Willow Smoke (91 page)

Nick
pulled
down
her
nightgown,
trying
his
best
to
ignore
the
shame
and
the
tears
filling
Daisy’s
eyes.
The
black,
blue
and
purple
blotches
on
her
breast
made
his
stomach
curdle.
“Son
of
a
bitch,”
he
screamed.
“That bastard did this to you. I’ll
have
him
killed
before
dawn.”

“Don’t
talk
foolish,”
Daisy
yelped,
sitting
up
in
bed,
tugging
the
gown
up
around
her.
Her
eyes
narrowed.
“How
did
you
know
Reggie
was
here?”

Nick
was
out
of
the
bed
and
pacing.
How could
he
have
left
her
so
unprotected?
His
house
had
a
security
system,
but
she’d
opened
the
door.

“Why
did
you
let
him
in?”

“I
didn’t
think.
He
barged
in.”

“But
you
opened
the
door.”

“I didn’t want to
disturb Mrs. B.”

“Disturb...”
Nick
threw
back
his
head.
“That’s
super.
You
risked
your
own
neck
so
you
wouldn’t
awaken
Mrs.
B.”

“Yes.”

Nick
refused
to
be
put
off
by
Daisy’s
meek
tone.
She
was
still
sorting
out
pieces
to
the
puzzle
and
he
had
only
a
limited
amount
of
time
to
find
out
what
had
transpired
that
afternoon
in
his
own
house.
He
came
to
a
halt
by
the
bed
and
crossed
his
arms.
“So
what
did
he
want?”

Daisy
looked
away.
“What
do
you
think?”

“Money.”

He
watched
her
nod
her
head
a
fraction.

“Did
you
pay
him?”

“I
will.”

“How
much?”

“That’s
none
of
your
business.”

“The
hell
it
isn’t.”
Nick
clenched
his
fists.
“That
asshole
comes
to
my
house
and
manhandles
my
woman
and
it’s
not
my
business?”

Daisy
breathed
deeply.
“I’m
pleased
to
be
your
woman, Nick. I really am.” Her voice rose. “But that does not
make me your
property.
I
won’t
have
you
treat
me
the
same
way
Reggie
does.”

Crestfallen,
Nick
slumped
down
on
the
bed.
“You
know
I’m
not
doing
that.”

Daisy
shook
her
head.
“Both
of
you
seem
to
think
you
can
get
me
to
do
anything
you
want
like
I’m
some
kind
of
puppet.”

“Not
true.
And
you
know
it.
I
wouldn’t
do
a
thing
to
harm
you.”
His
eyes
rounded,
staring at her partially bare breast.

Glancing
down
at
herself,
Daisy
rearranged
her
gown
again.
“Oh,
you
wouldn’t
leave
bruises
on
my
body.
You’d
leave
them
on
my
heart,
on
my
soul.”

What
could
he
say
to
that?
How
could
she
think that
of him? What had he ever
done to her
that might make her think that?

She
folded
her
hands
on
her
lap.
Carefully,
she
interlaced
her
fingers
and
then
looked
at
him
boldly.
“So
how
did
you
know
Reggie
was
here,
Nick?
And
how
did
you
know
he
was
at
the
track
the
day
the
security officers escorted him off the
premises?”

Nick
pinched
the
bridge
of
his
nose
and
reached
for
his
glasses.
He’d
need
every
bit
of
armor
he
could
muster
before
this
spat
was
concluded.
His
head
already
throbbed.

“Well?”

She
looked
detached.
He
knew
it
was
one
of
her
favorite
defenses
for
self-protection.
“You
had
him
followed,
didn’t
you?

“I’ll
bet
Clint
Travers
is
behind
this.
And
Cassie
hasn’t
breathed
a
word.
Everybody’s
looking
out
for
poor
Daisy
Matthews,
aren’t
they.
Nobody
thinks
I
can
take care of
myself.”

“You
shouldn’t
have
to
take
care
of
yourself
by yourself,” Nick mumbled.

“I have for most of my
life. So how is this so different?” She raised her palm,
stopping
him
with
his
mouth
open.
“I
know,
you’re
going
to
tell
me
that
love
is
different.
I
don’t
know
about
that.
Others
loved
me,
and
I
still
had
to
wind
up
going
it
alone.
Why
should
I
become
dependent
on
someone
else
taking
care
of
me?”

Nick
reached
to
pat
her
thigh
but
withdrew
his hand. “I’m not trying to make you
dependent,”
he
explained.
“God,
Willow,
I’ve
looked
for
you
all
my
life.
Now
having
found
you,
I
can’t
stand
the
possibility
of
losing
you. I can
help. I want to help. If
you’ll
let
me.”

“Seems
like
you’re
doing
a
pretty
good
job
of
that
behind
my
back.”

Nick
could
not
discern
from
the
glint
in
her
gray
eyes
whether
she
was
still
angry
or
was
teasing.
He
wasn’t
about
to
take
a
chance
and
guess
wrong.
“It
seemed
like
a
good
idea
to
have
Reggie
followed.
He’s
got
to
screw
up
someday,
and
then
we’ll
have
him
behind
bars
for
a
good
long
time.”

Smiling
thinly,
Daisy
replied,
“I
can’t
say
I’d
have
anything
against
that.”
A
sob
rippled
through
her
body.
She
closed
her
eyes
and
opened
them.
“And
I
don’t
want
to lose you either, Nick. I’m not sure I
spent
my life looking for you, but now that
we’ve come this far, I don’t want to lose
you either.”