Kiss of a Stranger (Lost Coast Harbor #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

ground. He got a knee up into the man’s balls. Outside, that went against the unspoken manly code of fighting, but years in prison taught him that codes meant nothing.
    If you wanted to win, you played dirty.
    His right fist smashed into Adam’s face, then his left. “A truck? You’re worried about a goddamned truck? You owe me six years, you fucker. Six years . How do you plan to pay that back?”
    Gabe wanted to keep going, wanted to pummel this man until his nose was ruined and blood ran from his lips, till Adam couldn’t open his eyes for the bruises surrounding them.
    But Adam had plenty of his own rage—and with his height, he had leverage, as well. He bucked Gabe off and rolled into a crouch. Gabe did the same, reining in an anger that scared even him. It used to be he could control himself.
    Lots of things were different now.
    They stared at each other, panting.
    “What do you mean, I owe you six years?” Adam Rogers enunciated each word.
    “What do you think I mean? That’s how long I was locked up because someone decided to add a few crates of semi-autos to the cargo. You really gonna stand there and act like you had no idea what was going on at your own company?”
    The man’s lips thinned and a muscle in his jaw pulsed. “You’re lying.”
    Gabe laughed without humor. “Why would I lie? What could that possibly get me?”
    The man held the crouch, ready to attack at any moment, but Gabe saw the gears in his mind turning.
    “Why’d you come back here?”
    “I’m not returning to the scene of the crime, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
    “I’m thinking you’re here for another shipment and plan to get it right this time.”
    “You’re not doing a lot to help that ‘big and dumb’ stereotype, are you? Yeah, I came back to commit another felony in a town where everyone’s suspicious of me and watching my every move.”
    “Then why are you here? Money?” Adam didn’t take his eyes off Gabe’s face. Gabe knew what he saw: snarling, savage rage. “No. You want revenge, don’t you?”
    Gabe didn’t confirm it, but he didn’t deny it, either.
    Adam exhaled and stood. He remained tense, but he no longer looked like he wanted to break every bone in Gabe’s body. “That doesn’t mean you’re innocent. Guilty men can want revenge, too. Especially if someone screwed you over.”
    Still wary, Gabe rose as well, watching for any sign the man was ready to resume the fight. “Oh, I got screwed. And I won’t stand here and claim to be an innocent man. But I didn’t know the guns were in the truck until the feds stopped me.”
    Adam narrowed his eyes, debating whether to believe the claim. “You think I had something to do with it?” Adam’s voice had an edge. Not guilt. Anger.
    “Someone put guns on one of your trucks. Someone at your company told me to follow a back road, the kind cops don’t patrol.”
    Gabe thought he could hear Adam grinding his teeth.
    “If that’s true, why did you take the main road?”
    “Because I got a flat tire and was running late, so like an idiot I ignored the warnings going off in my brain like road flares and took the direct route. You know the rest.”
    “What did these guys look like?” Adam pressed.
    Gabe ran his hand across his scalp and exhaled. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “The truck was already loaded when I got to the depot, and I got a phone call with the route. I knew something was sketchy, but the money was so good I ignored it.”
    Maybe he shouldn’t make fun of Adam for being big and dumb. He hadn’t exactly been a brain trust himself when it came to that job.
    For the second time that morning, adrenaline flowed through Gabe, but Adam stood perfectly still, as if their fight hadn’t affected him. Gabe suspected the man’s earlier anger was the exception, rather than the rule.
    To his annoyance, Gabe started to believe the guy really hadn’t known his trucking company was involved.
    When Adam spoke at last, his voice