one leaking it, her forward behavior could haunt her forever.

  Daunting but doable.

  Maybe.

  Denise wasn’t the kind of woman to let her guard down or to admit she needed someone in her corner. However, I had no intention of allowing her to continue thwarting my attempts to help. The jealousy I’d felt in the bar was nothing in comparison to the murderous need that continued to furrow inside my chest. Jameson Reynolds had pressed the wrong buttons. He’d invoked the kind of rage I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

  That wasn’t good for his health or well-being.

  I didn’t tell her that her ex had also been involved in a reckless driving situation where his passenger had died because of his carelessness. Or that payoffs more like extortion had been used to shove it under the rug. There was no need to go over the man’s life story, at least with her. He’d had a get out of jail free card. I’d read the single article where a reporter had dared comment on seeing bruises on her. Another issue that had been squelched, but I’d found it.

  Jameson was lucky to be alive.

  The truth was that I didn’t just crave this woman.

  I needed her.

  I needed to taste her on my lips, feel her tight pussy around my cock.

  I needed to lick every inch of her body until she issued the strangled moan I’d grown to love.

  But even more gut-wrenching was the fact I wanted to keep her locked away from the world, a prized gift that I could unwrap at the end of a long day.

  I wasn’t certain what that said about me, but she’d sparked something I long thought dead inside. The fact I didn’t do relationships or second dates ever seemed irrelevant at this point. We’d passed that stage. Not that I knew what to call what we were sharing. What I’d found more interesting than me asking her to come invade my private space was that she’d agreed after I’d made it a statement of fact.

  Not a single woman in my life had been inside a place where I’d lived. Not one. There was nothing to be embarrassed about since I didn’t own anything that was worthwhile. That didn’t change facts. She’d said nothing on the ride over to my house, but she hadn’t fought me either. I sensed she was deep in thought and insisted on taking her laptop with her.

  I’d seen the whiteboard. I’d asked her basic questions while reading the colorful notes. The woman had a true handle on the case. And it had sparked something else deep within me.

  I knew who was behind the murders. I also had put the pieces together of the very first call my father had made to me now ages ago.

  Three months.

  Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was right, but I was fairly certain a lure had been set in motion. I needed to get my hands on information about the bodies. The one we’d found on the mountain had been beaten pretty badly, no chance of checking the body for any identifying marks. If the murders were about revenge, I’d already put together a formulation of who could be next on the hit list.

  Why draw them here other than to set a final game in motion?

  I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and she glanced over, the darkness unable to hide her apprehension.

  “He won’t stop, you know. Jameson is up to something,” she offered.

  I pulled into my driveway, chuckling more darkly than I should given the situation. “Do you really have incriminating information on the man?”

  She didn’t hesitate or stutter. “Shit that could bring down his entire family and there would be no way to challenge what I have. No way to gloss it over.”

  “How did you get it?”

  Now she laughed. “The old-fashioned way. Stealing.”

  “My kind of girl.”

  She was supposed to be off the case. I’d known better. She was as tenacious as I was, maybe even more so. I liked that about her, but it was also the one thing that would keep her in hot water or worse.

  I knew when to stop.

  Except around her.

  “We will talk. I need to see what you have so I know how to handle the jerk,” I told her as I parked.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Shephard. The man has friends everywhere. That’s how I was found.”

  “There’s a reason he’s coming after you. A major deal or the girl he’s marrying is from a prominent family. Something else we should look at. It’s called leverage.”

  Her sigh was heavy and she threw open the door, Pepper immediately climbing over her to get out. “I don’t want anyone else hurt. Including you. I… I care about you.”

  She closed the door behind her, making certain I couldn’t say anything in retort to her comment. I sat back briefly, holding my breath.

  My entire world was about to change. The question was whether I could handle it or if I’d hurt her. Not a chance. I’d walk away first.

  My mind went straight to the gutter as soon as she walked into the cabin. The vision of licking her naked body all over was a powerful aphrodisiac and one I couldn’t seem to rid myself of. But as I’d been told more times than I could count, I was emotionally unavailable, which meant I didn’t know how to comfort her in the least.

  Whether or not she wanted to admit she was over the guy, she was living in turmoil and had been since fleeing Charlotte. And that’s exactly what had occurred. She’d been run out on a silver platter orchestrated by the Reynolds family.

  Here I was dripping with lust, imagining her naked body on that same silver platter and Denise was wringing her hands.

  “I heard all the residences owned by your mom and dad were gorgeous.” She seemed more nervous around me than she’d ever been. Maybe because this moment was real. I’d seen her frustration, her fear.

  And tears.

  The reality was I wasn’t sure how to handle it. “They did well for themselves. It shocked his children. Dad had always floundered.”

  “I heard the reason the resort hadn’t sold for years was that the previous owner wanted too much money. I guess your dad had investors?”

  “Supposedly.” I could tell it was her way of putting a spin on the good fortune. Meaning she also felt something was off with the entire situation. I’d found little on the investors at the office, which meant my father was keeping close tabs on information he didn’t want his children to discover. The three boys had walked into a land mine. I felt it.

  “Why did they ask you and your brothers to take over? From what I heard your parents seemed to enjoy the work.” She was clutching her laptop bag and the duffle where she’d shoved clothes as if I was going to steal them from her.

  No one learned about my private life, but I felt compelled to tell her the truth. Trust was vital right now. On both sides. “My father has stage four cancer with months to live. He made this offer more out of his bizarre desire to have his three sons stop the animosity between us.” I moved toward her, gently taking the items from her hands. While she allowed me to do so, her expression remained pained. The bastard has nearly sucked the life out of her.

  I wanted to kill him more now than I had before. I could have easily crushed his windpipe with my knee, a handy maneuver I’d learned a long time ago.