Trial by Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

past. She’s right here intruding in our lives. You were just with her. Do you know how I know that?”
    Nate shrugged dismissively. “Because you know I came from the crime scene?’
    Ignoring his annoyance, Erin pressed her point. “No, Nate. I know that because when I came in the room earlier, you were so lost in thought that I said your name three times before I could get you to break out of that deep slump you were in. Usually, you just smell me coming in the room. It’s like you have a sixth sense that I’m there. But… but tonight, you didn’t.”
    Nate huffed out a hard sigh and leaned against the chair back. For a minute he closed his eyes as if shutting out a bad memory.
    A shard of fear pierced Erin’s heart. The weariness flooding his face was frightening. It confirmed not only that Nate had been with Laura, but that it had upset him. When he opened his eyes, he gave her a tired smile.
    “Yeah, Erin. I saw her, and you’re right. This is going to be hell. Not because she means anything to me, but because it brings back a lot of shit that is better left in the past.”
    Knowing that her instincts were on target was a pyrrhic victory at best. But before Erin could answer, Nate’s expression hardened. His full sensuous lips pressed in a thin straight line, his jaw tightened. She’d seen this look many times in the past, but rarely directed at her. His eyes flashed a stormy green. If she could have she would have retreated but there was nowhere to go, he held her in place.
    When he spoke, his voice was low but with a dangerous edge.
    “Erin, you and I need to get something straight. Yes, even though it is the last thing in the world that I want, Laura is going to be in our lives. She found Mike’s body. She is a fucking witness in the biggest damn murder case that’s likely to hit this little burg of ours in two lifetimes. And yeah, I’m going to need to interview her—likely more than once. But we get to decide, Erin. We get to choose. Are we going to let that bitch come between us? OR are we going to build a protective wall around us—so high and so strong that not even the most manipulative woman the devil ever created can scale it?”
    Nate’s gaze was so fierce Erin couldn’t have looked away if she wanted to. But she didn’t. His passion roused her, strengthened her. Nate was right. The only way Laura could hurt them was if they let her. Her protective instincts flared. Nate was the strongest, most powerful man she’d ever known. No one crossed him twice. Ask any lowlife who thought they could take on Nate Stryker.
    But Erin knew Nate had a vulnerable side, a place he kept hidden under layers of bad-assed banter and sarcastic putdowns. It was the part of him that fiercely protected her. That whispered sexy loving things and then told her how much he needed her. She didn’t know if Laura had seen that side of Nate, but if she had she would use it against him. But—she’d have to come through Erin first.
    Nate must have seen her determination on her face because a slight grin fought with the anger that marred his face seconds before.
    “Hope that ‘The bitch better watch out, Black Widow is on the scene’ look in your eyes is meant for Laura, not for me.”
    Erin started and then laughed. “Black Widow? Yes! That is exactly who I will be if Laura thinks that she can hurt either one of us. You’re right, Nate. I’m sorry that I acted the way I did. I… was… I—”
    Nate put his finger across her lips.
    “No need to say, it, honey. No apologies necessary. It’s important that we get this out on the table, between us—so we can grab it by throat and strangle it to death before it can do damage. Hell, Erin. I admit I was distracted when I got home. But not only because of Laura. That murder scene was not to be believed. I’m wrestling with it, trying to make sense out of it.”
    His eyes narrowed as though he was shutting out a bad image. Knowing the way Nate captured a crime