by Jamie Begley
“Leave, Harvey. Now. If you try to come back in the store, I’ll call Knox.”
“Calling Knox is the last thing you’ll do. You don’t want that husband of yours to find out what’s going on between us.”
The man was certifiable.
“There’s nothing going on between us!” she yelled.
She had made a terrible mistake. She should have talked to Pastor Dean before it reached the point she was facing now.
“Harvey, I seriously only wanted to help Nicole. If you misinterpreted my intentions, then that’s not on me; it’s on you. I have never, at any time, given you any sign that I was interested in you, other than to help Nicole and your son. I’m giving you one last chance, Harvey. Use it wisely. If Shade finds out that you have been bothering me….” Lily took a deep breath to calm herself down, afraid she would pass out if she couldn’t get ahold of herself. The last thing she wanted to do was to appear weak in front of the unstable man.
She still couldn’t understand how the man that she had gone to high school with had changed so drastically. When he had come into the thrift store with Nicole, she wouldn’t have remembered him if Nicole hadn’t reminded her that they’d gone to school together. Other than a courteous “hello” to him, she’d directed her attention to Nicole, who filled out the paperwork as Lily held the baby.
Harvey hadn’t even spoken to her that day, leaving with a quiet goodbye, his only words to her. After she approved Nicole for assistance, the problem with Harvey started. For the first two weeks, Nicole and Harvey had both come to receive their aid, but by the third week he had started showing up alone.
At first Lily had been friendly, sure she was wrong that the new father was actually making passes at her. Most of the town’s population were wary of Shade, so she truly thought she was mistaken by Harvey’s overtly friendly behavior. When he started trying to touch her arm, though, she had quickly and firmly pulled hers away, her own friendliness disappearing.
From there it went downhill.
She knew she should have talked to Pastor Dean, but she also knew how protective he was, and any aid to Nicole would have been cut off. More importantly, he would have told Shade. She really didn’t want Harvey hurt; she just wanted him to stop flirting with her. Clearly, she had made a terrible mistake by not calling Nicole and, regardless of her feelings, made it known that, unless she was the one who came into the store, no further aid would be given.
The problem was that she couldn’t bring herself to hurt the woman. Lily remembered her from high school. She was sweet and kind and certainly didn’t deserve the father of her child coming on to someone who was only trying to help their small family.
“You know what I think, Lily? I think you’re so afraid of your husband that you don’t want to admit how much you’re attracted to me.”
Any feeling she’d had that she was going to faint vanished in a heartbeat.
“I’m not afraid of my husband. You’re the one who should be afraid. Leave, Harvey. Now.”
Lily straightened her body, prepared to strike out at him. She could tell from the determined gleam in his eyes he was going to make a move. She promised herself that if he took one step toward her, she would hit him with the stapler.
Harvey must have been irritated that she hadn’t been there when he showed up this morning, losing what sense of caution that had previously held him back. Lily was poised, though, ready to respond to any movement from Harvey, when the sound of the bell over the door had them both turning at the jangling peal.
She went pale at the sight of the man who was striding toward the counter, Shade’s inscrutable expression targeted on her.
Though startled at her husband’s unexpected appearance, the fear inside of her evaporated. Shade had always been able to calm her frayed nerves, making her feel safe and loved.
Harvey might be twice Shade’s weight and ten years younger, but if he thought that gave him one over on her husband, then he was making a mistake.
A fatal one.
CHAPTER 3
She set the stapler down on the counter as he came to stand next to her, feeling the tension within her ease now that he was a barrier between her and Harvey.
“I needed to file some paperwork at the courthouse for Viper and thought I’d stop here and see you before going home.”
Lily saw that Shade’s attention was no longer on her once he was by her side but fixated on Harvey.
“I’m glad. I could use some help moving some boxes from the donation bin.”
The two men staring each other down had her trying to break the tension that was practically crackling between them.
“Shade, this is Harvey—”
“We’re acquainted. Aren’t we, Harvey?” her husband cut the introduction short. “He worked at the factory for a couple of months before Jewell fired him.”
The revelation that Harvey had worked at the factory was unexpected. Neither Nicole nor Harvey had mentioned that fact. It wouldn’t have made a difference to the aid they received from the church, so it made no sense why they hadn’t mentioned it, especially when Lily suggested they apply for jobs at the church.
Harvey glowered at Shade. “Jewell doesn’t wipe her ass unless you tell her to.”
Lily tensed at the harsh words coming from the man standing in front of them. Sickeningly, she was beginning to realize that Harvey held a grudge against her husband and had been using her as payback. Her Christianity was the only thing keeping her mouth shut at the hatred that Harvey wasn’t making any attempt to hide.
Shade, on the other hand, was coldly examining Harvey as if he were an irritating fly that he wasn’t going to be bothered to swat away. She was used to her enigmatic husband’s ability to hide his reactions.
As a cold chill ran up her back, she instinctively reached out, placing a calming hand on Shade’s arm. “Harvey was just leaving.”
“That would be a smart move.”
She tightened her hand on Shade’s arm when Harvey made no move to leave. Holding her breath, she could feel the escalating tension between the two men.
Just when she was about to reach for her cell phone to call Knox, Harvey’s hate-filled expression switched to one more amiable.
“It was good seeing you again, Shade. Lily, I’ll see you next week.”
Lily didn’t miss the underlying provocativeness that Harvey made no attempt to hide from his voice. She swallowed hard, knowing that if she had heard it, then Shade had, too.
Lily stared at Harvey’s back as he moved from the counter and made his way out of the store, waiting until the door closed behind him before taking her hand off Shade’s arm. She regretted it as soon as she did, finding herself having to face him.
“What was Harvey doing here?”
“He comes to the store once a week for formula for his baby,” she answered immediately.
Her mentioning that Harvey had a small child didn’t soften Shade’s features.
“He wasn’t carrying any when he left.”
“He came by when I was gone earlier and Pastor Dean was here.”
“That doesn’t explain why he was here now.”
“He was asking me for help to find Nicole a Valentine’s Day present.”
“You’re afraid of him.”
“He frightens me. I was asking him to leave and to send Nicole from now on.” Lily was incapable of lying to her husband.
The look on her husband’s face frightened her. The sudden movement of him turning toward the door had her rushing to block him.
“I handled it, Shade. He won’t be coming back.”
“No, he won’t.”
The deadly finality in his voice had her reaching out to cup his face, drawing his gaze down to hers. “You know what I want for Valentine’s Day?”
His jaw clenched in a hard line. She hastened to tell him as he tried to sidestep her.
“I don’t want you to hurt him.”
“That’s one present you won’t be getting.
”
“Please… Shade,” she begged. “Harvey isn’t worth the trouble he would cause our family.”
“Taking care of him won’t cause it any trouble,” he said grimly.
“What if it does? John is in school now. What if you’re arrested and John finds out? Do you really want our son to find out that he can solve his problem by using his fists?”
“It’s not my fists I plan to use on Harvey.”
His bone-chilling reply had her shaking.
“He’s not worth it. He’s obviously trying to get at you through me. Don’t let him succeed.”
He narrowed his eyes down on hers. “How long has he been bothering you?”
She wasn’t afraid her husband would hurt her, but she knew the answer she was about to give would inflate his anger.
“For about three weeks, but it’s never been as bad as today or I would have said something to you. He just made me uncomfortable. I told him that unless it was Nicole who came inside, I would no longer be able to provide any services. I didn’t trust him that Nicole would be the one to come today and asked Pastor Dean to watch the store.”
“Did you tell Lucky why you wanted him to watch the store?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Why not?” Shade didn’t raise his voice to her, but she could tell he wasn’t happy with her admission.
“I knew he would tell you. I had hoped that I had put a stop to Harvey’s behavior. I was mistaken.”
“What did he do?”
“He thinks I’m attracted to him. He knows I’m not. Clearly, he was just getting back at you because he feels you were responsible for getting him fired.”
“I was. Jewell didn’t want to fire him because she knew he was expecting a child. I told her to fire him or his salary would be taken out of her paycheck.”
Lily’s gentle soul was distressed at the cold-hearted reaction of forcing Jewell to fire Harvey.
“He was given several chances. All he had to do was make an effort to do his job. He came in late, he was missing items from several of the orders that customers were billed for, and he had his buddies clocking out for him when he decided to leave early, which was a regular occurrence with him. The Last Riders give to charity, but they don’t run one.”
Lily nodded. “What are you going to do?”
“Do you really want to know?”
She did, and she didn’t.
“Nicole is really sweet.”
“I’m sure she is. Harvey makes a habit of picking sweet women to keep himself out of trouble. This time he picked the wrong woman. He took a chance that she wouldn’t say anything to me, and when he came in earlier today with Lucky, he knew he had you running scared but that you hadn’t alerted Lucky to how he was acting toward you. Harvey took a chance that, sadly for him…” Steel laced his expression when she couldn’t contain her troubled fear about what Shade would do. “He miscalculated. While he doesn’t give a fuck about his woman, I do.”
“Shade, please don’t.”
“Where are the boxes you needed my help with?”
With the change of subject, Shade was done discussing Harvey.
Showing him the overfilled boxes, she mutely pointed where she wanted them stacked beside the counter.
Waiting tensely for Shade to lecture her about how she handled Harvey coming on to her, she unconsciously began twisting her hands together. Tears brimming her eyes, she then started to go in search of hangers when a tug on her long hair had her turning to see him casually holding a long strand gripped in his hand.
“Come here.”
Walking back to him, she stopped in front of him.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t want you angry at me.”
“I’m not angry with you. I’m angry at Harvey.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re not?”
“No, I’m not.”
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being so understanding.”
“Harvey is the one at fault, not you. He realized you’re soft-hearted and tried to take advantage. Unluckily for him, I’m not soft-hearted. I knew when you came home something was wrong. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen fear in your eyes.” Shade reached out and gently laid a possessive hand on her cheek, his lips curled in a half-smile. “I don’t plan to kill him, if that’s what has you worried.”
“I didn’t think you’d actually kill him.”
“Just fuck him up?”
She flushed guiltily.
“I won’t. I won’t lay a hand on him. Does that make you feel better?”
Happily, she smiled up at him. “Yes.”
“Good. Now, do you need any more help before I leave?”
Her smile dropped. “Where are you going?”
“I have a few errands to take care of for Viper. Why?”
“I thought you would keep me company until it was closing time.” She didn’t try to hide her disappointment that he was leaving her alone.
“Are you afraid to stay here alone?”
“Of course not.”
“Good.” Shade dropped his hand from her cheek. “Because Harvey won’t be bothering you anymore. Whether I’m here or not in person, you will be under my protection and I won’t let anyone hurt you. Do you believe me?”
“Yes. But what are you planning to do?” There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Shade had a plan in mind.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got that.”
CHAPTER 4
Shade entered the dim interior of the bar, nodding toward Mick as he came through the door. He hadn’t expected the bar to be busy at this time of the day, and it wasn’t. Mick’s customers wouldn’t fill the local watering hole for at least another hour, making a pit stop before heading home.
With his eyes, he searched the dark room for the man whose car was parked outside. Seeing Harvey sitting at a small table against the wall, he soundlessly made his way through the bar.
Without asking, Shade sat down across from Harvey, enjoying the satisfaction on Harvey’s face that he had angered him enough that Shade had sought him out.
As soon as he sat his ass down, Mick came over.
“Can I get you a drink, Shade?”
“No.”
The owner of the bar turned on his heel, leaving the two men alone.
“If you came here to threaten me about Lily, you can go fuck yourself. I’m not afraid of you.”
“I didn’t come here to threaten you.” Shade leaned back in the chair, carefully laying his hands on his waist when all he wanted to do was tear the slimy fucker into a million pieces. “I came here to save you the trouble of planning to make any further attempts of getting within a five-mile radius of my wife.”
“Whatcha going to do if I do? You can’t do jack shit about it.”
Shade narrowed his eyes on the man sitting across from him, continuing to speak as if Harvey had never spoken. “Do you care about Nicole and your kid?”
“If you’re going to threaten me with them, that won’t work either.” Harvey smiled smugly, showing rotting teeth.
“No. I don’t use women and children as ammunition when I want to get back at someone.”
Shade knew the barb had hit home when Harvey gripped his beer mug as if he wanted to throw it at him.
“The only reason I mentioned them is so that, if you do, then you should be making some plans for them when you’re gone.”
“You hear that, Mick? He just threatened me!”
“I didn’t hear shit.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Shade saw Mick go to the other side of the bar.
“That sweet little cunt is too good for you.” With rising resentfulness, Harvey turned red as his anger mounted.
“Better men than you have said that to me before. You want to know how much of a fuck I care about when they do?” His lips twisted in mockery. “The fact is that she is mine. Another one is that you’re no
t man enough to come at me for being fired and thought you’d use Lily to draw me out. What was the plan? Provoke a fight with me over Lily so that you could use that to say why you were fired? Or were you willing to take the beating that you’re trying to provoke me into giving you so you can sue? Get a nice fat settlement and sit on your ass for the rest of your life?” Shade gave a shrug when he saw Harvey’s eyes widened at the last one.
“It’s your fault that no one in town will hire me!”
“You haven’t been able to find another job for two reasons. One, you have to actually look for one, and two, when you do get offered one, you have to take it. Knox offered you a job as a janitor at the police station, which you turned down, even though you would have made more money than you made working for The Last Riders.”
“I’m not going to mop floors or empty trash cans.”
“Why? Because it wouldn’t give you the ability to steal from another business like you did from The Last Riders? You think I wouldn’t do menial labor if I needed to feed my woman and child? I’d empty bedpans if I had to. But that’s the difference between you and me. I don’t mind doing a day’s work for what I have. Unlike you, who wants to take what’s not yours or have it given to you.”
“I didn’t steal.”
“Don’t lie. I found the items for sale on eBay that you stole, and I can prove it, so don’t sit there and pretend you didn’t. It makes you look pathetic—you are—but I wouldn’t flaunt it any more than you already have.”
His ridiculing got the reaction he was waiting for. Harvey stood up so fast his chair fell backward.
“You’re just jealous that Lily wants me!”
Shade’s eyebrows rose humorously at Harvey’s shout.
“I have pictures of us together!”
He had to use all his military training not to pull out the gun nestled under his jacket and put a bullet between Harvey’s eyes. Instead, he gave him a grim smile.
“Prove it.”
With a cunning demeanor, Harvey sat back down. “No. I have plans on who I’m going to show them to.”