Page 84 of Control Freak

I closed the window and slammed the laptop shut, stomach twisting so hard I felt sick.

The bathroom door opened, emitting a waft of fog.

“Shiloh?” Holden asked. “You okay?”

I swallowed down the nausea and nodded. Brick and Curtis were just trying to scare me into giving them what they wanted. Their threats didn’t mean anything.

They wouldn’t actually go after Jimmie, right? And even if they did, it wasn’t my responsibility. He was the one who stole from them. He was the one who left me to deal with his mess.

But if they do have a way of getting to him, he has nowhere to hide…

Holden sat on the bed and reached for my hand, taking it so easily it was hard to believe that a few weeks ago he could barely force himself to stroke my fingers.

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. “Just got an ugly message online.”

“On the cam site?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t a client. It was Brick and Curtis. They can’t get to me on my phone, so they register as anonymous on my site and get to me that way.”

“A good reason to shut the site down and cut them off,” Holden said tentatively.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Is there something else? Did they threaten you?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, they can’t really threaten me when they don’t know where I am. That’s thanks to you.”

“Running away with me was a good choice, then?” he asked casually, as if he wasn’t dying for confirmation that he’d saved me ten times over.

“Yeah, Holden, you’re my hero.”

He chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

But I would. If Holden hadn’t come for me, Brick and Curtis would have taken their pound of flesh from me.

CHAPTER 21

Holden

“Should we take a break before therapy?”I asked Banshee.

My puffball of a dog that I’d adopted from Axel’s pack of strays wagged her tail happily, squirming in my lap.

Woof!

My office door stood open because I liked a window into what was happening in the garage, even as I wrestled with invoices and billing.

I pushed my chair back, and Banshee jumped down. She’d looked so forlorn this morning that I’d brought her into work. With Shiloh staying with me, I’d spent a lot less time cuddling with her. But I figured I could use the emotional support during my session with Dr. Levy. My therapist was at a convention out of state, so I’d be talking to her on a video call.

Banshee trotted out of the office ahead of me, immediately running around the space to check in on everyone. She startled Gray into dropping a wrench with a loud clatter that made Flynn jump and swear from his spot under a Ford-model pickup.

Bailey was so engrossed in texting on his phone that he didn’t even notice.

“Warn a guy first,” Gray grumbled as Banshee butted his hand for pets.

“At least she’s not Taz,” I said with a smirk.