Page 67 of Shattered By the Currents

No.He couldn’t be here. He couldn’t be in the same room as her nightmare.

Connor’s eyes narrowed on Xander. “What are you doing here?”

Her ex’s arrogant smile widened. “Hey. Connor, right? It’s good to see you again so soon.”

He stopped beside her, and without taking his eyes off Xander, asked, “Are you okay, Raven?”

There were so many words she could use to describe how she was right now, andokaywasn’t in the vicinity of any of them. “This is Xander.”

The change in Connor was instant.

His eyes blackened, the muscles in his arms thickened. For a second, he was a stranger, the highly trained special forces soldier he’d once been. “You’re the asshole who took her money.”

“That’s what she told you?” Xander shook his head. “That wasourmoney. Money I needed to payourmortgage. I didn’t mean to leave her short.”

Connor stepped forward, but Raven shot between them and put a hand to his chest. Then she looked Xander dead in the eye. “I’d like you to leave now.”

She couldn’t let them fight. Not physically. Yes, Connor was a former SEAL and could easily kill Xander—but Xander didn’t fight fair. He was probably carrying. And she wanted her ex as far away from Connor as possible.

Connor’s musclesrippled with the urge to grab the guy. Demand answers—like what the fuck he wanted with Raven. Because he wantedsomething. Why else would he be here?

He clenched his fists as the guy passed him.

“I’ll see you both later.” The man’s gaze lingered on Raven, humor dancing in his eyes.

Son of a bitch.

It was only when the door closed that he turned to Raven. “Did he touch you? Because if he did?—”

“He didn’t. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You don’t need to lie to me.”

“I’m just shocked. I didn’t know he was coming.”

“So you didn’t plan to meet him here?”

Her gaze swung up to him, a crease between her brows. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“Because I don’t know what the hell’s going on, Raven! You won’t tell me anything.”

“If I could, I would. You said you wouldn’t push.”

He grabbed her hips. “Raven, I don’twantto push. I want you towantto tell me. I want you to trust me with the truth even if you think I’ll hate it. But we’re clearly not getting there fast enough.” He glanced at the door, then back to her. “Is he a threat to you?”

Silence.

He waited for her to tell him something,anything…

She didn’t.

“I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again.” His eyes flickered between her ocean-blue ones. “I can’t protect you if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“I can protect myself.” The lie darkened her eyes.

“Really? And what’s your method of protecting yourself? Running from the asshole? Hiding out in this town?” Yeah, it was a low blow, and he regretted it immediately.

Red tinged her cheeks. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”