A Rose in Shadow

Chapter 23

Samantha hurried around the house to her side stairs and started to make her way up when she noticed a man leaning against the lamppost at the corner across the street.

He had been staring at Adam's truck before turning to look toward the Connors' house and hadn't yet noticed her. She stepped back a bit to conceal herself behind the post so she could get a better look. She couldn't be certain but thought that it might be Nathan Moore.

Enough is enough, thought Samantha and she could feel her anger start to rise. She was tired of being a victim to this guy. Setting down her tote by the stairs she walked quickly to her own car which was parked in the driveway, and grabbing a shirt from the back seat, threw it on as she made her way toward him.

"Hey" she yelled out "why can't you leave me alone?" The man stood eerily still watching her as she approached before turning to walk hurriedly in the other direction.

"I'm talking to you" Samantha shouted at his retreating back before she heard Adam yell at her "Samantha, what in the hell do you think you're doing?" He caught up to her and grabbed her arm to swing her around. He took her shoulders and looked like he would quite happily throttle her at that moment.

"Stay right here!" he barked at her as he set off on a run after the man.

Coming down from her adrenaline rush the realization hit Samantha that confronting a man, twice her size, who had already proven himself violent, was probably not the smartest thing she had ever done. After a few minutes Adam returned, still with fire in his eye but she managed to give him an indignant look while she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I want to talk to him. I want to know what he wants and I want him to go away" she could feel angry tears sting her eyes again and quickly blinked them back.

Trying to tamp down his own anger, Adam took notice of her wet eyes and her clenched fists before rubbing his hands gently down her arms.

"You scared the hell out of me" he whispered as he pulled her into his arms.

"I heard you yelling and then saw Moore standing there. I couldn't be sure if I could reach you in time before he tried to grab you again." Samantha seemed surprised by this, and he could tell when it dawned on her that it might very well have been Moore's intention to grab her.

Starting to shake she gripped Adam's shirt and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I scared you. I honestly didn't think of anything other than how mad I was. I'm not usually that impulsive but I'm obviously not thinking straight"

"Let's head to your place" Adam said. "we need to talk and I want you to get your brother on the phone" when she started to protest he merely added "I promised to keep him in the loop and so did you" Feeling her anger come back to her she grasped at it – this was a feeling she preferred to being helpless.

"Fine" she snapped at Adam startling him "but let me tell you right now, Adam McCabe, this is my life and I will not have it decided for me. You and I will talk first before Mac gets involved"

Narrowing his eyes as well and feeding on his own anger "That's fine" he snapped back at her and grabbing her hand with his own he dragged her back down the street "There's a lot that I want to say".

As they walked he could feel the tension radiating through her body and took a moment to look over at her. Still in her bathing suit, although now covered by an oversized football jersey which hung to her mid-thigh, she was gorgeous. Cheeks flushed with anger, arms and legs, actually quite long despite her short height, still warmed pink by the sun. She was a sight to behold and he realized that he was feeling very possessive of her.