“Mom,” she whispered and broke down in big, shuddering sobs again. “S-she said I owed her. She p-pulled a gun on me.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” He closed his eyes against the explosion of pure rage in his chest and held her tighter. What else could he do? Besides sic the cops on Katrina Bremer, which he fully intended to do.
Shelby wiped away her tears with the backs of her hands. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let her in.”
“This is not your fault.”
“You need to call your bank and—and make sure she doesn’t take all of your money. That’s all she wanted. She found out we’re married and wanted your money.”
“It’s insured. Whatever she gets, the money’s insured.”
She drew away enough to meet his gaze. “No. Call them right now. Freeze the account or whatever. I don’t want her to get a dime. This is my home. However temporary this situation is, right now it is my home, and I’m not letting her get away with coming here and scaring the hell out of me. She took my ring and your notebooks and the paintings I bought yesterday just because she knew it’d hurt me. She didn’t get her way, so she wanted me to hurt.”
“There you go.” He pushed her mussed hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. “Get mad.”
“I am mad. She had no right to terrorize me in my home. I don’t owe her shit.” Sitting up, she pushed her shoulders back and inhaled through her nose. She blew out the breath slowly, then wiped her eyes and, when she looked at him again, she was calm, grimly focused. “Call the police,” she said. “Call the bank. And then we will push her out of our thoughts and go to the gala and charm the pants off Irving James.”
Jesus, she was amazing.
He cupped her cheek, dragged his thumb over lips that still trembled slightly. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She lifted her chin, strength in every angle of her face. “I don’t want to waste a second more of my time on that woman.”
With the fire of determination in her eyes and the stubborn set to her jaw, she’d never looked more beautiful to him. He had to kiss her and leaned down, brushing his lips across her eyes, nose, taking his time with each light brush of his lips. Finally he moved his mouth over hers, drinking her in, wanting a taste of the flame that made up the core of her being, the wild heat that had first drawn him to her.
Shelby broke the kiss first and pressed a hand into his chest. “Go call the police. I need to shower or we’ll be late for the gala.” She squeezed his hand, then stood and disappeared into her bathroom.
Reece didn’t move for several minutes. Should he call off this whole gala thing and join her in the shower? She obviously needed comfort, even if it was just someone to hold her. Because even as determined as she was to keep it together, he saw the cracks in her bravado. She was hurting. And he wanted to make it better.
The water came on and he finally stood. He couldn’t be angry at her for shutting him out right now. She was using the gala as a distraction—he understood that—but later, he was going to hold her. If she needed to break down, she could do so without worry, because he’d be right there to help her glue the pieces back in place when it was over. They were stronger together than alone, and he planned to prove it to her.
He walked out to the living room, and the sight of it pissed him off. He wanted to start cleaning, but knew better and instead called the cops. They said they’d send a unit right over. Next, he called Cam. It took a couple tries before his brother finally answered.
“What?” Cam answered breathlessly.
Reece winced. He did not want to know what Cam was up to right now. “Bad timing?”
“Fuck you. I’m working out and—oomph!” His voice faded away from the phone. “Eva, that didn’t count. I called a time out.” Then back into the phone, grumbling, “You’re making me lose. What do you want?”
“Actually, I’m glad you’re both right there. You might want to put me on speaker for this.”
There was some shuffling, a muffled conversation, then Cam said, “Go ahead.”
“What’s up?” Eva asked.
This was not going to be a fun exchange. Reece exhaled hard to release the tension balled in his gut and launched into an explanation of the day’s events. He ended with, “I wanted to warn you so you didn’t hear it from the police scanner.”
Eva’s voice sounded small, miles away. “I keep telling her Mom won’t change.”
“I know. I know you do.” Cam cursed. “Hey, baby, it’s okay. He said Shelby is unharmed.”
“She’s shaken up,” Reece said, “but also mad. Katrina took some paintings she’d bought for the apartment and her wedding ring.”
“What?” Now Eva sounded more like herself. “Oh, fuck her. Just…fuck her! I’m going to kill her. I’m—”
“Don’t say that,” Cam soothed. “I know you’re angry, but—”