Page 81 of Ice Covered Heart

“Stop.” Shelby realized she was almost shaking. All Gabriel wanted to do was shove his way into their minds and rip them apart. “You don’t know Hunter, and you don’t know me.”

“So you’re not afraid of him, Shelby? Deep down?” His too clinical and probing gaze was back on her. “You know that violence clings to him. You and I can both practically see it. Does the violence attract you? Or repel you?”

She—

Hunter laughed. A sound of real amusement, not like Gabriel’s rough bark from moments before. “Damn but you are an annoying asshole.” His fingers curled around her wrist. He gave her a quick squeeze.

Gabriel’s watchful stare noted the move.

“Shelby wants someone capable of violence at her side, of course, she does,” Hunter returned easily. “A bodyguard who has no knowledge or experience with violence is pretty useless, don’t you agree? Might as well just have someone who is all theoretical and just wants to, I don’t know, analyze potential attackers to death, am I right?” Mocking.

Gabriel’s shoulders stiffened.

“You’ve had your turn. Now it’s ours.” Hunter kept his fingers curled around her wrist, and she liked it. She liked the warm timbre of his voice and the way he didn’t back down. Not for anything or anyone. “You’re clearly obsessed with the Sorority Seven Killer,” Hunter continued as they stood on the porch and the rain fell just beyond them. “And you’re obsessed with violence. That means I just have to ask…where were you last night? Got a good alibi?”

Gabriel took a step back. “You’re seriously suggesting that I killed Tiffany?”

“Am I suggesting it?” A lazy retort from Hunter. “Or am I simply asking where you were?”

“I was here.” Gabriel’s shoulders were a bit too stiff. “Reviewing research paper proposals. My students had to turn in their topics to me before fall break. I was reviewing everything so that, when they return, I can tell my students if I think the premise of their work is strong enough for them to proceed.”

She edged a little closer to the open door and the professor. “What was the premise of Tiffany’s paper?”

His eyelids flickered. “She believed that Nate Shiloh had been wrongly incarcerated. She thought…” A pause. “Tiffany believed that you identified the wrong man as the Sorority Seven Killer, and she wanted to write her paper to outline the ways in which she would be seeking Nate’s immediate release.”

She started to back up.

Hunter tightened his grip on her, and Shelby froze.

“Why would she believe that?” Hunter asked.

Gabriel pursed his lips.

“Why?” Hunter pushed.

“I haven’t read the whole paper. I was merely working on a proposal.” Gabriel cleared his throat. “But it appears that during the course of her correspondence, she began to believe that⁠—”

“Wait.” There was nothing calm or mocking or easy about Hunter’s voice any longer. His tone had turned lethal.

The rain fell harder. She could hear it hitting the roof of the wrap-around porch.

“Correspondence.” Hunter had obviously locked on that word. “Back up to that part of your sentence.”

Yes, she’d latched onto that word, too, and Shelby hoped that she was wrong, but she questioned, “Tiffany was corresponding with Nate?”

No, no, no. Surely not. No way.

“Yes, she was. It’s standard for my classes. I have students reach out to individuals who are incarcerated so that they can understand what it’s like to⁠—”

Hunter’s body rippled with furious intent. “Are you fucking crazy? Or just so much of an arrogant asshole that you can’t see the danger in having a college co-ed become the pen pal to a convicted serial killer?” Lethal intensity in Hunter’s voice.

Gabriel swallowed. “I believe I’ve had my fill of insults for today. I was going to cooperate with you because Kimber asked me to do so on behalf on the college, but I will not stand here and be insulted by you.”

Thunder rumbled once again, and so did something else. The snarl of an approaching car. Shelby turned her head and spotted the blue Honda heading down the long drive that led to the house.

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, professor,” Hunter replied. “Looks like you’ll have more insults—and lots more questions—coming your way soon.”

Gabriel yanked the door closed and shouldered past them to peer at the approaching vehicle. “Who⁠—”