Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2)(111)

Sean walked through the door, all grace and ease. Though he gave Jim a wide berth, he looked unconcerned. Sean’s eyes found Krista and raked her from head to toe. He took in everything, settling on her neck for a heartbeat too long, and looking into her eyes with an intensity she hadn’t seen before.

“Krista, I wondered what kept you. I had thought we were going to meet at my house for the night,” Sean said with implied intimacy. Did he know he was poking the bear in the nose with a stick? “But I see you have company.”

“Krista, who is this?” Jim asked with that honeyed voice. Danger flashed in his eyes as he sized up Sean. His body was taut, the veins on his arms and neck standing out.

Sean looked down at Krista, waiting for her to answer. If he felt any fear, he didn’t show it. He gave her small smile and a wink.

“This is my boyfriend,” she said with renewed determination. Her hoarse voice came from a stranger, a stranger she thought she’d left behind in Seattle.

“Is that right?” Jim took a step closer. “Funny, I thought I was the only one with that title.”

Sean’s arm tightened fractionally, his hand sweaty. “Yes, funny. Krista, care to enlighten your fan club?”

“Jim, you are in violation of the restraining order,” Krista declared with more force than she felt.

Indignation bubbled from the depths of Jim’s hate-filled eyes. Hate turned to rage. Rage boiled and stewed, a cauldron with dy***ite, the fuse lit. His hands balled at his sides and his eyes never wavered from Krista’s face. She could tell he wanted to inform her court orders didn’t matter, not where she was concerned. It was Sean who kept him quiet. Jim didn’t quite know how to deal with Sean just yet.

“Restraining order?” Sean said, feigning surprise. “Well, then, it looks like Jim is an unwelcomed guest. I suppose it might be time for that guest to leave.” Sean was still talking in light tones, but steel crept into his voice.

“Leave?” Jim said in malevolence. “Is that what I should do, Krista? Leave?”

“Yes, Jim. Please leave.”

“Well, then,” he stared, his voice grating across her bones. “Maybe you would walk me to the door. Old friends, you know?”

Krista nodded her assent, not wanting him loitering around her house unattended, and led the way. Sean stayed close, his body between her and Jim, making himself the first casualty if Jim decided to get violent.

They made it to the door in a tense progression. Jim hesitated at the threshold and raked down Krista’s body, sparking a long-forgotten terror. With shaking legs, she huddled closer to Sean, barely fighting the panic that threatened to pull her under.

“Krista, would ya mind grabbin’ the crap you left behind in my car?” Jim asked politely.

Krista knew very well he didn’t have anything of hers. She took it all or threw it away when she left. “That’s okay, Jim. Keep it.”

“And have you report I stole it? I don’t think so.” He was standing just inside the door frame. And wasn’t moving.

“I’d rather not, Jim. Please leave.”

His whole body flexed and his eyes flashed again. He coiled.

“Let’s humor him,” Sean said smoothly. “Let’s all go outside and see what there is to see.” Sean gave her a squeeze of encouragement.

Krista knew Sean was strong, and for all she knew he could fight, but Jim was the king of the wrong side of the tracks. He was the top of the heap, and the way he got there was fighting and mayhem. In all the time Krista had known him, Jim had never lost a fight. Not even against more than one person—his record was bringing down five.

Krista sighed, a tear leaking out. What other choice did she have? They would have to bodily push Jim out of the house to close the door, and if they did manage Jim would just wait until Krista was alone again. Jim was no dummy, and Krista didn’t have a bodyguard. Sean couldn’t be present all the time, nor would she want him to have to. She needed the cops.

She threw a glance toward the kitchen, finding Ben waiting eagerly with a terrified expression and a sign that said, “Called cops. On Way.”

On the way was subjective in San Francisco. Even with a light workload, like in the Sunset, they could take forever dodging traffic and pedestrians. Krista had to stall, and Jim had to speed things up. It all came down to the resistance in the middle.

Sean.

“Fine,” Krista said, another tear dripping down her face. It was all about to come to a head.

Jim nodded and led the way, looking back twice to make sure they were following. They got to his car, which was across the street. It was a shiny, black Mercedes only a couple years old.

“Where did you get this?” Krista asked despite herself. Jim wasn’t ever one to have much money.

“Thinking of switching up for a real man?” Jim said with an over-inflated ego.

“Whatever. What do you have that’s mine?”

On the sidewalk by his car, Jim turned back to them. He planted his feet and looked Krista square in the face.

“What do I have that’s yours?” He turned his eyes to Sean. Suddenly the air compressed around them. “Better ask: What does this fool have that’s mine?”

Sean patiently guided Krista behind his back, knowing what was about to happen, knowing that without him to interfere, Jim would make a grab for her and stuff her into his car and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stop him.