Page 83 of Love Me Gently

“I believe you have mywife.”

“Ah…my mistake. See, Chief here said I have something of yours, and your wife is a person with her own thoughts and attitudes, so I don’t haveanythingthat belongs to you.”

“She is my wife, and it’s time for her to return to where she belongs.”

Screw him. “She is not a dog you bring to heel, Mr. Wolf. And Trina is perfectly happy where she is, so that’s where she’ll stay. And make no mistake, that choice ishersto make, not yours to demand.”

I wasn’t quite sure that was the full truth, but based on his assessing examination of me, I’d definitely struck a chord. “Not smart, Mr. Paxton. Leaving her alone.”

At least he thought she was alone, but the fact he knew where she was at all was disconcerting.

“Bold of you to threaten me in a police station.”

“What was the threat?”

Smooth. He was smooth. Good-looking for sure, and his suit cost more than I made in a year. In shape, lean, and built. He could have been a wax model in a museum he was so shiny and perfect.

Too shiny.

Everyone had flaws, and I knew his biggest one.

With a sigh, like I was a child, he tugged on one of his dress sleeves. “I would like to talk to my wife.”

“I assume if she hasn’t called you, she doesn’t feel the same.”

His lips pursed and he glanced back at Chief. “I believe I’ll leave you to relay the rest of my message.”

He faced me with a sneer I wanted to punch off his face. “You’ll see me again. And soon. And I’m sure by the time of our next meeting, you’ll have had a change of opinion.”

“Or what?”

Jonathan glanced at Chief, back to me, and grinned. “Test me and find out. Tell Katrina to prepare herself for me. I’ll be seeing her soon.”

I stayed frozen while he opened the door to Chief’s office and strolled right on out the front door. A few minutes later, the Tahoe in the parking lot pulled out and turned left.

“Where’s he going?”

“Said he’ll be staying close to town until his wife comes to her senses and quits her tantrum. I’m assuming he’s got a rental somewhere nearby. We’ll start searching for him, keep men on him.”

“He’ll have his own men somewhere.” Man like Wolf wouldn’t go up against the law, he’d have someone do it for him. “What’s the rest of the message?”

“You should have told me more about what was going on and what you were involved in. Would have been nice to be prepared, Paxton.”

“Probably,” I admitted and stayed quiet. Waiting. I’d told them I had Trina and she’d been beaten, and I was taking time to help her out, but I hadn’t gone into the specifics of how I’dgottenher.

Chief sighed. “He plans to press charges against you for kidnapping, trafficking an unconscious adult across state lines. And alienation of affection.”

The last one made him smirk, barely.

“You got anything to say against the first two?”

“Technically, her friends set the plan up, I was just along for the ride. So…an accessory at best? But she is an adult, capable of making her own choices.”

“Not if she was unconscious and drugged.”

A muscle twitched in my jaw. She’d been both, definitely.

Chief scrubbed a hand over his thinning hair and grimaced. “Man like him won’t give up until he gets what he wants.”

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