Page 68 of Bad Situation

“You don’t know what you’re—” I don’t have a chance to say anything more because the house phone rings.

No one moves and my dad doesn’t look away from me.

The phone rings three more times and finally, Ellie runs to answer it.

“Hang on.” She pulls the phone away from her face and announces, “Someone named Eli Pettit wants in.” She looks at me and raises her brows. “He’s here to see you.”

My father’s face hardens further. “Is that him?”

My heart calms a bit and I look to Ellie. “Let him in.”

“No,” my father demands. “I don’t want him on my property.”

Ellie glances to my father and then back to me.

“Let him in, Ellie,” I plead.

He narrows his eyes on me and warns my sister. “Do not give that man access.”

I look to my sister and try not to choke on my words. “If you love me, Ells, you’ll let him through.”

Ellie doesn’t even take a second to think and speaks into the phone. “She’s at the main house. Come to the front door.”

“Dammit!” my father yells. “What the hell is going on with you?”

I know it’ll take Eli roughly ninety seconds to get here—I never thought I’d need to escape my childhood home so badly. All of a sudden, I feel a newfound appreciation for the pressures put on Cam and the hurt put on Ellie that made her run to New York City when she was eighteen.

I shake my head and do everything I can to remain standing. “I don’t know. But a man whom I loved died today. I sat next to him, covered in his blood, and watched the life seep out of him. Then I found out someone else, whom I’ve never even met, lost his life too, only because he took on my case. This is all because I stepped up to work for you and pissed someone off because of it. And you know what, Dad? The man coming up to your door right now took care of me and he damn sure didn’t make me feel like it was my fault.”

“Jenny,” my mom calls and her tears are flowing again.

I put my hand up to stop her and don’t take my eyes off my dad. “So, yeah. Eli Pettit is an FBI agent who I met before I was served. But he’s been doing everything he can to clear my name and I trust him—I trust him with my life. Today when bullets started flying, he kept me safe … in case you were wondering.”

“That came out all wrong, sweetness,” my mother tries. “That’s not what your daddy meant.”

I turn to her. “I love you, Mom, but that’s exactly what he meant.”

The doorbell rings and my dad starts for the door but I stop him. “Don’t you dare. Don’t even think about it.”

Ellie jogs around him and widens her eyes at me on the way. She’ll do anything for me—I know she will, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t pissed I’ve kept things from her. When she swings the heavy front door open, he’s here.

For me.

Finally.

I don’t know where he’s been all day and, right now, I don’t care. I haven’t needed anyone in a long time. Hell, I’m not sure if I’ve ever needed anyone like I do right now.

Seeing him standing there on my parents’ front porch makes everything that happened today fresh again, yet, at the same time, a weird sort of calm washes over me. He doesn’t acknowledge Ellie or my parents. He only has eyes for me. And those dark eyes bore into mine. The cocktail of emotions is too much and tears form.

He doesn’t wait to be invited in. He crosses the threshold and stops—his body is tense and his expression hard as his gaze pores over me like a caress. When he settles on my eyes, he says, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you were done. I had stuff to take care of on my end.”

I nod and try to choke back a sob but it doesn’t work.

His expression tightens further into a deep frown and he finally looks to Ellie and my parents before his eyes cut back to me. “You okay here?”

I quickly shake my head and my feet move. Like a magnetic force, I go directly to him.

“Jensen,” my father bites.

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