“I’m the man who’s going to throw you out that fucking window if you try anything stupid.”
Kaleb’s voice isn’t pitched low in a threatening tone. It’s a matter of fact. I really believe he’d throw Lennie out the window if it came to it.
He’s predator calm.
“Oh, is that so?”
Lennie stands up with a sick grin on his face. His eyes are glassy like when he’s high. He’s wearing a heavy leather jacket and he casually reaches inside.
Tension moves through me and I freeze, terror trying to stab at me.
“That would be a very stupid thing for you to do,” Kaleb growls.
“What, shoot you both? Hello, princess.” He aims his smile at me. “Miss me?”
Kaleb takes a step forward, and then another so his muscular shoulder is half blocking me. While my body has turned into a battleground of anxiety, he seems completely at ease, bored even, staring at Lennie the same way an eagle would scan the horizon for prey.
Something about Kaleb’s gaze must throw Lennie off, because he lifts his hands, offering his palms in a sign of peace. “Relax, man. I’m only messing with you. I guess you’re her knight in shining armor, then?”
“You broke into their home. Why, you sick fuck? What were you hoping to find?”
“Angie. Wasn’t that obvious? Is she here? Angie.”
“She’s not here,” I yell, anger making my voice strong. “And you better get going or you’re really going to regret it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” I take a step forward. “We’ve installed security cameras in the apartment and in the hallway. You’ve been caught on tape picking the lock.”
He chuckles. “Not this time. Sorry to burst your bubble, little lady, but the door was unlocked. Plus I don’t believe you.”
Fuck.
He might be right.
I don’t remember locking it behind Kaleb.
And he’s right. That stuff about the cameras was a bluff.
“It doesn’t matter.” Kaleb takes another step forward. “You have no right to be here. So if you’re going to make a move, make one. Otherwise, get the fuck out.”
“Think you’re tough, do you?” Lennie sneers. “I’ve diced up men bigger than you.”
“What about an MMA heavyweight champion?” I snap. “Have you diced up one of them before?”
Kaleb glances at me, smirking slightly, as though he’s proud of me for giving as good as I get. My belly swirls under his gaze.
Lennie’s face drops. “I don’t believe you.”
“I’m happy to prove it to you.” Kaleb slowly walks around the table, his eyes pinned on Lennie the whole time. He walks forward until he’s within bare inches of the man. “Come on, tough guy. Go ahead.”
Kaleb spreads his hands, staring at Lennie.
I can tell by the way Lennie’s eyes flit here and there he’s not used to facing off against men who are almost as tall as him, and he’s definitely not used to people responding calmly rather than with fear.
He’s a bully through and through.
“No?” Kaleb says. “Okay. Time to go.”
Kaleb takes another step forward, his hands hanging at his sides, fingers twitching like he’s ready to spring into action at any second.
Lennie backs away, bumping into the couch and then stalking toward the door. “Fucking prick. Fucking asshole. Think you can scare me? I know people. Heavyweight champion or not, I know people.”
Kaleb follows him to the door. “Sure, good for you. But just a word of advice. It’s hard to act tough when you’re walking away.”
“You wait,” Lennie cries. “I’ll make you pay for disrespecting me. I’ve got contacts.”
“Bring all the sad lowlifes you want to face me,” Kaleb growls, pulling the door open and nodding to the hallway, “but if I ever get word of you coming close to Kelly or her mother again, I’ll beat you into the fucking earth. Now get.”
He shoves Lennie into the hallway so hard he crashes into the opposite wall, letting out a whining noise before ducking his head and jogging away.
It’s only once Kaleb has shut and locked the door behind Lennie that he lets out a savage breath, turning to me with a dark look in his eyes.
“That motherfucker. Who does he think he is, strolling in here like that? If you were alone…”
I walk over to him quickly, touched by the pain in his voice, by his need to protect me.
His words from before are still whirling around my mind, about how he wants to be with me forever, about how he wants to claim me. I would never have believed it if he hadn’t sworn on Natalie’s life, and now this is even more evidence that he meant what he said.
I grab hold of him, hugging him tightly, stunned by how natural it feels…
But I’ve also been waiting for this moment for so long, I shouldn’t be surprised, not when I’ve rehearsed it a thousand times in my mind.
“I didn’t even think you were angry,” I murmur as he squeezes me against him.