Deadly Ever After (Hardy Brothers Security Book 6) (7 page)

“I can protect you from this,” James seethed. “I
will
protect you from this.”

“I’m an adult, James Hardy,” Mandy said. “I do what I want, when I want. And, tomorrow, I’m going to work.” She threw open the bathroom door angrily. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

James was moving before he even realized what he was about to do, his hands gripping the back of one of the table chairs. He heaved it across the room, slamming it into the far wall, and knocking two framed photographs to the floor with the effort.

Mandy’s eyes widened. “What the hell?”

“You’re not going to work tomorrow!” James bellowed.

Mandy shook her head, disgust evident on her face. “You’re out of control.”

James fought to regain his composure, but it was a losing battle. “You’re not going to work tomorrow,” he repeated.

Mandy glowered at him. “I am going to work tomorrow. If I have to walk there … if I have to hitchhike there … I’m going to work tomorrow.”

James slammed his clenched fist against the table. “I’m not having this discussion.”

“Good, I’m not either.”

James glanced around the apartment, the walls suddenly closing in on him. “I’m going downstairs.”

“Great,” Mandy shot back.

“I’m sleeping down there.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

James threw open the apartment door and stepped through it, casting one more derisive look over his shoulder. “Don’t you even think about leaving this apartment. I’ll know.”

“Go to hell,” Mandy said.

“Right back at you.”

James slammed the door, the two remaining picture frames on the wall shaking. Once he was gone, Mandy sank to the floor and buried her head between her knees. She thought she was going to cry, but the tears didn’t come. She was too angry to cry. She was too angry to do anything but wallow.

Ally let herself into Hardy Brothers Security early the next morning. She had every intention of being a good sister, and a good friend, and volunteering her time to answer the phones so James and Mandy could spend some much-needed time together. A shifting figure on the couch in James’ office caught her attention before she could climb the stairs and tell the upstairs occupants about her plan.

She detoured into the office, frowning when she found him sleeping on the couch.

“What are you doing down here?”

James glanced up, making a face when he saw his sister. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to answer phones so you could spend the day with Mandy,” Ally said.

“She’s not talking to me,” James said, struggling to a sitting position and rubbing his back. The couch was old. It wasn’t meant for sleeping.

Ally rolled her eyes, planting herself in one of the office chairs. “Why?”

“We got in a fight.”

“I figured that out myself,” Ally said. “Do you want to be more specific?”

“Nope.”

“Should I go up and question her?”

“Knock yourself out,” James said. “Be forewarned, though, she’s in a mood.”

“And you’re not?”

“The difference is, I’m right,” James said.

“If you think you’re right, why are you sleeping down here?” Ally asked sagely.

“I didn’t want to talk to her,” James said. “If I stayed up there, we would have screamed at each other the whole night. I thought the distance would do us some good.”

“Do you want to tell me what you were fighting about?”

“No.”

“Mandy will tell me,” Ally prodded.

“Let her.”

“She’ll skew things to her way of thinking.”

James shot Ally a scorching look. “I’m the one who is right.”

“Then tell me what you’re right about,” Ally suggested.

“I told her she can’t go to work until this is taken care of,” James said.

Ally sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. “Did you tell her or ask her?”

“What’s the difference?”

“You know what the difference is.”

“I know that she’s not safe out there,” James said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “She’s safe here. She stays here.”

“So, you laid down the law,” Ally said, puffing out her chest in an exaggerated impersonation of him. “I’m James Hardy. I know all and see all. You will bow down to me and do what I say. I am the boss of you. You’re just a stupid female, and you have no idea how to take care of yourself.”

James scowled. “That is not what I said – and I don’t sound anything like that.”

“Isn’t it?”

James considered the question. “No,” he said. “She was already mad. I just told her I didn’t want her going to work and she completely freaked out.”

“Something tells me you didn’t put it like that,” Ally said.

James narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Did she call you?”

“If she called me, would I be here trying to be a good sister? If I realized you were already down here, I would have stayed in bed with Jake this morning. It would have been a much better start to my day.”

James rolled his neck, rubbing the back of his head as worry started to convalesce in his mind. “She didn’t call you?”

“No.”

“She always calls you.”

“Not always,” Ally corrected him. “Mandy calls me when she’s mildly upset, and she calls me when she’s medium upset. When she’s really upset, she crawls into a hole and carries the brunt of everything on her own shoulders.”

James let Ally’s words sink in. “She’s fine.”

“Then why are you sleeping on your office couch?”

“I needed some space.”

“You’re the guy who doesn’t want to spend a single night away from her,” Ally pointed out. “You’re the guy who slept in her parking lot because you couldn’t bear to be away from her after the explosion. Now, you’re suddenly the guy who volunteers to sleep on his office couch? No offense, but who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“I … .”

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Ally said.

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to need help fixing this,” Ally said. “Without all the information, I can’t help you.”

“Why would you want to help me?” James asked.

“Because helping you helps her,” Ally said. “Also, you
are
still my brother. I do love you. You’re a complete and total jackass sometimes, but I still love you.”

“I love you, too,” James mumbled.

“So, tell me what happened.”

James cracked his neck. “I lost it.”

Ally waited for him to continue.

“She was mad,” he said. “I was mad, too. I thought it was just going to be a quick argument and then we could make up. Somehow … somehow things got away from me.”

“How did they get away from you?”

“Well, I tried to distract her with food.”

“I was there for that.”

“I tried it again after you guys left,” James said. “When that didn’t work, I offered her sex.”

Ally made an exasperated sound in the back of her throat. “You idiot.”

“I know.”

“When that didn’t work, what happened?”

“I figured, since she was already mad, I would tell her about the work situation,” James explained. “She was going to take a bath to calm down. I figured, if I waited to tell her she couldn’t go to work, then it would start a whole other fight. This way, she could pout in the bathtub and get it all out of her system.”

“And?”

“And she didn’t take it well,” James said. “She told me she was an adult and she was going to work.”

“And what did you do?”

“I told her she couldn’t go to work.”

Ally waited.

“And then there was some screaming … and some yelling … and I might have thrown a chair.”

Ally was taken aback. “What?”

“I didn’t throw it at her,” James said. “I threw it at the wall.”

“Why?”

“I have no idea,” James admitted. “I was angry. I was angry from the minute I heard what happened. I should have found a way to get control of myself before then – but you were all here – and it just snowballed.”

“What did she do when you threw the chair?”

“She seemed surprised.”

“I bet.”

“I … I didn’t mean to do it. Once I did, though, I felt better.”

“I’m guessing she didn’t,” Ally said.

“No. Then I slammed out of the apartment and left her there.”

“And you haven’t spoken since?”

“No.”

Ally sighed, leaning back against the chair. “Do you ever think it might be a good idea to take an anger management class?”

James rolled his eyes. “Someone shot at the love of my life yesterday,” he spat out. “She was saved by a fluke.”

“Are you mad because someone shot at her, or are you mad because you weren’t there to save her?”

James stilled. “That makes no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Ally said.

“I … crap.”

Ally smiled knowingly.

“I hate it when you’re right.”

“You should be used to it,” Ally said. “I’m always right.”

“Don’t push me,” James grumbled.

Ally reached over, grabbing her brother’s hand. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to wait for her to apologize.”

“And I’m going to wait for unicorns to fly out of my butt.”

James made a face. “Nice visual.”

“Thank you.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Begging might help,” Ally said. The pathetic look on his face was enough to soften her. “Tell her the truth. Tell her you let fear get the better of you. Tell her that you love her, and you can’t bear the thought of anything hurting her. Tell her you’re sorry.”

“Those are all things I tell her on a regular basis,” James replied.

“Then she should be used to it.”

“What if she doesn’t forgive me?”

Ally tweaked his nose, a gesture she knew drove him crazy. “She loves you more than anything else in this world. She loves you more than chocolate. She loves you more than shoes. Heck, she loves you more than shark movies.”

James snorted.

“She wants to forgive you,” Ally continued. “You just have to be really convincing.”

“Maybe I should go out and pick her up a gift.”

“You can’t buy her off,” Ally said. “Trust me, I told her she should make you buy her a pony after your last big fight.”

James laughed, the sound rough. “She didn’t like that idea?”

“She said she didn’t want you to buy her things when you screw up,” Ally said. “She just wants you to be the man she knows you are.”

“And who is that man?”

“The man who gave his heart to a woman and never once thought about asking for it back.”

James leaned over and gave Ally a heartfelt hug. “Thank you.”

“Go and make up,” Ally suggested. “I’ll answer phones today.”

“Are you sure?”

“Think of it as your wedding gift.”

James stood, shaking his head. “You’re a gift all your own, sis,” he said as he moved out of the office. “I hope Jake realizes how lucky he is.”

“Don’t worry, he does.”

Self-esteem was never an issue for Ally, and it was something that James took solace in. He trudged up the stairs to the apartment, running his hand through his hair to tame it before opening the door. When he entered, he pulled up short.

He’d expected the apartment to be a wreck, just like he’d left it. Instead, the chair he’d tossed against the wall was back in place. The fallen picture frames were on the counter, and the glass swept up and discarded somewhere. The rest of the apartment was completely … clean.

James’ heart flopped painfully. She would have had to have been up all night to clean this place. Between the packing boxes stacked in the corner, and the bubble wrap scattered all over the apartment, the apartment had been mired in chaos for weeks. Now, everything was in its place.

James didn’t like it. Mandy wasn’t a cleaner. She wasn’t a slob, but James had already been considering hiring a maid to keep the new house up so it didn’t get away from them. This wasn’t … right.

James strode to the bedroom, throwing the door open and frowning when he found the bed not only empty, but made. They never made the bed. They were usually too busy rolling around in it to bother. James moved to the bathroom, his face contorting with confusion when he saw the sparkling floor and bathtub.

He turned back to the living room, tamping down the bout of anger threatening to overwhelm him. She wasn’t here. She’d gone to work. How did he miss that? He’d barely slept all night. His slumber had come in fits, between bouts of tossing and turning. She’d somehow managed to sneak out of the apartment and go to work.

He was going to kill her.

Okay, first he was going to beg her to forgive him. Then he was going to hug her. Once that was all settled, he was definitely going to kill her. James was striding toward the door when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror on the wall. He couldn’t go to the courthouse looking like this. No matter how much he wanted to go there and collect her, he wouldn’t purposely embarrass her by showing up looking like he’d just rolled in from a three-day bender. If he timed it right, he could be there in time for lunch. That was his new plan.

James turned back to the bathroom, the glint of something on the dining room table catching his eye. He reached over, his fingers closing around a familiar object as he clenched it in his hand.

It was Mandy’s engagement ring. It was the ring he’d given her when he’d promised her forever. It was the ring she never took off – not even in the shower. James clutched the ring to his chest and looked around the apartment again, realization dawning on him. She hadn’t just cleaned, she’d cleaned her stuff out.

She’d left him.