Page 18 of Clever Deceit

I laughed at that. “Of all the things I'm worried about, you being mad is pretty much last on the list.”

But it got me talking, and once I started, I couldn't stop. I told him about going grocery shopping and then deciding to go to the bakery for shortbread. I told him about Amy and her concerns... and then I told him about the cop who had run into me and refused to apologize. I said Mark had pretended to come to my rescue but that he'd been slimy and scary and had threatened me.

And then that he watched me drive away while Silver tried to get out the window to go after him.

His face dropped, and I could tell there was something on his mind. I squeezed his hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“I wish I could have been there,” he muttered. “When I was out earlier, I...there was an off-duty cop hanging out by my car.”

“There was?” I asked, eyes widening. I wanted to believe it was a coincidence, but I really shouldn’t have been that stupid. Nothing was a coincidence when it came to Tony.

“Yeah, and he talked to me like he was planning something,” he continued. “Like...they were planning something.”

“They?”

“The McCarthys, I guess,” he sighed. “I thought they would ease up a little after the fire, but I guess they’re closing in.”

“I was hoping they didn’t have the local cops on their side, too,” I added, shaking my head. “Looks like we didn’t get so lucky.”

“Looks like it,” he muttered. I could feel the anger crackling off his body. It was a miracle he hadn’t taken a swing at the cop who had tried to get close to him, after everything that had happened.

“I thought there might be someone left in this town who wasn’t under the McCarthy thumb,” he growled. “But they really have everyone right where they want them, don’t they?”

“That’s how it works here,” I replied. “It’s not fair, it’s not right, but it’s how it goes. That’s why we’re going to need to have such a strong case against him to bring him down.”

“Or I could just do it myself.”

“Warren, what are you talking about?”

“I could just take him down,” he continued, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “I could take him down and finish this for good.”

“You can’t do that,” I protested. “It’s too dangerous. Besides, what if you end up locked up in prison? I won’t have anyone here to help me.”

“I know,” he replied, but there was a darkness to his gaze that told me he wished he could just let loose on this man. I lowered my gaze to the floor. I hated that I had dragged him into this. But the way he was talking, he was going to find a way to get us out, without leaving any room for Tony to snake his way back in again.

I looked up to see cold, hard fury burning behind his eyes. Not fury at me. Fury at Mark and what he'd done to me. It burned brighter than even the flames that had consumed his house, and for a moment, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

And I realized that my worries about Warren and what he might do were exactly right. I had to remember what he was capable of. Just because he had a limp now didn’t mean that he wasn’t still the skilled soldier he had been for so many years. He was ready to turn all of that on the man who had hurt me, and Tony might have had a lot on his side—but it wouldn’t be enough to protect him against the fury that was burning in Warren’s eyes right now. This man, who was usually so soft and so gentle with me, looked like he was on fire with an anger I had never seen in him before.

I shouldn't have told him, no matter how much I didn't want to keep it to myself. Because now that I had, I'd given him exactly what he was looking for.

And he was going to end up getting himself in trouble.

CHAPTER 10

LILY

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I TURNED THE PAGE OF the book and stared at the text, trying to focus on what I was supposed to be reading. It was a good book. I knew because I'd read it before and been really, really into it. The action was good, and the romance was even better, and when I'd realized that I had an afternoon to just sit and enjoy some quiet time, this was the first thing I'd pulled from the shelf.

I'd loved this book the last time I read it.

And yet I'd been sitting here turning pages without taking in any of the text for at least half an hour now.

The problem was I couldn't get my freaking mind to turn off. Things had been bad since I got back to town, and they felt like they were only getting worse. The first run-in with Tony had been terrifying, but it had been nothing to the run-in I'd had this morning with his father. Mark hadn't said anything outright threatening, but the look on his face when I drove away from him had left little doubt in my mind.