Page 5 of The Widow's Dom

“Janessa, I need to talk to you,” Henry said.

He had her blocked in, and she would have to touch him to get by him. It was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Henry, I need to get back to my table.”

“You can stop for a minute. You never have time to just talk to me.”

She hated the whiny tone of his voice when he talked to her.

“Please let me by.”

He shook his head.

The bitter taste of fear started to grow inside her. She knew if she screamed, someone would hear her over the sound of the band, but she didn’t want to have to do that.

“Please. Can’t you just leave me alone?” she asked.

He took a step toward her. “You have never given me a chance.”

Nick walked up behind Henry and put his hand on his shoulder. “Is there a problem here?”

Henry tried to shrug him off, but it looked like he tightened his hold on Henry’s shoulder, making the smaller man wince.

“Answer me,” Nick said.

Henry scowled. “We were just talking.”

Nick looked at her. “Is that right, Janessa?”

She shook her head. “No. He wouldn’t let me by.”

Henry tried to pull away from Nick. “Leave us alone. This is between her and me.”

“It doesn’t look like the lady wants anything to do with you.”

Nick was over a foot taller than Henry and outweighed him by seventy pounds because he was mostly muscle, and Henry was stick thin. Nick pushed Henry so that his face was smooshed against the wall. They both ignored Henry’s cries and anger.

“Go on past, Janessa. I’ll take care of this.”

She stopped a foot from them. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Nick nodded. “Go on, honey.”

Chapter Four

Nick watched her walk away before he turned the other man around. When Henry tried to step away, Nick pushed him hard against the wall.

“Listen up. If I ever catch you harassing her again, you’ll deal with me.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m a friend of hers, and I take her safety seriously.”

“You’ll be gone…”

Nick shook his head and smiled. “No, I’ve moved here. You’ll be seeing me around a lot.”

“You bastard, you can’t come into town and take her away from me.”

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