speak with more volume than before.
Gideon tapped the badge clipped to his belt. âGot questions.â
âGo fuck yourself, Chief Marshall. Get out.â
Instead, he sauntered into the room. âJust what has you so worked up?â
She gaped at him. Clutching the crystal tumbler in her hand, she stared at him as he made a slow circle around the room. His dark head of hair was disheveled, and she found herself thinking of the times sheâd run her hands through it.
Had Marisâ
No. Donât go there, she told herself. She couldnât do that and still stay sane. She knew Maris and Gideon were lovers, didnât need to torment herself with imagery of it.
Maris was bigger than Moira, taller. As short as Gideonâs hair was now, it was would barely be long enough to curlâ
Her blood heated and jealousy burned even as the memories ripped at her heart.
He was leaving .
The agony just might tear her in two.
âI want you to leave,â she said again.
âIâve got questions, Moira.â He turned and pinned her with a flat look. âDeal with it.â
Her head was all full of what she was dealing withâthe fact that he was leaving, the fact that she had really lost him, the pain in her throat, and the fear from the attack, combined with the sudden attack of dizziness. She realized sheâd neglected to eat anything and that probably wasnât good since sheâd bolted eighteen-year-old scotch.
Deal with it .
âDeal with it?â she said. The words shook, which just made her madder.
Since she couldnât yell, she did the only thing she could do.
She threw the tumbler at his head.
He dodgedâshe knew he wouldâit went sailing over him to crash into the wall. It made a pretty little tinkling sound as it shattered and fell to the floor.
âWhat theââ
Furious and shaking, she swiped out a hand to grab for something else. Anything else.
Her hand closed around a small brass elephant and she let it fly.
That didnât make a pretty little sound.
Gideon swore and lunged for her.
He caught her, pinning her arms to her sides. She tried to twist away, but it wasnât happening. âGetââ Her voice splintered. It was like the dying shards of it stabbed into her throat and she gasped, the pain awful.
âWhat in the blue fuck is going on here?â
Wheeling her head around, she tried to find Brannon, but she couldnât see around Gideon. âBranââ
She couldnât manage to finish her brotherâs name.
Sagging in Gideonâs arms, she silently started to cry.
Above her, she heard Gideon sigh. âBrannon, do me a favor and just shut the doors. Leave us alone, okay?â
âI come in, see you grabbing her, see her crying, and you want me to leave you alone?â
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
Gideon jerked his head around, staring down Brannon.
âLike Iâd ever hurt her,â he said, voice harsh. He felt every soundless sob that shook Moiraâs body. He didnât know what had pushed her over the edge, but something had. Another spasm racked her body. âBrannon ⦠please.â
The manâs mouth tightened. But he turned his back and pulled the doors shut behind him.
Scooping Moira up into his arms, Gideon carried her over to the couch and sat down.
It was agony.
It was also the sweetest ecstasy heâd known in months. Holding her like this ⦠he set his jaw and tried to keep from thinking of the last time he had held her. The last time heâd touched her. Those few brief hours had given him the faintest bit of hope and then heâd gone smashing down into the darkest, ugliest pit of despair.
Heâd been doing fineâ
Moira shuddered again, a violent spasm that had him hugging her tighter out of instinct. She twisted out of his arms and half-fell out of his lap.
âMoira, would youâ oomph! â
She drove her elbow into
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