Standing His Ground: Greer (Porter Brothers Trilogy 2)

“He came into the bar right after you left. He’s been with me the whole time.”

He didn’t need Diamond to defend him, but it was better than seeing that fear on Holly’s face when she stared at him.

Diamond held out her arms for Holly when one of his deputies called out to Knox from inside. And Holly turned toward Diamond, growing more composed now that her friend was here.

Greer shoved his hands in his back pockets to keep from tugging her to him.

“Do you want me to get you some water?” Diamond offered.

“No, thanks. I’m fine now that I’m not alone. I’ve never been so afraid in my whole life as I was when I turned around and saw him running at me.”

“You’re safe now,” she reassured her.

“I’m going to go get my truck. I’ll be right back,” Greer said, seeing there were two deputies watching over the women.

“Where’s Dustin? I thought he was the one who was coming?”

“Since I was in town, Dustin asked if I could.” He didn’t want to worry her more about Logan when she was still trying to deal with the aftereffects of someone trying to attack her.

“You were with Diane?”

“Yes.”

“He shouldn’t have bothered you. You can go back on your date. I’m fine. I’m sober enough to drive myself home now.”

“I not going anywhere, other than to get my truck.” He turned on his heel, leaving the women and not letting Holly’s suggestion make him feel like a jerk. She knew he hadn’t wanted to pick her up. He never did anything voluntarily for her unless he had no choice.

He retrieved his truck and drove it to the parking lot where Holly and Diamond stood. He then turned on the heat before getting out.

“Get in the truck. I warmed it up for you. You can roll the window down when you need to talk to Knox.” He held the door open, giving her no choice but to climb inside the large pickup.

“I’m going inside to talk to Knox,” Diamond said when Greer asked her if she wanted to sit with Holly.

Greer shut the truck door, going to the other door to climb inside.

“I told you I didn’t need you to stay with me.”

He turned toward her. “You’ve lived in my home for about six years now; have I ever laid a fucking hand on you?”

“No.” Holly started crying again.

“Dammit.” He reached over, lifting her over the console until she lay across lap. “Stop crying. There’s no reason to be afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid of you. I might have wanted to kill you a time or two, but I’m not afraid of you.”

Greer’s lips quirked at her threat. Holly couldn’t hurt a fly. Any other woman would have killed him within two weeks of living with him.

“Did you see anyone leave King’s when you did?”

“No, but I wasn’t paying attention, either.”

Treepoint was so small, everyone knew each other. He couldn’t think of anyone who would have attempted to hurt Holly. He and his brothers had their share of enemies, but he had grown up with all of them, and those people knew there would be repercussions for anyone trying to hurt a hair on her head.

Greer rolled the window down when he saw Knox and Diamond come out of the building.

“Find anything?” Greer asked Knox as he stepped to the door of the truck.

“Nothing but a bunch of glass and broken doors. Diamond called a locksmith. He’s on his way to fix the doors until tomorrow when we can buy a couple new ones. I watched the security footage from the hallway and Diamond’s office. Whoever it was, was wearing a hoodie, so we couldn’t make out his face. He’s about six-feet-two and around two hundred and fifty pounds. Other than that, there’s no way of knowing who it was until we luck out and get a fingerprint.”

Greer and Knox’s eyes met. Whoever had done the damage had done their damnedest to catch Holly. She was going to have to be watched closely to make sure they didn’t succeed next time.

Greer silently nodded his head over Holly’s, not wanting her frightened any more tonight.

“If you think of anything you haven’t already told me, call me immediately,” Knox told her. “If I find out anything, I’ll call.”

“All right. If that’s all that can be done, I’ll get her home now.”

He helped her back over the console after Holly told them good night. Then he turned the heat on higher as they left the lighted town behind.

“From now on, don’t go anywhere unless me, Tate, or Dustin are with you.”

“I’m sure it was just someone who wanted to scare anyone walking through the playground. Everyone takes that as a shortcut.”

“You’re probably right, but there’s no need to take chances. Do you think it could have been your ex? He’s on parole.”