“Lincoln’s?”

“When he was holdin’ your hand.”

Oh.

That.

“We were having a moment.”

Hank’s control slipped and his eyes went hard.

I watched, scared and fascinated at the same time.

“And when he was touchin’ your ear?” he asked.

Mmm, there was that too.

“We were having another moment,” I answered.

Hank’s control slipped more and his entire face went hard. Then he looked to the bartender as he slid off the barstool

“Watch this,” he ordered the bartender, motioning with his head to our stuff on the bar. My purse and phone were sitting there as was our food.

The bartender looked at the gun and badge on Hank’s belt and nodded.

Then Hank grabbed my hand and pul ed me off the barstool.

“Hey!” I snapped but he dragged me out, around the corner and down the side of the building. Al the while I tried to pul free. Al the while I failed.

Then he pushed me up against the side of the building and I saw I was wrong about Hank’s control slipping. One look at him and I realized Hank’s control was gone.

Any smart girl would have kept her mouth shut. I was not a smart girl. It was an established fact, especial y recently, that I was an idiot.

“I cannot believe you just dragged me out of the restaurant,” I hissed.

Hank got close. “Remember when I told you that you bein’ my woman meant I protected you and kept you safe?”

“Yes,” I was stil hissing.

“Wel , this time, that comes in the form of me tel in’ you what to do and what you’re not gonna do is talk to, or see, Vance again.”

Holy Mary, Mother of God.

I was no longer beginning to get angry. I was pissed the hel off.

“You did not just say that to me.”

“I sure the f**k did.”

“Take it back!” my voice was rising.

He got closer. One of his hands was at the bricks at the side of my head, the other one was at his hip, his chest was nearly against mine and his head was tilted to look down at me.

“Vance means something to me,” I told him.

Um… not the right thing to say.

“You barely know him,” he said.

“I barely know you,” I retorted angrily.

Strike two. Definitely not the right thing to say.

“I’ve had my c**k inside you. I’d say you know me a f**k of a lot better than you know Vance.”

At that nasty comment, I put my hands to his abs and pushed hard. His body jerked but moved back into my space instantly.

“Don’t be coarse,” I clipped.

“Roxanne –”

“He rescued me from the sink! He took me to the hospital! He got me clothes when I had to get rid of the ones I was wearing because I couldn’t bear to keep them on a second longer. He got me a shower because I hadn’t had one in days.”

“Roxanne –”

“No, Hank –”

“Roxanne, be quiet.”

“No!”

His hand went from his hip to cup my jaw and his face dipped so close; it was al I could see. “Don’t you think I wanted to be the one to rescue you from that f**king sink?” he growled, his voice low and dangerous.

My stomach clenched as I realized what had brought on his anger.

I stared at him and final y kept my mouth shut.

“Do you have any f**king clue how hard it was to wait for Vance to cal in witness reports, every f**kin’ report worse than the one before? You runnin’ from a bathroom at a gas station, bloody, screamin’ and fightin’ to get away. Tied to a steering wheel. Eatin’ fuckin’ chips with your wrists bound.

Christ! ”

The last word was an explosion. I winced and jerked as if it had a physical impact on my body.

He pul ed back and took his hand away from my face but He pul ed back and took his hand away from my face but I grabbed it and tugged on it.

“Hank, listen to me,” he was looking at the wal over my shoulder, trying to regain control. When I said his name, his eyes moved to lock on mine and I felt a shiver run through me at the anger stil there.

I went on. “After he found me, I asked Vance to take me back to Chicago.”

At that, Hank’s eyes flared.

I shook my head and continued. “He wouldn’t do it. He said he wouldn’t do it because he respected you and you’d sent him after me. He said he wouldn’t do it because he didn’t want to make you show him how you’d react if he didn’t bring me back to you.”

I watched him work to get control, a muscle moved in his jaw. Al the while, he kept his beautiful eyes on me.

I felt the burning in my nostrils and took a deep breath to keep the tears at bay.

When I saw he had control, I whispered, “I’m glad it wasn’t you who found me. I couldn’t have… I wouldn’t have been able to live with it if you saw me that way.” At that, his arms slid around me.

“Fuck, Roxie,” he said over my head.

I put my arms around him and sucked back more tears.

I hated it. I hated it with everything I was, but I was so right. This Bil y business was going to be between Hank and me forever. I felt anger shoot through my body and if Bil y had walked up just then, I would have ripped his head off.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t f**king fair. I hated people who It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t f**king fair. I hated people who whined about what wasn’t fair but if anything wasn’t fair, this sure the hel wasn’t.

A fair life would have brought Hank to me without anything between us.

I took a broken breath, the tears stil threatening. I closed my eyes and pressed my cheek against Hank’s shoulder and I prayed. I prayed for this al to be over soon so I could go, so I could pick up the pieces of my life.

I prayed for Hank too, so he could move on and find someone he deserved, someone strong and smart and good. Someone he could talk to about his day. Someone who made him grin. Someone who liked his dog. Someone who put mulberry-scented candles in his house. Someone who had powdered sugar in the cupboard and cream cheese in the fridge so she could make him better French toast than I’d made; the special kind with the sweetened cream cheese spread in the middle.

Someone who didn’t get shot at.

Someone who didn’t get kidnapped.