Page 102 of Break the Barrier

I was dreading the day that Logan decided we were getting our marriage—fake or not—annulled.

I wasn’t ready to deal with that.

“Nothing happened, people can be in bad moods, you know.”

Whistling at Jason and Sally, Annmarie demands they take over the bar duties. When they do, she latches on to my arm and marches me back to the office, even as I try to get her to release her grip.

“Annmarie, we don’t have time for this, it’s a full house.”

“Hm, wow, really?” Her sarcasm hits its mark, and I roll my eyes at her.

She places me in the office, then spins and slams the door shut. “What the hell is going on?”

I cross my arms, feeling every bit like a petulant child. Which is pretty hilarious, given that Annmarie is my younger sister, and I’m supposed to be the levelheaded one here.

But I feel anything but levelheaded.

“Nothing,” I keep on, trying not to break down.

Now is not the time to break, Thea.

“Bullshit,” Annmarie says, folding her arms and bracing her feet. She’s blocking the door with her stance, and her expression tells me that she’s not leaving or letting me leave until I spill.

A knock on the door has me clamming up once again, but Annmarie just turns to let my other sister in. Juniper, the sweet sister, has a furrowed brow, and she looks me over with great concern.

“What’s wrong, sissy?”

And for whatever reason, that is the question that breaks me.

One tear slips out, then another and another until I’m sobbing in our office, unable to breathe properly through the pain of what I’m grieving. Arms come around me, holding me tightly, and I just let them. I let my sisters hold me until I feel I have no tears left to cry.

“Dammit, did Mr. Cowboy hurt you?” my sister asks, and for once, I don’t want to lie. I don’t want to hide what’s going on anymore.

So, I don’t.

“I hurt him,” I reply, my throat tight with my tears. “I—” I reach up, biting my thumbnail and leaning against the desk. My sisters step back slightly to give me room to breathe.

“I’ve been getting threats,” I start, then go on to explain tothem everything that’s happened since the first time I got a letter from Eric in the mail, to me asking for Logan’s help to him actually marrying me to keep me safe.

They listen quietly, sharing worried glances every so often, but never interrupting, letting me get out what I need to get out.

“But then one of Eric’s letters showed up at Logan’s house.” I look at them, if looks could kill, both of my sisters would have murdered my ex by now. “I can’t have him threatening them. I can’t.”

“So, what did you do, then?” Juniper asks, her brows never rising from their worried stance.

“I told Logan we were moving too fast,” I admit. “If I told him the truth?—”

“He would have wanted to deal with it himself,” Annmarie says, finishing my sentence with a nod.

“Exactly. I don’t know what I was thinking, dragging him and, worst of all, his daughter into my mess.”

“Well, why not let him handle it?” Juniper asks, shocking me. “I mean, if he wants to protect you, let him.”

I look from her sweet face to Annmarie, hoping she’s wearing the same expression as me, but she looks like she agrees.

“I can’t, you guys. He has Lue to think about.”

“He also has you to think about,” Annmarie says. “He loves you, Thea. Regardless of if this whole thing started out fake, that man fell head over heels for you. I highly doubt he would be mad at you because your psycho ex was still up to his shit. He’s probably pissed right now because he thinks you ran away.”