“Sure, I will.”Lex practically shoved her behind him.“After you leave.”
Jillian groaned.Men.She started to move around him and froze.Douglas was by the phantom, right behind the two men.Had he been following them?
Lex moved toward the two men.They smirked.Baldie charged, but Lex shifted his body fast, grabbed Baldie by the shirt, lifting his left knee at the same time, then yanked the man down.His head connected with Lex’s knee.He whipped Baldie around and shoved him into the shrubbery.
Holy crap.Lex can fight.
Cruel Lips reached under his coat, but Douglas was behind him.Jillian had never seen a man move that fast.Cruel Lips didn’t see him coming either.One second, he was upright, and the next face down with Douglas’ foot on his back.
“I hate guns,” Douglas said.He removed the clip and dropped the gun.It hit Cruel Lips, who whimpered, before it landed on the cement with a clang.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Lex warned.Baldie was trying to get up and reach for his gun, which had fallen and was only a few feet from Jillian.
Jillian grabbed and cocked it.
“Jillian,” Lex said slowly.“Give me the gun.”
She shook her head.“I’m not going to be victimized by you guys,” she said, her voice shaking, reaction setting in.She pointed the gun at Baldie.“Tell your boss he’ll get his money.If he comes after me or goes after my father, I will contact the police and tell them everything.”
Baldie nodded.
“The gun, Jillian,” Lex said.
She ignored him.“Get up,” she ordered Baldie.
He scampered to his feet and shuffled backward.He tripped over his partner, who was still on the ground, and fell backward.They struggled to their feet.Cruel Lips took his gun and ran to their SUV.When Baldie started to follow him, Jillian called out, “Forgetting something?”
The man looked back and shook his head.
“Your gun.”She quickly dismantled it, the pieces dropping on the ground with thuds.Like Douglas, she palmed the clip.She was starting to shake.Lex still looked furious.Douglas nodded at her with approval.
Baldie collected the pieces of his gun with clumsy hands, then shuffled backward, eyes filled with hatred as they darted from Jillian to Lex, then back to Jillian.She read the promise in those eyes.He would hurt her the next time they met.
She was so terrified she couldn’t think straight.There was no telling what those men would do if they came back and found her alone.And there was no question they would return meaner than ever.
“They’ll be back,” she whispered.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said.
“No.You should leave.”She tried to unlock her door, but her hand started to shake.“You cannot be involved in this.You could get hurt.Or worse.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Jillian.”
Tears weren’t far from falling, but she refused to cry.She focused on unlocking the door, but her hand shook so hard and she couldn’t direct the key into the stupid keyhole.
“Let me do it,” Lex said gently from behind her.
“No,” she snapped.
He wrapped his arms around her and refused to let go no matter how hard she struggled.The fight left her and she sunk into him, allowing his warmth to chase away the cold that had crawled under her skin.She fought the tears and won.
Somehow, Lex knew the moment she calmed down.Without saying a word, he covered her hand and directed the key to the lock.He waited until she turned it and pushed the door open before letting her go.
Jillian entered her house on shaky legs, expecting the worst.Everything was exactly the way she’d left it, yet it wasn’t the same.This used to be home.Her sanctuary.Those goons violated it by ambushing her.How long had they been waiting outside?How had they known where she lived?
Jillian went to the bedroom and dragged out a suitcase, then another.She yanked clothes from hangers and threw them in the cases.Shoes, boots, jeans, and shirts.She emptied drawers without thought.She was rattled, and she hated being rattled.Damn bastards.Her brothers should have used the money she’d left with them.Just wait until she got them on the phone.
Voices reached her from the living room.Did Douglas follow Lex everywhere he went?What was he?Bodyguard?Driver?Master of all trades?
