Once Upon A Half-Time 2(111)
“I asked if you slept with him.”
I licked my lips. “I don’t think that’s any business of yours.”
“Did you, or didn’t you?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“We had an agreement, Josie.”
My stomach twisted. “No. You told me what you wanted. I never agreed to anything.”
He sighed, blowing on the coffee to cool it down. “I’m only doing this for your own good.”
That wasn’t true. He wanted to control me.
And he could.
I lowered my voice, hissing just like the disgusting snake pretending to be a prince. “You threatened Maddox’s life. You said you’d kill him if I stayed with him.”
Nolan didn’t flinch. “I said no such thing, Josie.”
“You meant it.”
“It’s hard to prove intent.” He stared me down, the blue in his eyes deceptively sweet. “Maddox is the wrong man for you. If you stay with him, you’ll get hurt.” He sipped his coffee. “And so will he.”
No doubt. And Nolan would be the one pulling the trigger. No—he’d hire someone else to do it, the same sort of low-life and hardened man that Maddox nearly became.
I hated this. These horrible threats shouldn’t have existed in a small town like Saint Christie. We weren’t a big city. We didn’t have crime. We had…Maddox. His family was bad news, and he looked kinda scary in a leather jacket with his tattoos, but the town wasn’t unsafe. Our biggest threat came from a raccoon appearing in the afternoon and the occasional firework that exploded too near a cranky neighbor’s house.
But Maddox always said darkness lurked anywhere a shadow was cast—big city, small town, campaign fundraiser, or candy shop.
Nolan’s family was supposedly legit, and their favorite son a man of principal and ethics. The town trusted him, but I knew the truth. Nolan hated Maddox, and Maddox had enough skeletons in his closet and crimes in his past that no one would think twice if one day he stopped coming around.
I had to do whatever I could to prevent Nolan from hurting the man I loved.
And I was running out of ways to keep Maddox alive.
“Maddox went to jail, Josie. Rightfully.” Nolan’s eyebrows rose. He almost looked handsome, but I didn’t trust his twisted smile. “I’m trying to save you from making a bad mistake. You’re involved with a man who has a record. A bad one. Vandalism, assault, theft. Arson.”
“Maddox didn’t burn down my shop,” I said.
“You don’t need to protect him.”
Like hell. “I know who the real arsonist is, Nolan. He can’t hide forever. Soon, everyone else will know too.”
“Josie, are you threatening me?”
I knew better than that. “It’s so hard to prove intent, isn’t it?”
“You’re snappy today. Little too much Matthias in you.”
“I just think it’s time for the world to know the man you really are.”
He sighed. “And I think you might be a bit lovesick and naïve. Do not trust Maddox. Don’t endanger yourself by letting him in your life.”
“It’s my life.”
“Don’t waste your heart on men who don’t deserve it.”
“Don’t tell me who to love.”
“Love is a dangerous game, Josie. People get hurt far too easily. Do you understand?”
Damn it.
How was this happening again? I had already broken up with Maddox once to appease Nolan. I lost him to Nolan, to the fire, to the justice system that failed us all.
Nolan wanted me, and I had no idea the lengths he’d go to coerce me into bed. I wasn’t about to be tied to the train tracks, but I couldn’t risk Maddox’s life until I proved it was Nolan who destroyed mine.
He sipped his coffee, offered me a smile, and then challenged me with another devil’s game.
“I’d like to buy your property, Josie.”
My heart stuttered to a stop. I didn’t answer. I didn’t have the words or the caffeine to imagine all the perverted scenarios that he would concoct. Didn’t that bastard do enough? I denied him once, and he set fire to my property. He burned it to the ground and left me with nothing.
What would he take if I refused him again?
“Absolutely not.” I said.
“The shop is gone, and you have no plans to rebuild. The lot is on Main Street, and the vacancy does nothing for the town. Let me take it off your hands.”
“It’s my family’s property.”
“And your family is running out of money.”
My insides turned into a slushie. “You don’t know anything about my family or our finances.”
“How’s your grandfather?”