Harbour Falls (A Harbour Falls Mystery #1)(44)

A choked sob escaped my lips, and just when I feared the worst might happen, J.T. was violently yanked away from me. As I slid down to the floor, eyes still tightly closed, I heard a loud crash and the sound of punches being thrown.

“Get the f*ck off me, you murderer,” J.T. protested, sounding frightened and pained.

“Fuck you.” —More punches, J.T. coughing— “Don’t you ever f*cking touch her, you hear me?” I knew that voice, so I wiped at my teary eyes and glanced up to see a glowering Adam looming over a curled-up J.T. on the floor.

“Don’t worry. I won’t ever touch her again. I don’t want any more of your sloppy seconds anyway,” J.T. laughed.

Adam’s hands clenched at his sides, and J.T. flinched. “Go ahead, Ward,” he challenged, his voice thick with blood. “Hit me again.”

Adam spat in J.T.’s direction. “You’re not worth it, *.”

“Whatever. You still can’t change the fact that I was f*cking your fiancée almost the entire time you were away at college,” J.T. yelled defiantly.

Adam’s expression turned murderous. “Get up, you pathetic drunk. Get up and fight like a man.” His voice, now, disturbingly calm.

But instead of getting up, J.T. rolled to his side and suddenly choked out, “You took away the only girl I ever loved, you f*ck.”

Well, this was news. J.T. had loved Chelsea? As J.T. lay sobbing on the floor, drunk and defeated, Nate emerged from the shadows to stand next to Adam. Had he been there the entire time? If so, Nate had had Adam’s back throughout the duration of the fight. Not that I was surprised.



“What do you want me to do?” Nate asked Adam.

“Get him out of here before I end up really hurting him,” Adam said shakily, cracks showing in his controlled veneer. “Take him to Max’s.”

“Why’d you do it?” J.T. bellowed, spitting blood. Nate pulled him up and began to drag him to the door. “Why?” J.T. croaked.

“Wait,” Adam said.

Nate halted, J.T. in tow. “I didn’t kill her, you f*cking idiot. Did you ever consider that maybe she just left?” Adam paused, eyeing J.T. carefully. “Chelsea didn’t love you any more than she loved me. Chelsea only loved Chelsea, so quit wasting your time—and your life—pining away for her.”

“She didn’t leave,” J.T. said quietly as Adam was turning away.

He spun back around. “Is that a confession, O’Brien?”

“Fuck you!” J.T. shouted, and Nate tightened his grip on him. “You know I didn’t kill her.”

“Do I?” Adam asked.

His stance, expression—just everything—was eerily calm. J.T. must have noticed the same thing because he said nothing more. Nate pulled him up and out the door.

With both men gone, Adam rushed over to where I sat on the floor, legs pulled up to my chest with my arms wrapped tightly around them.

He knelt down in front of me. “Are you OK, Maddy? Do you want me to fly you to the hospital? I can—”

“Adam,” I interrupted. “I don’t need to go to a hospital. I’ll be fine, I’m just a little shaken up.”

He took my face in his hands, scanning for any signs of harm. “Are you sure you’re not hurt? When I was coming in, I saw him slam you back into the counter.” I winced, suddenly cognizant of a dull aching across my lower back.

“Maddy?” Adam asked. “Where does it hurt?”

“My back. But it doesn’t hurt that much.”

Adam touched the hem at the back of my shirt. “Do you mind if I take a look?”



“Go ahead,” I whispered.

Adam scooted behind me and lifted up the back of my shirt, just enough to see what kind of damage had been inflicted. “Fucking J.T.,” he muttered under his breath.

“How bad does it look?” I asked, worried since Adam’s hand seemed to be frozen in place.

He sighed. “There’s some bruising, but that’s the worst of it.” He lowered my shirt back into place. “It still makes me wish I’d f*cked him up more than I did. He had no right touching you, let alone hurting you.”

I turned to face him, my eyes meeting his. “You saved me, Adam,” I said softly. “If you hadn’t come in…”

I shuddered at the thought of all that could have happened, and Adam put his arms around me, carefully avoiding the bruised part of my back. I snaked my arms around his neck, whispering, “Thank you.”

He really had saved me.



“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you, Maddy,” Adam said softly. “That is, if you’ll let me.”

I held onto this man I was falling for, his embrace comforting me. I believed his words, but I hadn’t forgotten my earlier resolution. I needed to steel myself and ask him for the truth. I needed to know what Chelsea had been holding over him. I wanted Adam to protect me—and he had tonight—but I couldn’t trust him completely. Not until he trusted me enough to share this big secret. I mean, now that Chelsea was gone, was it even still relevant?



“Adam, I need to, uh, ask you…something,” I said in a tiny voice.

He pulled back, his expression curious, “Yeah?”