She didn’t tell him that her wrist was already swelling. Or that he’d broken into her house. She just stood there and wished he’d stop touching her. Because it made her skin crawl.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
“I wasn’t threatening you. You’re my sister, I’d never hurt you. But I can’t be spotted here. There are people after me. Bad people. Lucky, I found the spare key so I didn’t have to wait outside or break in.”
Shoot. Why had she put out a spare key after the locks had been changed? She’d put it in a different spot, but he’d obviously had no problem finding it. He strode into the living room and peered through the front window.
“They could be out there, waiting for me,” he muttered.
Okay, now he was really freaking out for real.
“Who could be? Is it the same people that say you took something from them?”
He turned, stormed over to her and she wished she hadn’t said anything. She bit back a whimper as he came closer. Fuck. She wished she had her baton handy, but it was under her bed where she usually kept it.
Okay, was she really thinking about using a baton on her own brother?
As he got into her space, intimidating her, she realized that she was. At some stage, she was pretty certain he was going to completely lose it and hurt her. Oh, he might feel remorseful afterwards maybe. But the damage would be done.
She had to protect herself. She might not be a fighter. But there was no one else going to do it.
Again, she thought of the card in her top drawer. No. She was on her own. Besides, it wasn’t like Max was going to let her go charge her phone, find the card then make a call to Kent.
She licked her dry lips.
“What do you know of it?” he snarled.
“Some...some man approached me after work the other night. He...he said that you have something his boss wants. He wanted to know where you were. I told him I didn’t know but that I would find out.”
And that had kept her awake and restless these past few nights.
“Fuck! Fuck! Can’t believe they fucking came to you!” He paced back and forth.
“What does he want? Can’t you give it to him?”
“No, I can’t fucking give it to him! It’s my pay-day, I just need to work out how to cash in. I just have to hide for a bit. I need cash.”
“I-I don’t have any money.”
She gasped as he grabbed her upper arms in a powerful grip.
“Fuck, Abby! I’m desperate.”
“And I’m sick of bailing you out of trouble all the time!” she exploded, surprising herself as much as him. That was probably the only reason she managed to break his hold on her.
“I have to go. These are not men you fuck around with!”
“Then why did you get messed up with them? I’m already paying off Mr. Markovich for you.”
Max snorted. “Markovich has got nothing on these fucking guys. He looks like a goddamn teddy bear in comparison. “
Why did she stay here? Why didn’t she sell the house and disappear to somewhere he couldn’t find her? A sense of rightness came over her. It was the only thing to do. She’d sell and disappear. Couldn’t be that hard, right?
It made her feel a slightly ill to leave him in a mess. But he brought this on himself. And at some stage she had to decide just where the limit was. How far she was willing to go for him?
Was she willing to die for him? Because she was very much scared that’s where this was going to end up, with her being murdered because of his choices. His actions.
Well, fuck him.