Page 75 of Unexpected Love

“Ava.” His voice turns more forceful, the smile officially slipping from his face as he steps closer to me.

This time, I do take a step away, but it’s only a couple of inches before I feel the counter at my back.

“Abbey’s calling the police. You should go before they get here.”

Another step forward. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I can still press charges for everything that happened back in Boston,” I warn.

His hand wraps around my wrist, out of sight from Abbey, but the tightness in his grip causes me to wince. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing happened in Boston.”

I steel my spine and lean forward, my voice deathly quiet. “We both know what you did in Boston, Brian. Leave me the hell alone, or I’ll press charges.”

Brian’s eyes bounce between mine, and the rage I see there makes me nervous. So far, Brian hasn’t done anything with witnesses around, but at some point, he’ll be pushed to a breaking point. I just don’t know what that point will be.

“I’ve called the police. You need to leave,” Abbey says from behind me. I can’t see her, but her voice is strong. “I have no idea what happened in Boston, but you’ve been asked to leave,so at this point, you’re trespassing, and I definitely don’t have a problem pressing charges.”

Brian’s glare moves to Abbey. “This is public property.”

“Wrong. This is a privately-owned business, and I have the right to refuse service to whomever I want. This is now the fourth time you’ve been asked to leave.” Her voice is so eerily calm.

I know I’ve only just started to get to know Abbey, but she’s always come across as the quiet one. I don’t think she would have a problem standing up for herself, but I would never have expected her to be so straightforward.

Brian’s eyes move back to mine, and his grip on my wrist tightens even more. “This isn’t over,” he snarls before he storms out the door.

I watch out the window until he’s long gone. I don’t hear or see anything. It’s not until I feel Abbey’s hand on my arm that everything comes back to focus.

“Are you all right?”

“I-I…yeah.” I swallow, giving myself a second. “I’m okay.”

The bell rings again.

“What happened?” Gage asks before either of us has even turned to see him there. “Are you okay?” he asks, pulling me into his arms.

I sink against him, wrapping my arms around his waist and holding tight. I don’t say anything but simply nod my head against his chest.

“Tell me what happened,” he says softly as he pulls away just enough to look me in the eye.

“Brian showed up. He didn’t do anything,” I rush to say. “Just tried to get me to talk to him.”

Gage studies me for a second before his eyes move over my head to Abbey. “Thanks for calling me.”

“The second he walked through the door, Ava told me to. I didn’t understand. But the look in that man’s eyes…” Her voice trails off, and I don’t need to see her to know a shiver runs up her spine.

She’s right. The rage and hatred in his eyes mademenervous.

Gage takes a step back, his eyes moving over my body, looking to make sure nothing happened.

“He grabbed my wrist, but other than that, he didn’t do anything. I swear.” My voice cracks and I swallow, trying to calm myself down. Brian is gone, and Gage is here; he won’t let anything happen.

“I know. I just need to see it for myself.” He cups the side of my face, his thumb gently grazing my cheek.

“Why don’t you get out of here?” Abbey offers. “The morning rush is over. It’ll be quiet the rest of the day.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, turning to look at Abbey. “I don’t really want to go home and stew over this. I’d rather stay busy.”

“Well, go find something to do somewhere else. Go play in the snow. You’ve been staring at it all dreamy-eyed since you walked through the door.”

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