“Austin.” Ethan’s frustrated voice cut into her thoughts, which made Delaney realize her head had gone foggy. Her vision gray around the edges. She didn’t remember Ethan standing from the booth. “Stay out of this.”
“There is no staying out of this. What she does affects all of us.” Austin’s dark gaze swung toward Delaney again. “And you are causing nothing but trouble around here—for everyone.”
He kept his voice low, but the rough timbre was more menacing than if he’d been yelling until her ears rang. “You obviously didn’t take me seriously the first time, so I’m going to tell you again, and this time you’d better take my words as the goddamned gospel. Get your ass the fuck out of town.”
Delaney was shaking inside—with fear, with fury—but she fought to find a reasonable tone. “As much as I would love to do just that, your father has made it impossible for me to leave. I’m only here to do what his ordinance requires—”
“You’re not here at all. You got me?” He moved in, closing the last few inches between them, and towering over her. “You’re already gone. As in now. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But now.”
Delaney’s heart beat so loudly in her ears she could barely hear. Her adrenaline revved, her fight or flight kicking in, which was about to become a problem—because she didn’t have anywhere to fly.
“If you think you’re going to resurrect the hellhole where you killed our cousin, you’re not only wrong—you’re dead wrong. It. Won’t. Happen.”
The clear threat shot a shiver up her spine. Her face and fingers had gone icy.
“Austin.” The single word from Ethan carried a heavy this-is-your-last-warning threat. “Back the fuck off.”
Ethan put his hand against Austin’s chest, but his brother knocked it away, nearly hitting Delaney’s chin.
Without looking away from Delaney, Austin spoke to Ethan. “No one is going to turn our family upside down again.”
“I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here, but your family made it impossible for me to stay away.” She needed air. Needed an escape route. She could stay calm and collected when she had room to move. But when she felt trapped, she wasn’t nearly as composed. “If you don’t like it, talk to Jack and Ethan. In the meantime, I’m going to do what I was told to do.”
She squeezed out from between Austin and the post and headed for the door.
But Austin cut her off again, and Delaney’s heart tripped. “You little bitch,” he rasped, barely more than a whisper. “Just who in the fuck do you think you are?”
Bitch.
She was a lot of things, but she was not a bitch.
A brittle, shaky kind of frenzy snaked through her and made her bold. Made her reckless. Made her more like the girl she used to be.
She stepped into him, instead of away, and looked him directly in the eye. The move surprised him, and he leaned back.
“I think I’m a taxpaying business owner of Wildwood.” She lifted her voice now, instead of quieting it. “I think I’m entitled to feel safe in my community. I think the sheriff’s department is bound by law to provide safety for their citizens, not instill fear in them, like you’re trying to do right now. I think I have rights that are upheld by the constitution, Deputy Hayes. That’s who I think I am.” She took a shaky breath, ready to shatter into a million pieces. “So either arrest me or get the hell out of my way, right now, and let me leave.”
Ethan wedged himself between her and Austin, glanced over his shoulder, and bit out, “Go.”
Ethan paced the parking lot of Patterson’s while Austin leaned against his cruiser, arms and ankles crossed.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Austin said. “Do you want her raising that bar again? Do you want to drive a wedge between yourself and the entire family again?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ethan yelled back. “Do you want to lose your fucking job? Do you want the department to get sued for harassment?”
Austin just shook his head, that superior attitude radiating disgust. “Dude, you’ve got to shut that bitch down. Dad’s going to pop a blood vessel.”
Ethan felt sick. Physically sick. Like he was going to lose the acid churning in his stomach any minute. He wanted to knock some serious sense into Austin, but if he did, Austin’s suspicion would peak. And if Austin’s suspicion peaked, he’d stir the shit by dropping innuendos with the family.
Delaney had enough trouble with his family.
“Sometimes you’ve got to get your hands dirty to put change into motion. And I know how fussy you are about getting dirty. I’m just stepping in to do what I know you won’t. Hell, you’ve already got enough problems with Dad and Uncle Wayne as it is.”
“They make their own goddamned problems, then try to blame them on everyone else. She only came back because he forced her into dealing with that dump.”
Austin’s eyes narrowed. “Dude.” He laughed the word with surprise. “Dude, you’re hot for her.”
Fear stung the pit of Ethan’s stomach. “Don’t try to deflect the conversation from your screwup. You always do this when you’re wrong.”