Page 59 of No Apologies
“Colt.” She said his name softly and surprised him by moving back in close and framing his face between her small hands, “I don’t want to fight with you anymore but I will if you make me.”
“I don’t want to fight with you either but…”
“Then don’t.” She tiptoed up and brushed her lips against his in a whisper of a kiss before she pulled away, “I’m going to go check on those two next door and then you can explain to me what you think happened here.”
The pleasure of her brief kiss lulled him into a false sense of peace and it took him a second too long to realize what she’d said. Skylar had already stepped out of his arms and headed for the door when he winced. She was going next door to his shop to check on Remy and Rachel but that also meant she was going to see the damage to his place.
“I’ll go check on them. You stay here.” He hurried after her and caught her eye roll.
“Nice try but no.”
“There’s glass over there. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She gave a very unladylike snort, “There’s glass all over my shop too. Care to try again? Maybe with the truth this time? Why don’t you want me going next door, Colt?”
Because when she saw the damage to his place, she was going to freak out. Because she wouldn’t be able to laugh this off. Because she would demand answers that he wasn’t sure he could give her. But mostly because he worried that having her anywhere near him would show the guys responsible that she was important to him and they really would come after her next.
He must have stayed silent too long because Skylar gave him a disappointed sigh and then stepped around him to continue towards his shop. Colt groaned but followed after her. He couldn’t stop her without physically restraining her and really, despite his fantasies about tying her up, he wouldn’t do that. She was going to see the shop either now or later when the police finally arrived. He might as well get it over with.
Since she didn’t wait for him, he was a couple of steps behind when she reached the wide open space that used to be his glass door. Now it was nothing but a gaping hole. It lay in broken shambles, ruined, just like everything else in his shop.
“Be careful. The glass is…”
“Oh. My. God.” Skylar’s gasp cut him off and he winced when he saw her hand come up to cover her mouth.
He knew what she was seeing. He’d been shocked when he walked in and saw it earlier too. It was as if the person, or more likely people, responsible had set out with the goal of destroying every single thing they could get their hands on.
Not only were the windows smashed but every mirror inside had also been broken. The framed art that had been hanging on the walls was alternately torn down or spray painted over. The counter was smashed to bits and pieces. His leather chairs had been gashed open and ripped apart. There were holes in the walls and suspicious fluids on the floors.
It was a total loss. He would have to start from scratch. Only this time he wouldn’t start with a nice, clean studio. He would have to start with trash, which was so damn fitting it hurt.
He was a Bomar. He’d known the instant he saw the broken windows what had happened. He’d never mistaken the damage for something kids could have done but the message spray painted on his wall had more than confirmed that this attack had been brought on by his association with his family.
In big, bold, spray-painted letters, his wall now read, “Lie. Cheat. Steal. The Bomar Way.”
He read the words and felt his anger flare to life all over again. He shoved his hands into his pockets when they balled into fists. Worrying about Skylar, about her salon, even worrying about Rachel, it had distracted him from his anger for a few minutes. Walking back into his business and seeing the ruins of everything he had worked so hard for brought it all roaring back.
“Oh God… Colt?” Skylar’s voice pulled his attention back to her and he sighed at the questions swimming there.
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“You were going to ask who would do this and the answer is, I don’t know.” He snorted when her lips pursed, “I don’t know who is dumb enough to attack us so blatantly like this.”
“Us? I thought you said my shop was just collateral damage?”
“Not you and I us. Bomars, us.”
“Oh…”
He tried to ignore the slight pout that marred Skylar’s beautiful face. He couldn’t get into the argument that they were not anusright now. If anything, this was the reminder he’d needed to keep her at arm’s length after last night. Her shop had gotten busted up just for being next door to his. If whoever had done it figured out how important she was to him…
“Look, I don’t know who did this but you can be damn sure I’m going to find out and when I do, they’re going to pay.”
Skylar frowned, “I don’t like the sound of that, Colt. Let the authorities deal with it. They’ll figure out who was involved and we’ll press charges.”
He rolled his eyes this time, “Yeah, I should trust the cops to help when they clearly jumped right up and came over? It’s been a half hour and you can get across this tiny town in ten minutes. They’re already slacking because of my last name. I’ll deal with it myself, thanks.”
