by Jenny Penn
Who was she kidding? Lindsay wondered. She’d already broken it. Of all the stupid things she could have done, falling for two, not one, Cooper brothers had to be the stupidest. Not only would a relationship with her put their lives at risk, it would also put her heart in danger.
She needed to put a stop to this disaster before it went any further. Of course, disasters were her specialty and this one appeared primed to snowball out of control. Lindsay came to that determination as the silhouette of something large and male separated from the shadows of the trees lining the far side of the yard.
She froze as every cell in her body prickled with a painfully cold tickle of apprehension. There was definitely somebody out there, and Lindsay didn’t need three guesses to figure out who. Crugman had arrived. Sheer, unadulterated fear consumed her for a moment as the urge to flee nearly overwhelmed her. There was nowhere to run, though, nowhere to escape.
Lindsay stomach dropped at that thought. A fight was coming. Cooper and Nick were bound to end up in the middle of it. They wouldn’t know any better, wouldn’t understand what kind of battle they was sinking themselves into. Particularly Cooper. With his arrogance, he was bound to get himself killed. Then Nick would go down trying to avenge him.
Lindsay couldn’t let that happen. Wrapping her hand around the handle of the sledgehammer she’d bought, she lifted it up and began stalking after the intruder.
The bastard moved with a slow, stealthy gait that allowed Lindsay to catch up with him. Coming close enough for him to hear the pounding beat of her racing heart, she didn’t have the time to let the fear take hold as she hoisted the sledgehammer up into the air.
The time had come to take a stand.
Lindsay swung the sledgehammer like a bat, aiming to crack Crugman’s spine in two. Something must have given her away because at the last second he turned. The heavy, iron hammerhead slammed right into his side, sending the big ass crashing to the ground. He held onto the gun, though. The metal barreled gleamed in the sliver of light cutting through the cabin’s window.
She responded instantaneously. With one heavy footstep, she stomped on his hand with enough force to crack bones. Crugman screamed in agony but Lindsay didn’t flinch as she kicked the gun far away. He deserved to suffer. The only thing she regretted was it didn’t last long. In fact it took only seconds for Crugman to recover before he shifted at her feet.
“Don’t make me have to break your other hand.” Keeping her voice firm and steady and her gaze cold and unblinking, Lindsay issued that warning without a hint of sympathy as Crugman’s left hand disappeared behind his back. “I know you can shoot with both, but what will you wipe your ass with if they’re both broken?”
“Fucking psycho bitch.” Crugman spat at Lindsay, though he wisely withdrew his hand.
“And you’re a dumbass,” Lindsay shot back, keeping a sharp eye on him as he scrambled to his feet. “But at least you’re still a man, right? Tell me, how the boys hanging?”
“Go fuck yourself!” He could curse all he wanted but that didn’t change the fact that Crugman was shuffling backward and away from Lindsay. “This is the sort of crazy shit that lands you in asylums.”
“What? Defending myself? Is that what you call crazy shit?” Lindsay demanded to know, refusing to give in to the fear clawing at her insides.
“Try assaulting innocent men.”
“Try being one.”
“We’ll see who the judge believes.”
As if they both didn’t already know. The odds were against her. They always were, or had been. Things had changed when she’d gotten the best weapon money could buy—a lawyer more corrupt than Carl.
“I guess it depends on the judge.” Lindsay managed to offer Crugman a smile. “My lawyer knows quite a few.”
“Mr. Mathews?” The dark glint of anger in Crugman’s gaze hardened into something a whole lot more frightening. “Excuse me, I mean the late Mr. Mathews?”
Late? Mathews was dead? Lindsay froze as a spike of sheer terror lanced through her. Without Mathews and his connections, she had nothing to shield her from Carl’s wrath, or Crugman’s. Lindsay could feel the cold, disgusting wash of his gaze raking over her and knew he could scent her fear.
“Next time I’m going to pay those guards to rape you.” Crugman’s smile was all teeth but the amusement in his tone was real. “I’m going to have them tape it just so I can enjoy it for years to come.”
“I don’t think so.” Cooper stepped out onto the porch with Lindsay’s shotgun pointed right at Crugman.
His gaze held the promise of violence and his tone, little warmth. There was no doubt in her mind that he was fully capable of pulling the trigger. Suddenly Lindsay found herself in the strange position of having to protect Crugman.
“So, you going to introduce me to your friend?” Crugman asked as he finally gained his feet, keeping a watchful eye on the hollow end of the gun Cooper trained on him.
“No.” Stepping up to block Crugman’s view of Cooper, she placed herself squarely between them as she dared to stare down her worse nightmare. “There’s no need because the asswipe here was just leaving. Isn’t that right?”
Lindsay lifted a brow, all but daring Crugman to argue with her, but it was Cooper who answered her question.
“He’s not going anywhere but jail. The sheriff’s already on his way.”
Lindsay cringed at that hard command. She knew that tone, knew that Cooper intended to be difficult. Nonetheless she tried to reason with him.
“I don’t think—”
“I don’t really care what you think right now.”
“But—”
“No ‘buts.’”
“Damn it, Cooper!”
“That man is going to jail, and that is that.”
“No!” Lindsay put her foot down, not about to bullied by anybody. “No. No way in hell. There is no need to involve the police in this.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Technically she’s certifiable,” Crugman sneered, drawing both Lindsay’s attention and ire.
“Shut the fuck up,” Lindsay snapped at the smug bastard before turning back to the other arrogant idiot complicating her life. “And as for you, I’m not giving my stepfather a police report to use against me.”
“And that is paranoia,” Crugman pointed out.
“And you’re about to see homicidal if you don’t get lost.”
“Don’t even think about leaving,” Cooper contradicted her instantly, tempting Lindsay to take a swing at him.
Did the man not have any sense? The answer to that question was clearly no.
“You move one inch, boy, and you can say good-bye to those kneecaps. Got me?”
“Oh, I got you.” Crugman nodded, not looking the least bit concerned by Cooper’s threat. “And I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”
Crugman raked Lindsay with a look that held the same threat of violence that imbued his tone with a dark edge. Lindsay didn’t need any help recognizing the promise lingering in his gaze. Apparently, Cooper didn’t either.
“You’re going to be headed for a six-foot grave out back if you don’t stop staring at my woman like that.” The raw edge sharpening Cooper’s words held a bite that only a fool would have ignored. Crugman wasn’t one of those, but neither would he be so easily cowed.
“Your woman?” Chuckling as if Cooper had cracked a joke, Crugman smile actually warmed for a moment with true amusement. “Well that’s an interesting development. A violent, gun-toting boyfriend…can’t imagine how a judge will take that news.”
Cooper didn’t waste his breath or his time responding to that taunt. He moved so fast Lindsay didn’t have a chance of blocking him. Before Crugman could defend himself, Cooper came barreling down the steps, swinging the shotgun just like a bat. He buried the wooden butt in Crugman’s gut. He went down hard, hitting the ground with a thud.
Far from done, Cooper took advantage of the moment to crack the butt into Crugman’s jaw. The soun
d of bones breaking sent a shudder through Lindsay as blood spurted out Crugman’s mouth. Cooper looked anything but merciful as he towered over his victim.
“I’m a violent, gun-toting, psychopathic boyfriend with a very possessive streak and I don’t make idle threats,” Cooper corrected Crugman, crushing the other man’s left hand beneath his boot. “Now you really don’t have a hand to wipe your ass with.”
Shock, horror, panic—one emotion after another ripped through Lindsay as she stood there gaping at Cooper. “For God’s sake, you broke his jaw.”
“Good. Then he can’t make a statement to the police,” Cooper retorted, sounding suspiciously satisfied. “Or write one either.”
Lindsay blinked, unable to believe her own ears. “You’re insane.”
* * * *
Cooper thought he very well might be. Standing there looking down at the bastard bleeding at his feet, the only thing he knew for certain was it wasn’t enough. The raw, primal need to destroy anything or anybody that dared to threaten Lindsay still gripped him, urging Cooper toward violence, toward putting down the enemy permanently. It would have been so easy to give in but the scared look in Lindsay’s big eyes held him back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Flushed and quivering with outrage, Lindsay defiantly confronted him, making all the blood pounding in Cooper’s veins rush downward toward his balls. That quickly she had him hard and hurting as the rage burning inside him transformed into a lust so strong it all but consumed his soul.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Lindsay lit into him without any idea of the danger staring down at her.
Cooper growled, fighting back the primitive instincts surging through his blood. God he wanted to see her on her knees, to watch those full lips part over the thick head of his cock and feel the sweet, moist heaven of her mouth suck him down deep and hard.
“I really don’t know what is wrong with you.” Lindsay threw her hands up into the air, nearly smacking Cooper in the process. “Do you know how much trouble you’re in now?”
She was scared. That revelation hit Cooper along with a fierce need to sooth the fear darkening her beautiful features. He didn’t like seeing her frightened. It fed his need to crush the man whimpering before him.
“You’re afraid of this man.” Cooper stated, trying to put the pieces together.
“No.” Lindsay answered too quickly and with just enough hysteria in her tone to make a lie out of her denial. It didn’t matter how much she shook her head. Cooper knew the truth. “The only thing I feel for him is revulsion.”
“Who is he?” Cooper pressed.
“None of your business.”
“Lindsay.”
“You can growl all you want. I’m not telling you a thing.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she got that stubborn look that Cooper had come to know and dread. “He’s my problem. Not yours.”
“Your problems are mine.” Stepping up to tower over her, Cooper did his best to impress her with the truth of his words. “Because you are mine, lil’ bit. Now who is he?”
“Somebody who could hurt you, and everybody you love. Trust me, you don’t want to get involved. I’m not worth it.”
The earnest desperation rounding her eyes cut straight through to Cooper’s heart. Lindsay meant what she said, but how she could believe it—he didn’t know. He suspected it had something to do with the asshole bleeding all over the ground.
“Of course you’re worth it.” Dropping the shotgun on the ground, he wrapped Lindsay in a big hug and tried to convince her of the obvious. “I think you’re worth more than that, and I’m going to make damn sure that everybody knows that if they want to fuck with you they have to go through me. You’re not alone anymore, lil’ bit.”
“Oh, God,” Lindsay groaned, sounding anything but grateful as she pulled back to frown up at him. “That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Are you nuts?”
“Don’t argue with me on this, Lindsay. Not now,” Cooper warned her as blue and red lights began to strobe through the trees blocking the view of the road down below. “Besides the sheriff’s already here, and he’s a personal friend.”
Lindsay’s lips thinned as she pressed them tightly together. Cooper didn’t misread that gesture or the glare she beamed at him. She didn’t plan on letting him have control of the situation, wouldn’t let him protect her. Instead the woman seemed determined to test the very limits of his patience by trying to protect him. If Cooper hoped to keep her safe then he’d need backup, and needed it to arrive fast.
Hopefully Nick wouldn’t dawdle.
* * * *
Nick’s nearly crashed his truck into the back of a deputy’s cruiser as he flew into Lindsay’s yard. The call he’d gotten from Cooper had him speeding all the way down the back lane without a concern for the bumps or pits that had his truck banging up and down the entire way.
He didn’t even bother to slow down when he pulled up into her drive. Neither did he waste time throwing his truck into park before he leapt out, leaving it to roll forward as he raced across the yard toward the woman bellowing out her displeasure for all to hear.
“I will not be bullied! Not by you. Not by anyone.”
With a finger buried in Cooper’s chest, Lindsay unloaded a litany of demands as she lit into his brother while he sheriff stood by looking more amused than anything. Cooper said nothing but his glare spoke volumes. Nick knew that look, knew what the tick in Cooper’s cheek meant and knew how close his brother was to snapping. Shoving past the snickering gaggle of deputies congregated at the bottom of the porch steps, he rushed up to intervene before Lindsay could push too far.
“Why are you staring at me like that? What? Are you having a stroke or—Hey!” Lindsay squealed in shock as Nick twirled her around to lift her right off her feet with a hug tight enough to have her gasping. “Nick!”
“Sorry.” Dropping her back onto the porch, he didn’t release her but lifted a hand to tip her chin up and force her to meet his gaze. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, for the love of God,” Lindsay groaned. Twisting her head back, she jerked free of his grasp. “Yes! I’m fine! Everything is fine! Well, except for the fact that your dumbass of a brother seems determined to get himself arrested.”
“Lindsay!” Nick gaped at her, certain he’d never seen her so riled up before. He wasn’t the only one who took offense to her comment.
The dark growl that rumbled out of Cooper’s chest held more than irritation and frustration. Buried deep beneath was the harsh, grim warning of a man who had come to the end of his patience. Not that Lindsay appeared to care.
“Don’t you snarl at me,” she snapped turning back to confront Cooper. “You, sir, are a liar and I’m not going to stand by and allow you to sacrifice yourself for some antiquated notion of chivalry.”
Before she could dig herself into an even deeper grave, Nick wrapped an arm around Lindsay’s waist and tucked her safely into his side. “Come on, lil’ bit. I think you need a time-out.”
“What?” Lindsay tried to jerk free but Nick simply tightened his hold, forcing her toward the cabin’s open door. “No! I don’t want to go anywhere. This is my house, my porch, my problem, damn it! Let me go!”
“I’m sorry,” Nick apologized as he all but shoved her over the threshold. “But Cooper needs a moment to remember he doesn’t hit women.”
“No but I spank them.”
“You son of a—”
“Oh, no, you don’t.”
Catching Lindsay as she lunged for Cooper, Nick managed to hustle her deeper into the cabin, ignoring the curses she aimed his way as she fought for her freedom. He only granted her that after he’d kicked the door closed behind him. Releasing Lindsay, he barricaded the entranceway with his own considerable bulk.
“I think, maybe, you ought to calm down now, lil’ bit, before you say or do something you regret later.” Crossing his arms over his chest, Nick matched his hard tone wi
th his best authoritative look. It did not appear to impress Lindsay even a little.
“And I think, maybe, you ought to get the hell out of my way,” she shot back, mimicking his posture as she glared at Nick with outright hostility. “Before I do something you might regret later.”
“The only thing I’d regret is letting you get hurt.” Actually, Nick didn’t think he could live with himself if that happened. “And I’m not budging until you tell me just what the hell is going on here.”
“Nothing. Nothing is going on here,” Lindsay snapped but Nick could hear the lie in her words just as easily as he could see the panic in her eyes. This wasn’t nothing, no matter how much she wished it was.
“There is a man being taken away in an ambulance.” Nick fought back a smile at the sour look that reminder earned him.
“Oh, please.” Lindsay heaved a deep sigh and shifted even further away from him, retreating by slow degrees. “Trust me, Crugman will survive.”
“So you know the intruder?”
Nick jumped on her comment, pausing to give Lindsay a chance to answer but she refused to. Instead she pressed her lips pointedly together and tilted her chin up at him in a stubborn look he’d already come to know too well.
“What? You’re not going to speak to me now?”
Again he gave her a chance to answer but when Lindsay failed to respond, Nick had enough.
“Fine. Don’t tell me. I’ll just have to find out the hard way…I guess I could start with…Crugman? That was his name right? I bet he’d be willing to give me a few answers.”
“They’d all be lies,” Lindsay spat, breaking under the strain of Nick’s threats. “And you’re only going to get yourself into trouble if you go messing with him. Do yourself a favor and just stay the hell out of my business.”
“Not even if it costs me my life.” Nick didn’t even have to think about his response. It came out instantly and straight from his heart. Not that he managed to impress Lindsay.
“The price is too high. I won’t let you pay it.”
