Page 140 of The Elusive Billionaire

No, I was lost in thought about a stupid feud that keeps the town running through the coldest months of the year.

It’s one of the many reasons that it was so easy for Happiness to feel like home to me—we simply accept everyone’s quirks here. In fact, it’s what endears the residents of Happiness to each other.

We’re a family.

One that will kill me to lose if it comes to that.

Madi’s nails dig into my arm, cutting little crescent shapes into my skin and dragging me from the conflicts in my mind.

The atmosphere in Blissy’s has changed, making me shiver.

I glance over my shoulder, and ice spreads through my veins.

Riley has entered the café with a calculating smile and cold, dead eyes trained on me.

The buzz that typically fills the space is eerily quiet, but the only one unaffected by it is Riley.

Since Betty learned she’d accidentally given the wrong person too much information about me at the diner, everyone’s been on high alert around strangers, and the tension rolling off my neighbors makes the air too thick to breathe.

All eyes follow him as he walks straight toward Madi and me.

His hands land on my upper arms, and he pulls me in for an air-kiss to both cheeks. I’m too stunned to move, plus, Madi is still breaking skin on my forearm.

“So good to see you, Sav. Can I get you a coffee?” he asks, projecting his voice for all to hear.

“Already taken care of,” Blissy shouts like a curse. “Her fiancé ran a tab for all her needs.”

Riley’s eye twitches, much like Bethany’s had earlier, and his hands grip my biceps hard enough to make me flinch. “Isn’t. That. Nice.”

I shrug out of his hold, and after another painful squeeze, he releases me.

“We have a lot of history, Sav. I don’t want to just throw that all away. Not when we have so much…” He flashes the room a predatory smile I think is meant to put people at ease but has the exact opposite effect. “…to look forward to. I mean, your brother is getting married. It practically makes us family again. You know how close my mom and Paige’s mom are. They’d do…anythingfor their children.”

It’s a thinly veiled threat that hits me hard, but I don’t show any outward emotion at all.

“I wish my brother and Paige a lifetime of happiness,” I say in a flat tone. “But they chose not to have me in their lives, and I will honor that request. You and I have nothing to discuss.”

He lashes out quickly—a lightning strike with no warning. His hands wrap around my biceps again as he steps into my space, lowering his mouth to my ear. It snaps Madi out of her daze, and she attempts to wedge herself between us, but Riley’s hold on me is too strong.

“This is your only warning, Sin. Don’t fuck with me. Give me what I want, or I will destroy this embarrassment of a town. Then I’ll follow you from place to place, ruining everything you touch until the day you die.”

It all happens in less than fifteen seconds, but it’s all it takes to get my Happiness family moving. Moose appears on my left while Blissy rounds the counter, holding a broom like a baseball bat.

“Touch her again, and I’ll break every finger in your dirty paws. Ya hear me, kid?” Moose towers over Riley’s weathered six-foot frame.

Riley glares up at Moose, but his stupidity outweighs common sense, and he doesn’t release my arms. Instead, he squeezes harder while glaring at Moose.

“Are you threatening me, you big ogre?” Riley never did learn to think before he spoke.

“Nah, kid. That’s a promise.”

“You’re threatening me in a room full of witnesses. Is there a brain in that giant body of yours, or are you as stupid as you are big?”

Moose laughs. It’s not his normal laugh either. This sound is terrifying and has Madi taking a step back.

“Anyone hear a threat?” Moose asks the room.

“Yup.” Chief stands up, flashing a badge he should no longer have. “Heard this out-of-towner threatening our new sweetheart. Heard him threaten Madi too. Pops won’t like that one bit. Also heard him threaten the whole dang town of Happiness. Sounds like a terrorist to me.”