Page 59 of Ugly Duckling
His hand went to my face, and his cool fingers pressed against my heated cheek.
“Paula,” Luciano hissed at his wife. “What has gotten into you?”
“Them!” she snarled. “They have! I can’t believe this. Just when we have her where…”
She trailed off and zipped her lips, but she’d said enough.
I knew what she was going to say.
Just when they had Lottie where they wanted her—on the fast track to their “loving” arms—I’d thrown a wrench into their plan.
Good.
Fuckers.
I hoped that they stepped on a Lego when they got home.
Luciano dragged Paula away, and Gunner waited until they were in their car again—with the shocked looking man who’d delivered the paperwork earlier—before he turned my face toward his so he could survey it.
“Fucking bitch,” he murmured softly as he lightly swept his fingers over my cheek.
It stung, but in the end, I thought it was worth it.
“Quick, take a picture,” I urged as I pulled away from him.
Or tried to.
He held on to me with his one arm around my waist and held me there until he was done inspecting my face.
He let me go reluctantly and then reached into his pocket for his phone.
He snapped a picture before he hit a number on his phone and speed dialed a man named Malone.
Except, the person who answered definitely wasn’t a man.
“Gunner, I’m already on top of it,” she said quickly. “I have everyone working double time to get us ready for tomorrow. Do you?—”
Gunner cut her off, telling her exactly what happened.
“Are you telling me you’re going to have to move some random woman into your house to sell this?” Malone sounded amused.
“She’s not a random woman, and she was already moving into my house anyway,” he said. “Sutton is a friend from high school. She needed a place to stay, and her parents offered free babysitting. I could hardly say no.”
The way he winked at me had my stomach somersaulting.
“Okay, good,” she said. “Because I would highly recommend y’all actually moving in together. Those creeps follow you around twenty-four-seven. And at this point, I think that we need to address that in court, too.”
“She’s movin’ in,” he confirmed. “Do you want me to send you the photo of her cheek?”
“Oh, yes.” Malone actually sounded excited. “I most definitely want you to send it to me. This is going to be gold tomorrow.”
After a few more minutes, Malone hung up with a promise to meet him at the courthouse tomorrow morning.
I waited, shifting from foot to foot, as reality set in, and I realized that I’d insinuated myself into Gunner’s life when he hadn’t asked for me to.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted the moment that the phone call ended. “I just saw red, and I started talking before my mouth could control itself.”
His eyes twinkled.
