My chest tightened, and I tried to hide my shock, even though I knew he didn’t mean a single word of it. Just like Jed had warned me, he was lashing out. The problem was that he always knew exactly where to strike.

“And second, I should kill you where you stand for insinuating I’m stupid. I’ve done a helluva lot more to men for lesser insults.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “If you don’t care about me, then why are you having Jed and Merv watch out for me?”

“You are still my property,” he said, walking back to his desk. “You agreed to pose as the Lady in Black for six months.”

My mouth gaped. “You can’t be serious.”

He sat in his chair, lifting his face with a cold, hard stare. “Have you ever known me to joke?”

I put my hand on my hip. “You think you can parade me out as the Lady in Black after everything that happened? What about Mason?”

His eyes narrowed into slits. “Deveraux won’t say a word.”

“Why not?”

He turned to his computer and started typing.

“Skeeter, why won’t he say anything?”

An ugly sneer spread across his face as he lifted his head. “We’ve reached an agreement, and I’m sure he’ll keep his word.”

A cold chill washed over me. “What did you do?” He turned back to his computer, and I stomped toward his desk, my hands fisted. “What did you do, Skeeter?”

He turned to me, his eyes so cold I would have been frightened of him if I hadn’t known better. “I took care of my business and my property. Now get the hell out. I’ll call you when I need your services.”

I wanted to shake some sense into him, but I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I turned around and stomped to the door. He was vastly mistaken if he thought I was going to play the Lady in Black ever again.

“Lady,” he said, his voice just as chilly as before.

I spun around to look at him.

“Don’t come back here again. If you do, I’ll have you forcibly removed.”

“Don’t you worry, Skeeter Malcolm. I’m never comin’ back here.” Just before I spun back around, I saw a wave of emotions wash over his face—pain, then triumph, followed quickly by a mask of indifference.

As I walked out and slammed the door behind me, I realized I’d played right into his hands.

Skeeter may have won this round, but I wouldn’t be so easily dissuaded.

Though part of me wondered why I even cared.

Chapter 6

Jed was sitting at the bar when I emerged from the back, and he jumped up from his stool. I shot him a scowl.

“I warned you,” he said, following me as I made my way toward the door.

I shook my head. “I know. But I still had to see him.”

“So who called you out in the parking lot?”

Well, crappy doodles. “I never got a chance to tell him.”

“Then tell me. Who called you?”

“J.R.”

“What?” he shouted loud enough to garner the attention of two guys shooting pool. One of the guys had been setting up his shot, but he stood upright at Jed’s outburst, pulling the pool cue back and stabbing his buddy in his oversized belly.

Jed grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the door. “He called you right before you came in? What did he say?”

“Oh, the usual,” I said, trying to play it off. “That he was coming for me . . . and Skeeter.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell Skeeter?”

“I was goin’ to,” I said defensively. “Then he started calling me his property, and he ticked me off.”

“I warned you that he was gonna lash out at you, so you’re going to march right back in there and tell him about that call.”

“I’ll do no such thing. He made it very clear I’m not allowed to darken his doorstep again.”

“You know he didn’t mean that.”

“He looked very serious to me.”

“Trust me. He’s gonna want to know about this.”

“Fine,” I said in a huff, rolling back my shoulders. “If you think it’s so damn important, you go tell Skeeter. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s not new information. We already knew J.R. would have it out for me, and he’s been playing the long game with Skeeter for a while now. J.R. only called to confirm his mission hasn’t changed.”

“But now we know for certain. We’ll step up surveillance.”

“Why? So Skeeter doesn’t lose his valuable property?” I asked, feeling like a witch. Jed hadn’t done anything to deserve my attitude, and Skeeter had only acted out of self-preservation. But I wasn’t ready to see Skeeter right now—his words still stung. “You go tell him. I need to call Joe.”

Jed grabbed my arm before I could make it out the door.

I jerked against his hold. “Jed. Let me go.”

He snorted. “You think tellin’ Baby Simmons is a good idea?”

“And why wouldn’t it be?”

“Who would you rather have watchin’ over you? Me and Merv or Simmons’s merry band of fools? Because you can’t have both.”

I pushed out a frustrated sigh. I hated to admit he had a point. “Then I need to talk to Mason. He was the one who called Skeeter in the first place. I’ll let him decide.”

Jed’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to let the man who left you make your decision for you?”

Anger washed through me. “I’m trying to do the right thing here, Jed! I’m trying to keep from losing Mason.”

“At the cost of your own life?”

“Dammit, Jed!”

But a grin spread across his face. “You know I’m right.”

“Fine. You’re right. But I’m still going to call Mason. J.R. threatened him, too.”

He gave me a hard stare. “I could take your phone. I could drag you back there to tell Skeeter in person.”

“But you won’t,” I said, pressing my lips together. “Because you don’t think of me as Skeeter’s property. You know I have a brain in my head that I’m capable of using.”

He released a grunt and pointed to the empty bar. “Sit there and wait for me.”