Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 39414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
My stomach drops. “Wyatt—”
Ethan steps forward instantly, voice firm. “Cooper.”
Wyatt doesn’t look away from Graham. “Say that again.”
Graham’s face goes pale for half a second, then goes red. “Get your hands off me.”
Wyatt’s eyes go cold. “Say. It. Again.”
Maddie’s hand clamps around my arm, pulling me backward, her voice steady in my ear. “I’ve got you.”
I stumble half a step into her, breath catching, and she positions herself between me and the men without hesitation. She’s small compared to them, but she feels like steel.
Sadie’s voice cuts in, sharp. “Wyatt, don’t.”
Levi mutters, “Ohhh this is about to get messy.”
Graham jerks his arm, trying to pull free. “This is assault,” he spits.
Wyatt tightens his grip. “You threatened my wife.”
Graham’s eyes flick to me over Wyatt’s shoulder, and the mask is gone now. His mouth curls. “Your wife,” he sneers. “She’ll get bored of you. She always comes back to me.”
My stomach twists.
Wyatt’s grip goes brutal for one terrifying second. Graham makes a sound—pain, shock—and I flinch.
“Wyatt,” I snap, voice sharper than I feel. “Stop.”
Wyatt’s head turns a fraction, eyes flashing. For a second he looks like he doesn’t know where he is—like he’s still in smoke, still in flames, still in that place where you do whatever it takes to eliminate a threat.
Then my voice lands.
His grip loosens.
He releases Graham with a hard shove that sends him stumbling back into the display case. Truffle boxes rattle. The bell on the front door jingles as someone outside shifts closer.
Graham straightens, fury blazing. “You psychopath—”
A new voice cuts through the shop like a gavel.
“That’s enough.”
Captain Saxon Cole stands in the doorway in uniform—dark jacket, badge, authority in every inch of him. He looks like judgment made human. His gaze flicks once over the scene: Wyatt’s posture, Graham’s rage, my pale face, the way Maddie’s arm is braced in front of me like a barrier.
Saxon’s eyes land on Graham. “You.”
Graham scoffs, trying to recover. “Are you in charge here?”
Saxon walks in slowly, controlled. “I’m in charge of Devil’s Peak Fire & Rescue,” he says. “And I’m in charge of what happens when someone brings their little power games into my town and puts my people at risk.”
Graham’s mouth tightens. “This is a private matter.”
Saxon’s gaze doesn’t move. “Harassment isn’t private.”
Graham’s eyes dart toward the window again—toward the audience. He adjusts his jacket like he’s about to perform.
Saxon doesn’t let him.
“You’re being recorded,” Saxon says, calm. “And you just said ‘you can’t keep her’ in front of witnesses.”
Graham’s face flickers. “That’s not what I meant.”
Maddie’s voice is sweet and deadly. “Sure it is.”
Ethan steps forward, ranger presence filling space. “We also have evidence of trespass near a backcountry cabin. Tracks. Surveillance gaps. And a texted photo from outside the window.”
Graham’s gaze snaps to Ethan. “You can’t prove—”
Ellie-in-me wants to shrink. My old instinct wants to say I don’t want trouble. My old instinct wants to apologize for making a scene.
I force my spine straight.
I lift my phone. “It’s all on here,” I say, voice steady. “He threatened me. He admitted he’d ruin me. He tried to take my phone. He said—” I swallow hard and look at Graham. “He said I always come back.”
Graham’s eyes flash. “Ellie—”
Saxon’s voice cuts in, sharper now. “Stop talking.”
Graham freezes, stunned.
Saxon pulls his own phone out and makes a call, voice low and clipped. “Sheriff’s office? I need a unit at Devil’s Kiss Chocolates. Now.”
Graham’s face shifts. “This is insane. I’m a citizen.”
Saxon’s gaze goes flat. “So is she.”
Wyatt hasn’t moved much since I told him to stop. He’s standing there like a coiled spring, breathing controlled, but his eyes are still on Graham like he’s a threat that needs to be neutralized.
I can feel Wyatt’s anger like heat coming off him.
And under it… something else.
Fear.
Not for himself. For me.
The bell jingles again as the door opens and a deputy steps in. Then another.
Graham’s mask snaps back into place, but it’s shaky now. “Officers,” he says smoothly. “Thank God. These people are—”
Saxon raises a hand. “Save it.”
The deputy looks between us, taking in the scene. “What’s going on?”
Saxon gestures toward me. “She has recordings.”
I hold my phone up again. “Texts, threats, harassment. He escalated foreclosure to trap me. He followed me. He sent me a photo from outside a cabin window.”
The deputy’s gaze sharpens. “He sent you a photo from outside where you were staying?”
Graham’s smile tightens. “That’s an allegation.”
Maddie’s voice stays calm. “It’s an image with metadata. Ask her.”
I blink, surprised. Maddie meets my eyes. “I told you. Facts.”
I swallow and nod. “I still have it.”
The deputy steps closer. “Ma’am, can you show me?”
I unlock my phone with fingers that finally feel steady and pull up the image.
The deputy’s face changes when he sees it.
Graham’s face changes too, just slightly. A flash of “oh.”
Then his jaw tightens. “This is a misunderstanding.”