Page 134 of Tattered (Lark Cove 1)

My phone rang again, cutting off my apology.

“Give me that phone!” Ronny exploded, storming across the garage in a flash.

I backed up, trying to get away, but he trapped me against the cabinet. He grabbed my arms, his fingers digging into my biceps, as my phone kept ringing.

“After all the nights we spent together.” He shook me as he spoke, the jolts accentuating his words. “After all the hours I kept you company so you wouldn’t be alone. After everything we had, how could you turn your back on me just because he showed up? Were you thinking of me when you fucked him at the motel? Or in your shed? How could you do that to us? How could you leave me for him? You really are just a filthy cunt.”

Bile rose in my throat as I recalled the last threatening email I’d gotten, the one that had set Logan off.

Ronny was Anonymous743.

He’d been watching me. He’d been watching me with Logan.

He was off his fucking rocker.

Ronny wasn’t much taller than me, maybe an inch or two, but he was stocky. He outweighed me by at least fifty pounds. The grasp he had on my arms was so tight, there was no way I could wiggle free. My only shot was to get him to let me go long enough to make a dash for the door.

I relaxed, completely, letting my shoulders go limp. The move caught him off guard just enough that he stopped shaking me. And the moment he did, I shoved my knee right between his legs.

The second I made contact with his balls, Ronny doubled over, his hands going slack. I wasted no time dashing around him and going for the door. That was lucky. So goddamn lucky. Elation swelled until panic set back in.

Ronny recovered more quickly than I thought and his boots thudded on the cement behind me. I had twenty feet on him, maybe less, but I kept running. My palms slammed into the door and my fingers scrambled for the lock. Open, dammit. Open!

The deadbolt flipped easily and I gave the knob a hard turn. I yanked the door open and flew through but kept my grip on the knob. Once I was clear, I whipped the door closed, watching over my shoulder as it slammed shut. Then I made a break for it, turning for the road just in time to collide with a solid chest.

I screamed as two arms wrapped me tight.

“Thea!” Logan pulled me closer, holding me so I wouldn’t fall.

I blinked, looking up at a familiar chin. “Logan?”

“Thank god.” He breathed in my hair. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head, trying to spin back around to the garage. “It’s Ronny. He’s in there. He’s crazy, Logan! He’s been—”

“You can’t run from me, you fucking bitch! I want to talk!” The garage door flew open and Ronny rushed around the corner. He skidded to a stop on the driveway when he saw Logan.

Logan moved faster than I’d ever seen a human move. He let me go, took two long strides toward Ronny and started throwing punches. His arms were like snakes, striking Ronny’s face, then recoiling only to strike again. It didn’t take more than two seconds for Ronny to drop to the ground in a bloody heap.

I swayed on my feet, unable to process what was happening, when two sheriff’s deputies flew past me. They went right to Logan, ready to drag him off Ronny, but Logan was already backing away.

“We got him, Sheriff,” one of the officers said into his radio while the other fished out a set of handcuffs.

Logan’s breath was coming hard as he turned and came back to me. His hands ran up and down my torso in a frenzy. “Are you hurt? Did he touch you?”

“No.” I shook my head as my eyes took him all in.

He was wearing a suit, sans the jacket. His tie had come askew underneath his vest and his sleeves were rolled up his forearms.

He was gorgeous.

He was here.

If this was a dream—if I’d fallen asleep on the porch—I didn’t want to wake up. Crazy Ronny and all, I’d take this dream every night.

Logan finished his inspection, and when he was convinced I was fine, he wrapped me in his arms. Then he held my head to his heart. My ear was pressed right against its frantic rhythm.

Behind him, I could hear handcuffs being clicked around Ronny’s wrist.