Falling into You (Falling Stars 3)

I sucked it down.

“Not in the mood for bullshit this morning.”

His head cocked. “No? You in the mood for putting a sweet, innocent girl in danger? Is that what you’re in the mood for?”

His taunts filled the crisp morning air.

I sucked it down in an attempt to cool the fire.

Last thing I needed was to expend any energy on this.

“Not doing this with you.” I angled around him.

The time of day did not belong to him. It belonged to her.

I started up the path toward the house.

Felt the commotion of his footsteps coming up behind me, the roar of his outcry filling my ears. “You don’t deserve her!”

Every muscle in my body tensed. Flexing for the fight. Knew it was coming. The way he plowed into my back. His momentum tossed us both to the ground. Bodies a tumble of ire.

The hate, the jealousy, the possession I’d tried to keep bound wrenched against their chains.

Face in the dirt, I pushed up, scrambling around in a bid to toss him off. He clocked me in the jaw.

Motherfucker.

All that hate broke free, and I had him pinned to his back in a second flat.

Crack. Crack. I landed two quick punches to his face.

A moan of agony ripped from his throat, and his eyes grew round in fear. I gripped two fistfuls of his shirt, lifting him up and slamming him back to the ground.

My teeth gnashed, the threat boiling out from the darkest place in me. “You want to fuck with me, asshole? You’re going to learn what that means.”

“She’s better than you,” he wheezed.

No fuckin’ shit.

I picked him up and slammed him down again, and then I leaned in and ground the words close to his face, “You don’t listen very well, do you? Warned you to stay the fuck away from my wife.”

I pushed him deeper into the ground, fighting the urge to bury him there. Before I lost control, I shoved off him and climbed to my feet. I swiped the bitterness from my mouth, dabbing at the dot of blood dripping from the corner of my lip.

Fucker.

Dude laid there glaring up at me, not daring to move. I pointed at him. “Already warned you, asshole. This will be the last time before I personally throw your ass from this farm.”

I turned and started to storm up the path, a riot of rage pummeling my insides. Wanting to take it out on the poor bastard who was fighting for what he thought was right. Problem was, he had no fucking clue.

But that was the way—people only saw the surface. Made their judgments. Cast their stones without knowing the full story.

Just a twisted, fucked-up factor of human nature.

Which was the only reason I left the prick breathing.

I was halfway up the hill when he shouted behind me, “You’re going to pay for this. I won’t sit idle and let you do this.”

I slowly turned to look at him from over my shoulder. “Stay out of my way. You don’t? You’re going to find out what it really means to pay.”

Then I turned and left him standing there.

The commitment flaring.

Filling up my chest.

Overwhelming.

Because nothing—nothing in the world was going to stop me from finishing this. From protecting them. From setting one thing right.Twenty-SevenVioletFacedown in my bed, I blinked my eyes open to the rays of sunlight that slanted through the cracks in the drapes covering the window. It cut through the shadows that lurked within the bedroom, but it was the subdued chatter of voices echoing from downstairs that pulled me from sleep.

Yawning and fighting the exhaustion that threatened to pull me back under, I stretched and rolled over.

Every inch of my body moaned in protest.

All it took was the riot of pain to send a flashfire of memories assaulting me.

The fear.

The confusion.

The outright horror.

The attack in the workshop.

Waking up in the emergency room.

Richard showing up with my father.

Him driving me home and seeing to it that I was safe.

What screamed the loudest was the lashing memory of the cruel voice in my ear making that threat. I was sure that I would never forget it.

I scrubbed both hands over my face to break up the images, wishing it were nothing but a bad dream, but I knew full well I had to wake up and face this nightmare.

Forcing myself to climb out of bed, I went straight into my bathroom, cleaned myself up a bit, and pulled on a pair of sleep pants to cover my bare legs.

A shiver rolled over me as I was touched with another memory. This one soft. A loving caress. The man gently undressing me while he promised he would always be there. That he wasn’t going anywhere.

Sucking in a stuttered breath, I eased out my door and followed the sound of voices that grew louder the second I stepped out.