CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Grace
“She needs help, Millie.”
I told the diner owner what I suspected was going on with Kyra. She listened intently to my version of events. To others, Kyra might have appeared just like a drunken woman scorned, but to me, who had seen how drugs could change people, I saw a woman who was crying for help. I couldn’t get Matt to see this. After he figuratively locked me in the loft, he stormed off in search of Kyra. I had begged him to calm down first but to no avail.
Roger shook his head when he saw me come down the stairs from the apartment. Matt had chewed him out for no apparent reason. It wasn’t his friend’s fault. I was getting more and more pissed off at Matt by the second.
“I wouldn’t leave the garage until the boss returns,” Axe said, clearly indicating he’d been tasked with looking after me.
“Am I a prisoner here?”
“No, but I’d think you’d have more self-preservation after having had a gun pulled on you,” Axe replied.
“I am walking no more than twenty paces across the street to see Millie,” I said. “Something is not right with Kyra.” I turned to the other mechanic. “Tell him, Roger.”
“I’d hate to agree about letting her out of the garage, but she’s right,” Roger concurred. “You should have seen her, man. The woman who pointed a gun at Grace was not Kyra.”
“Shit. Okay,” Axe grumbled, relenting. “But I’m going to stick to you like white on rice. Everything you say to Millie, I’m gonna hear, okay?”
So there I was talking to a concerned Millie. She tried calling Kyra. “You said Matt went to see her?”
“That’s what I was led to believe.”
“She’s not answering,” Millie said, swiping the end-call and laying her phone on the counter. “I keep getting her voicemail.”
“When was the last time you spoke to her?”
“Last Saturday, when I told her to take some time off. I gave her some money to offset any income she may have lost, although you know that’s not necessary.”
I knew that. Matt had explained to me that the ex-agency assets who’d been victims of a corrupt CIA official were receiving a stipend from a fund set aside by Admiral Porter. The money had come from the rigged sale of weaponized plutonium. The plutonium never left the agency hands, but they were able to apprehend agents from rogue nations who’d paid for them. A portion of the money was set aside to take care of CIA veterans who’d been disavowed unfairly so as to prevent blowback to the U.S. government. Thank God for people like the admiral who made sure no one under his watch was abandoned—from agents to analysts to informants like Kyra.
There was some disturbance at the front of the diner and then the door flew open with Matt charging through. Rage darkened his eyes into an inky blue. Apparently, he hadn’t calmed down yet.
Thankfully, it was past dinner time and the few patrons left in the diner were folks who work at the general store, the garage, and the salon a few blocks over.
Matt cupped my elbow and steered me to him. His other hand closed over my nape, with his thumb forcing me to look at him.
“I told you not to leave the goddamned loft!” he barked. “That was one simple request, Grace.”
My blood boiled. “That didn’t feel like a request. That felt like an order!”
His fingers tightened and if I didn’t know Matt better I’d be afraid he’d snap my neck. He certainly looked angry enough to do so, and yet I was confident he wouldn’t physically hurt me.
“Then you should have followed it!” he snarled. “You’re never leaving the loft without letting me know again. Are we clear?”
I stared up at him mutinously.
“Are. We. Fucking. Clear?” he bellowed into my face.
I couldn’t stand the searing burn of his glare and lowered my eyes to his chest, still stubbornly dissenting to his high-handed attitude.
His fingers slackened around my neck, and I was crushed into his hard, upper body.
“Why do you do this to me?” he growled by my ear. “All I want to do is to keep you from getting hurt, babe. Why can’t you see that?”
“You can’t shield me from everything and trying is only going to drive you crazy,” I told him softly, moved by his desperate tone.
“I’m already there, gypsy,” his graveled voice raked over my heart. Matt drew back and tucked my hair behind my ear. “My sanity hinges on your safety. If I can hide you from anyone and everyone who means you harm, I would. But you,” he inhaled sharply then continued, “make it so goddamned hard.”
“You can’t keep me in a cage, Matt.”
He gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Yeah. I kinda figured that.” He cleared his throat and looked over my head, presumably at Millie, and finally remembered we weren’t alone.
“I didn’t get to speak to Kyra,” he stated flatly.
“And I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from her, Matthew,” Millie said sharply. “Based on what Grace told me, she’s unwell.”
“She threatened Grace with a gun,” Matt returned.
“And I’m fine,” I interjected.
“That’s not the point,” Matt argued. “She could have killed you.”
“We’re attracting an audience,” Millie hissed. “Let’s discuss this in my office.”
Matt took my hand, gripping it possessively, and made me walk beside him. He had definitely gone from love-them-and-leave-them-in-the-morning to this unrelenting caveman in the last month.
When we got to Millie’s office, Axe, who brought up the rear, closed the door.
“I’m disappointed in you, Matthew,” Millie said. “I expected better control from you than simply going off and confronting Kyra. You’ve known her for years, and even though you two hooked up as consenting adults and she misunderstood your relationship—”
“There was never a relationship,” Matt interrupted. “You, of all people, knew that and know the type of man I am.”
“And yet here you are now. Don’t you think seeing how you are with Grace gave her hope that, indeed, you could commit, so she decided to try it out for herself with you.”
“I swear I’ll never understand women’s logic,” Matt griped.
“Which is why you will let me handle Kyra,” Millie ordered.
“Keep her away from Grace and we won’t have a problem.” Matt’s body language exuded aggression.
Millie’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t like this one bit. “Are you threatening me, Matthew Foster?”
“Not at all,” he returned levelly. “The truth is I don’t know what I’d actually do if someone else tries to hurt Grace. Living with self-sufficient ex-assassins, I’ve never had to worry much about anyone’s capability to protect themselves.” Matt looked at me. “No offense to you, babe.”
“None taken,” I said derisively. I wasn’t delusional to think that I was as skilled as they were. “Still, my point is I’ve not done anything recklessly. I met Troy a mile from the garage, and Roger was with me. Kyra showing up with a gun was unfortunate. And you yelled at me when I simply crossed the street to Millie’s and the diner was full of people who can protect me. Can you at least see how unreasonable you were?”
“I don’t like you defying my orders.”
My brows shot up. So did Millie’s. But unlike her, I did not smile in amusement.
“You’re a freaking tyrant,” I muttered irately. “I don’t have the energy to argue my point right now because by the look on your face, I’m wasting my time.”
“Matt, consider this pre-marital counseling,” Millie drawled. “But it’s not good to annoy the wife.”
“I’m not his wife yet,” I grumbled. Matt’s arms hooked around me, pulling me back against his chest.
“It’s a done deal, babe,” he whispered and nipped at my ear. I felt the shiver straight to my toes. His possessiveness was both a turn-on and an aggravation.
“Do you have any advice, Millie, on how to deal with overbearing husbands?”
“Easy. Cut off their water.”
Matt froze behind me.
“What?” I laughed, pulling away from Matt as I saw him glare at the other woman.
“Oh, sweetie, withholding sex is the greatest weapon of all.”
I heard Axe choke on a chuckle and Matt shifted his glare to him. “What the hell is so funny, Axe?” Looking at me, he continued. “I wouldn’t take Millie’s advice. I doubt she’s ever been married.”
“He’s right. I’ve never been, but I have a world of experience. Trust me on this. Men think with their dicks. Always.”
“Christ. Thanks, Millie,” Matt said sarcastically.
Her smile was saccharine sweet.
“Going back to the Kyra subject,” I said. “You’ll look into it, Millie?”
“I’ll head over there tonight,” she assured me. Her normally shrewd eyes were soft. “You’re a good person, Grace. Other women would wish their fiancé’s ex to hell.”
“Oh, under any other circumstances, I’m as normal as any other woman, but I can’t overlook my duty as a DEA agent. Which is why a good compromise was having someone close to Kyra get involved. I doubt she’ll appreciate my help, and it could only make matters worse.”
Matt squeezed my shoulders. I felt the tension leave his body. I think my man had calmed down enough to finally see my point. Or maybe the idea of withholding sex had shaken the impenetrable wall of his anger.
“So, what were you doing in Atlanta, Matthew?” Millie asked suddenly.
“I met up with Kate.”
“Oh?” Millie’s face lit up with interest. “And?”
“She’s coming back to Misty Grove next week.”
“To stay for good?”
“I hope so,” Matt said.
Millie harrumphed. “I see you’re not very chatty about it.”
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed, okay?” Matt sighed. “I don’t want to hope, only to have Kate get a wild hair about staying away again. There’s only so many times I can lose my twin.”
The other woman nodded. “Does Colt know?”
“I gave him a heads-up,” Matt replied.
“Well, at least that other girl is not in the picture any longer.” Millie looked at me. “For a small town, we keep things interesting around here, don’t we?”
“That’s an understatement if ever there was one,” I quipped.