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“You’re gonna get fucking hurt worse if the cops come here.” He slammed her back against the wall, kicking the door shut before letting go of her wrist. She cradled it to her chest as it throbbed, knowing it was going to bruise. Hoping like hell he hadn’t done more damage. The last thing she needed was to be unable to work.

Max loomed over her and her heart raced. She knew he was capable of violence. It was the drugs. He never really meant to hurt her. Or at least that’s what she told herself. With him standing so close that the stale scent of his sweat and the stink of tobacco clogged her nose, and the heat of pure fury in his eyes, it was hard to believe that he wasn’t very much intent on doing her harm.

“Did you call the fucking cops?” he spat out. She shuddered as bits of saliva hit her face. Gross.

“No,” she muttered. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to say. Maybe she should have said yes and he would have taken off.

He let out a deep breath, taking a step back and running his hand through his scruffy, greasy hair.

“Shit, Abby, you scared ten years off my life.” He certainly looked a good decade older than twenty-two. His clothes were stained and hung on his skinny frame. And there was a hunted feel to him. His eyes darted around as though he was expecting someone to jump out at him at any moment.

Definitely on something.

Tread carefully, Abby.

“What do you want, Max? What are you doing here? Are...are the cops after you?” A pretty good assumption considering what he did. And how he’d just threatened her when he thought she’d called them.

“Cops? I don’t care about the fucking cops. Bunch of pussies chasing their own tails.” He barked out a laugh.

“Then why did you just threaten to hurt me?” she asked. She probably shouldn’t ask. Sometimes those sorts of questions tended to backfire on her.

He turned so quickly towards her that she flinched back, having to hold back a whimper of fear. She hated that she was so scared of him. She wished she could stand up to him. Could tell him to get lost.

“Why do you look so scared, Abby?” he asked in a soft voice. And in that moment, he almost sounded like her brother. Like the boy she’d helped raise. But she knew he wasn’t. He was dangerous. An addict. And like any addict he’d do what he needed to in order to get his next fix. And if he hurt her along the way then so be it. He gently touched her cheek. “I’d never hurt you, Abs.”

She didn’t tell him that her wrist was already swelling. Or that he’d broken into her house. She just stood there and wished he’d stop touching her. Because it made her skin crawl.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

“I wasn’t threatening you. You’re my sister, I’d never hurt you. But I can’t be spotted here. There are people after me. Bad people. Lucky, I found the spare key so I didn’t have to wait outside or break in.”

Shoot. Why had she put out a spare key after the locks had been changed? She’d put it in a different spot, but he’d obviously had no problem finding it. He strode into the living room and peered through the front window.

“They could be out there, waiting for me,” he muttered.

Okay, now he was really freaking out for real.

“Who could be? Is it the same people that say you took something from them?”

He turned, stormed over to her and she wished she hadn’t said anything. She bit back a whimper as he came closer. Fuck. She wished she had her baton handy, but it was under her bed where she usually kept it.

Okay, was she really thinking about using a baton on her own brother?

As he got into her space, intimidating her, she realized that she was. At some stage, she was pretty certain he was going to completely lose it and hurt her. Oh, he might feel remorseful afterwards maybe. But the damage would be done.

She had to protect herself. She might not be a fighter. But there was no one else going to do it.

Again, she thought of the card in her top drawer. No. She was on her own. Besides, it wasn’t like Max was going to let her go charge her phone, find the card then make a call to Kent.

She licked her dry lips.

“What do you know of it?” he snarled.

“Some...some man approached me after work the other night. He...he said that you have something his boss wants. He wanted to know where you were. I told him I didn’t know but that I would find out.”

And that had kept her awake and restless these past few nights.

“Fuck! Fuck! Can’t believe they fucking came to you!” He paced back and forth.