Snow in Texas

Chapter Sixteen: Colin.

Sixteen

Colin

Whoever Jud Riley had been prior to taking a knife to Jenny's stomach, whatever he'd been in his life prior to that, he now existed as one thing and one thing only in the world of Colin O'Donnell. The top of the hit list. Jenny's ex was Mr. Gets To Die First in Colinland. And he didn't even have a hit list. Not prior to this moment, anyway. He had one now, starting tonight – this morning, whatever time it was.

It was beyond unthinkable. Yes, Jenny was testy, sharp-tongued, and guarded. So were a lot of women. The smart ones, in any case. She was the sort of woman you had to work a little harder to get hold of. And she was clever, and devoted to her brother, and she didn't give up all her secrets the second a man tossed a compliment her way. He got that; he appreciated it.

There were men who'd find fault with her, sure. But to do violence against her? To try and cut the womb out of her?

The last time he'd been this seething angry he'd been standing on his half-brother's doorstep, listening to Ava Lécuyer give him the business about inviting himself into her house. He'd been choked with rage to learn the truth of Larry's death, to know the man who'd given him a last name wasn't even really his father.

He was that angry now. Maybe angrier. And Jenny seemed to sense it.

"Hey." Her hands came up to frame his face and she urged his head front and center again, so they were eye-to-eye. Hers were blue and glittering in the lamplight, full of a new softness he hadn't yet seen in her. "Riley? He's not your problem, okay? He's old news, and Candy's got it covered. I don't want you to worry about him. You just need to concentrate on prospecting, and–"

"No offense, sweetheart, but that's a buncha bullshit and you know it."

Her brows crimped together. "No, it's really not."

"Did you think you could tell me about him, about what he did to you, and I wouldn't have a reaction to it?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Well that's...insulting." Because it was. More so than he would have thought possible, in fact.

He gripped her waist and prepared to set her off his lap.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders, eyes flaring. "Colin."

He paused, knowing his expression was tight, unable to refuse her, though. That was the scary part – had she asked him to go running after her ex-husband, he would have done so in an instant, cheerfully running his Bowie knife through the bastard's head gator-style. But she was holding him back, and that was harder to take.

"What?" he asked, voice gruff.

She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to...I didn't mean that you...well, anyway, there's been enough bloodshed on my account around here. I don't want you to get all tangled up in my stupid family business."

"Why not?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because like I just said, it's my stupid family business."

"He could have killed you, Jen," he said, tone harsh. He became aware he was squeezing her waist and forced his hands to relax. "That's not stupid. If someone tries to kill you, don't you think I'm going to do something about it?"

He didn't know what to make of the look that crossed her face, the little flare of panic. "That was a long time ago," she said, just above a whisper. "And we've only slept together one time–"

Okay, enough of that shit. He circled his arms around her and pulled her up tight against his chest, quick enough to draw a gasp from her. "Twice," he said. "One night maybe, yeah, I'll give you that. But two times."