Page 53 of Lethal Threat

Marshall Lake glances between us. “Am I interrupting? I can come back.”

I pull the door open wider, ignoring the blast of wind hitting my face. “Not at all, come on in. Glad you stopped by. Care for something to drink?”

Marshall knocks the snow off of his hair, and steps inside. I take back my thought about the bro-hug. Marshall would definitely laugh at me. Instead, I shake his hand.

Sierra offers a quick smile. It’s wooden and doesn’t reach her eyes, but the blush is riding high on her cheekbones now.

“Sierra, this is Marshall, my long-time friend and new boss. Marshall, this is Sierra, my fiancée.”

Fuck. I hate that lie.

Marshall’s brows tick together. “Damn, Cole, didn’t realize you had gotten engaged.”

“Yep,” I clip as I force a smile. “Not long ago.”

The threat I issue with my eyes is clearly received because he clears his throat awkwardly. “Congratulations to you both.”

“Nice to meet you, Marshall,” Sierra says as she steps closer to me.

The hardened Marine is intimidating in his size and his presence, but he’s careful to extend his hand slowly in her direction. “Pleasure is mine, ma’am.”

When he turns his focus back on me there are questions blazing in his eyes. “I rang earlier, but it went to voicemail.”

“Sorry, I was outside cutting wood. Didn’t hear my phone.”

He glances at the fireplace, which has a low-steady blaze, which Sierra must have tended while I was outside. “Good time to do that. This is going to be a long storm cycle.”

“Let me take your coat. Come on in, have a seat.” I motion to the living room.

Sierra asks, “Hot cocoa for you, Marshall?”

“Ma’am, I know you’ve just gotten out of the hospital. I’d feel bad asking that of you.”

She waves a dismissive hand. “It’s not a problem. I just made some for Cole, which is going to get cold.” Sierra retrieves my mug and passes it to me as she says, “You guys sit down to talk and I’ll fix that now.”

I meet her quick gaze. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

When she disappears into the kitchen, Marshall and I take a seat.

“Thanks for coming by.”

“Sure I’m not interrupting?”

“You are. That’s part of the reason I’m thanking you. I would have hugged you, but you’d have gotten weird.”

He lifts a brow. “You’re right, I would have been surprised if you tried to snuggle me. Beyond that, I will not pretend to understand why you called her fiancée.”

As I lean my head toward the kitchen, I murmur, “I didn’t get time to fill you in, but it was necessary to say she was my betrothed to get her out of the hospital. Things are complicated as fuck, and I was about to do something I’d probably regret. So thanks for coming. Impeccable timing.”

As he leans back in one of the leather chairs he rounds his mouth. “Ohhhhh.”

We can hear Sierra moving things around in the kitchen, but she’s out of my sight line. I know that sound doesn’t carry that direction easily in my house, so I ask, “What’s going on?”

“Checking to see what you need, but I also wanted to talk more about that guy you had me look into. Rather I wait?”

“Probably best if we don’t talk about him in front of Sierra at this point.”

“Copy that. I’ll just bring you up to speed on the training ops we have coming up, and some prospective clients.” He lowers his voice. “I can call you later or we can talk outside.”