After We Fall (Take the Fall, #3)(56)

I close my eyes as my face heats. A chill invades the rest of me as I realize that Penn wants to degrade me in front of Hunter. He wants to take part of the truth and twist it up with a lie until I’m half believing what he’s saying.





Chapter 21


Hunter


“The f*ck you doing here?” Every inch of me is dying to pop him in the mouth for trying to humiliate Evangeline, but I can’t go off half-cocked without provocation. A punk-ass like Penn would love something like that. “There’s a restraining order in place.”

Penn runs his pale blue eyes over me, sneering a little. “This is between me and my wife.”

“Soon to be ex-wife,” Evangeline snaps.

Penn’s head swivels her way, and he marches to her. “Sit down and shut up.”

“No,” she says quietly and I want to roar my approval, but that * is pulling his hand back. If he hits her, I’ll f*cking kill him.

I grab him by the arm, yanking him to the door. “You heard the lady.”

Penn swings around, his fist connecting with my side. I grunt in pain, then kick him in the chest. He goes flying into a small table by the front door. It knocks against the wall and the bowl that holds the keys goes tumbling to the hardwood floor where it breaks in a half-dozen pieces.

Once Penn gets to his feet, he charges me like a bull. We slam into the opposite wall and I land another kick to his side, then twist his arm around his back. He screams in pain, but I pull harder, so hard that I force him down on his knees.

He lunges for Eva, his one free arm waving wildly, fingers curled like claws.

Evangeline runs to the other side of the room, her face red and her eyes wide. She grabs the landline.

Penn head butts me and I see stars. Shaking them off, I grab him around the midsection and slam him into the ground, then my hands move to his neck. I start to squeeze and squeeze, until his lips are turning blue and his face is purple.

“All you had to do is stay away from her. All you had to do was man up and keep your f*cking hands off her. If you ever touch her again, I will tear you into pieces so small that they wouldn’t fit on the head of a pin.”

Penn makes a gagging noise as he bats at my arms.

I look up and Evangeline is staring at me, her eyes full of terror.

“Hunter,” Evangeline screams. “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.” Rushing to me, she tries to pry my fingers from around his neck. “If you kill him, you’ll go to jail. I can’t lose you.”

The red in my eyes fades away.

“He deserves it.” I squeeze a little harder, just enough to make sure he passes out sooner rather than later.

Penn’s head lolls to one side and I finally let go.

Evangeline tumbles into my arms, even as she dials 911 and lets them know that we need help.

“We’re okay,” she says, slightly rocking. “We’re okay.”

“We’re okay,” I assure her. “He’s still alive.”

She stops rocking and melts into me, still holding onto the phone for dear life.

—

Dwight ends up being first on the scene and I silently thank God for small favors. He sees Penn’s unconscious body on the floor, then the woman in my arms.

“He tripped, didn’t he?” Dwight asks, kneeling to check Penn’s vitals.

I nod tightly. “Half a dozen times on the way to the door.”

Dwight looks at Evangeline. “You okay, ma’am?”

Her body trembles. “Hunter, that is, Officer Sloan was only doing his job. I have a restraining order against my…Penn McCarthy and he violated it. Hunter was showing him out, but Penn fought him. It was completely self-defense.”

I place a kiss at her temple. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You don’t have to—”

She touches my jaw. “Hush.”

The paramedics arrive, along with the fire department. Hayden walks inside, his eyes sharp as they land on us. I nod at the ground, where Penn is lying on the floor while he’s given medical attention.

Dwight motions him over and the two of them begin to talk in low voices. I’m not worried about what they’re saying because I know they’ll tell me later. However, I haven’t been on this side of the law in years. It’s…not a good feeling, even if ridding the world of an * like Penn wouldn’t be a bad thing. At least then, he couldn’t hide behind his former ranking in the Army or his family’s wealth and power, and live to terrorize another woman.

“He hit you first,” Evangeline says, cutting into my thoughts.

“I know, but I wanted him dead.”

She places her mouth close to my ear. “So did I, but we’re better than that.”

“I’m not and you know it.”

“Both times, you were defending the woman you love. You were defending the powerless from the powerful,” she insists. “Then you chose to be a policeman. You chose to become the very thing you were taught to hate because you saw through the lies.”

She makes my actions sound so reasonable, so perfectly acceptable, that it’s hard not to give in to her. But I know the truth. “I thought I could control my violent tendencies by fighting at The Laboratory, but it’s not true.”

“You’re so right,” she says in a smart-aleck way. “That’s why you’re constantly getting in trouble for roughing up suspects.”