Tortured Duchess (Adair Legacy)

Alrighty then. Breakfast it is. Flouncing out to the living room, I tell my companion I’m ready, and he shadows me out the door and down to the street. Opening the door of a waiting car for me and zooming through traffic, I ignore the vibration of my phone when I see Hendrix’s name flashing.

“Something I need to know about?” Ryan asks.

“How are you at family counseling?” I counter. He grimaces. “Yeah, me too.”

“Anyone I need to be concerned about?”

“Not really, no.” I pull up a picture of Hendrix and me. “But if you happen to see this guy, he’s my brother. Don’t let him beat Ashton up, and also don’t shoot him, please.” He laughs. I don’t. I’m quite serious. “He loves me, but he’s a little excessive in his duties as big brother.”

“No worries, the boss can take care of himself. I only promise not to deliver a kill shot, though.”

“Fair enough,” I mutter.

As we stop in front of a cute little bakery and coffee shop, I’m excited by the aromas wafting through the air. “Stop me after two, no three, of whatever I smell, alright? And then when Ashton gets here, pretend like you saw nothing.” I wait for him to nod.

When he realizes I’m not joking, he laughs aloud, and it’s not a horrible sound. However, it’s rough. “My lips are sealed, Hadley.”

Entering the establishment, I’m immediately impressed with how charming it is. Bistro tables for two or four are scattered around. Eye-catching signs highlighting coffee and muffins line the walls, and the display case is filled with some delicacies I could easily get lost in.

Before I can delve into making a fool of myself by devouring everything in sight, the bell over the entrance door chimes, and I turn, hoping to find Ashton. If he’s here, maybe I won’t overindulge. Maybe.

I’m disappointed to see it’s a woman with the worst scowl on her face, and she looks pissed as she storms towards the counter. I step back out of her way because I figure she’ll become more infuriated if I take too long in selecting what I want.

To my surprise, she stops in front of me, slams her hands on her hips like she’s about to lead the charge to a protest, and starts yelling at me. A good deal of spit comes flying from her mouth, and her words are so jarbled that they just flow together, so I don’t understand a thing she’s saying.

“Are you stupid or something, redneck?” She finally takes a breath and barks these insulting words. By now, everyone is watching us, and I feel a little embarrassed, primarily for Ryan. He didn’t sign up for crazy town here.

“What is your problem?” I feel like I’m in the twilight zone.

“Ashton DeMarco is mine, you homewrecking whore!” She squeals the words and follows up with a rather harsh open-handed slap across my face.

My head spins, and I taste blood. Ryan moves to grip her bicep and remove her from my space, but I put a hand up to stop him. I’m nothing if not able to defend myself.

“Hit me again, and you’ll regret it,” I warn her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but he is most certainly not a taken man, especially by some psycho like you.” Dismissing her, or attempting to at least, I feel a yank in my hair.

Spinning on my heel, I’m not sure who’s more shocked when I swing with a sharp right hook, slamming my fist into her jaw and sending her careening to the floor.

Me, her, Ryan, or shit…

Ashton.

* * *

Ashton

Annoyed about my meeting running longer than it was supposed to, I arrive at the café a few minutes before I told Hadley I’d be there, and as soon as I enter, she’s turning around swinging, hitting a woman square on the jaw. I watch, open-mouthed, as the woman falls to the ground.

Hadley’s eyes widen when she sees me, and Ryan tries to contain a laugh.

I’m not sure what to say. I’ve obviously missed something, and from the anger shining in my woman’s eyes, it might be good that I did.

“One more person,” she grinds out as she steps over the woman crying on the floor, “calls me a slut, whore, or any other derogatory name, and I’m hanging you by the balls from a roof.”

There’s a lot to focus on in that sentence. “How are you going to get me up there?” I finally settle on asking.

She stands in front of me, confident in her answer. “Spiderman will help me.” Ryan. My gaze flicks up to meet the other man's, and he shrugs.

“Okay then.” Though I have no idea why. “Breakfast elsewhere?” I assume she will want to leave, but she shocks me when she takes a seat at a table in the front window.

Ryan scoops down to help the woman Hadley cold-cocked to her feet and out the door, sitting her on the ground, likely waiting for a contact at the department to arrive and carry her away. I follow Hadley’s lead and sit across from her. She’s staring out the window, which gives me a chance to study the woman at Ryan’s feet.

It looks like… “Denise?” I mutter.