Page 35 of Preying Heart
“Look, I frankly don’t care if you’ve got yourself a little playmate. I don’t even care if you knocked her up. The fact of the matter is, you can’t tell me what to do.” Lucy clears her throat and spits in Heath’s face.
He doesn’t blink or wipe his eyes, and Lucy gives me the evil eye. “What are you looking at?”
I avert my gaze from them, wishing I can sink into the ground.
“Well, Blair, if that’s your real name, it looks like Heath went to a lot of trouble for you. Are you going to tell me why you’re the way you are? Too stupid to live?”
“That’s enough.” Heath squeezes Lucy’s cheeks in a viselike grip. “I’ll pay you for your services, but you are not leaving the Fortress until Blair and I can believe you won’t endanger her safety.”
“You just love playing the white knight, don’t you?” She rolls her eyes. “Fine. I’m not cooperating. You may lock me up and throw away the key.”
“In that case, I’m going to cuff you to my bed until you decide to be an adult.” He hog marches her toward the other side of his house.
She glares at me as she walks by, hissing like a sausage in a microwave about to burst. I notice she’s approximately the same height as me, and the clothes she’s wearing—the checkered Dickies shirt, the slim jeans, and trainer sneakers—are similar to the wardrobe left in Heath’s closet.
The two of them definitely have history, and this makes me feel like an intruder.
“Maybe I should leave.” I follow Heath who’s busy unlocking his door with one hand while pushing Lucy against the wall with his other. “I’m causing so much trouble.”
“Oh, don’t give up your perch on my account,” Lucy says. “I’ll just go in time-out until this monster here gets tired of playing protector of theweak.”
I retreat to the guest room. I know I’m a worm. It’s what everyone called me in school. Chicken.Bawk, bawk, bawk.
I’m lying in the bed with a raging headache when Heath returns from locking up Lucy.
“Should I leave?” I try to sit up, but he sits down on the bed and motions for me to relax.
“No. She’ll calm down and listen to reason. She’s a firecracker and her own worst enemy. Unfortunately, it jeopardizes her safety. Her mouth is really too big for her own good.”
“Won’t she endanger your operations? The women and children you rescue?”
“She knows to stay quiet about trafficking victims and the cartels that move them around. She doesn’t believe you’re a victim.”
“I’m not a victim. I’m just taking time to decide what to do with the pregnancy.”
“I know. So how did it go? Is everything okay?”
My lips tremble at how kind he is to me. “Yes. I’m still pregnant as of a few hours ago. She did say I’m at risk for a miscarriage.”
“I want you to relax the rest of the day and not worry about anything. If you hear Lucy ranting, just ignore it. I could have gagged and blindfolded her, but I would have even more hell to pay. It’s better to let her blow off her entire head of steam.”
“You think she’ll cover for me or run and get the reward?”
“She has principles. She might argue with me, but she truly cares for her patients. You rest here. I’ve got a lot of groceries sitting out in the truck, and I got you shampoo and soap and stuff. Okay?” He pats my arm and grins like he’s done me a favor.
“Thanks.” I lay my head back on the pillow. “I won’t interfere with you and Lucy.”
“There’s no me and Lucy. There’s only Lucy. I’ll be back.” He salutes me and swaggers out the door with Glock silently following him.
Heath
Lucy is definitely a complication, but I’m not too worried about her. She’ll tire herself out and pretend it was her idea to escort Remi to the Fortress. Since I now have two women occupying two rooms of my house, I’m relegated to the office, the kitchen, and my back deck.
After I do the perimeter security checks, I take Glock out onto the deck and fire up my grill. I only bought three steaks, and one of them’s for Glock. Lucy thinks steaks are barbaric anyway so I’ll fix her a salad. My bedroom window is open a crack, so she has a front row seat to watching me man the grill and treat her to the mouthwatering scent she disdains.
At least she stopped shouting, but I can hear her grumbling and cursing, punctuating words like “idiot,” “beast,” “asshole.” That woman’s mouth would put a sailor to shame. Oh well, let her rant.
Glock licks his chops at the sizzling steaks, and I take his off first—letting him eat it rare. He wolfs it down and wags his tail at the sliding glass door. My heart fires up, and a smile cracks my face as I spy Remi coming out onto the deck.
