Page 63 of Eagle

I pulled through the gate to the garage with the thought of tanning Leo’s little ass, and almost turned around when I saw Mandy being escorted none too gently out of the office by Mac. His face was red with anger, and I could just imagine the words he was snarling at her. My brothers knew what she’d put me through, and none of them liked her.

That bitch! What was she doing here? I hadn’t seen or heard from her in months, and now she’d just shown up out of nowhere? I knew her MO and was ready for anything. When she saw me approaching, her face lit up with a smile and she waited for me to stop my bike and turn it off.

“Eagle—"

“Get out!” Just seeing her brought my anger to full force.

“You can’t mean that!” The sad, pouty look that crossed her face didn’t get to me in any way. “I still lo—

I held up my hand, and she flinched as if she thought I was going to hit her. Good. She needed to know I was serious, even though I’d just raised my hand to stop her from saying her shit. “I don’t give a fuck about anything you have to say!”

Her smile crumbled for a second before she pulled herself together and I saw the conniving bitch come out, but Mandy was so self-centered and narcissistic that she didn’t realize it was visible to the observer. I braced myself for anything, even though she had nothing to throw and break near her. It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d resorted to physically attacking me.

“You’ll want to hear this.”

It sounded like a threat, and I wasn’t going to encourage her to voice whatever the hell it was she was determined to get out. I got off my bike and started to walk toward the office door. Jesus. I wondered what kind of trouble she’d started with Leo inside. I ignored Mandy as I walked past her.

“You have a son.”

The words hit hard, and I came to an abrupt halt, but I didn’t turn around to face her. I did a quick calculation. The last time I’d fucked her was the night she’d shown up at my door after our breakup, dressed to kill and crying her woes. I’d been weak, and had given in to her, and we’d spent the night fucking. But I’d worn a fucking condom every time. I’d had a hard time getting rid of her the next morning and had sworn to myself that I would never do that again.

I slowly turned to face her. “You’re full of shit. If you have a kid, it’s not mine.”

Mandy laughed. “How do you know? Condoms aren’t a hundred percent full proof, you know.”

I snorted. “You think I’m stupid, Mandy? How old is this kid?”

I could tell that she hadn’t been expecting that question, and her expression showed it. The fact that she didn’t answer me right away told me everything I wanted to know. She was lying. Any mother could fire off the age of their own child, especially an infant, in months and without even thinking about it.

As we stared each other down, I could see the second Mandy reluctantly accepted that I wasn’t buying her story, that I knew she was flat out lying. Anger flashed in her eyes, but before I gave it a chance to spill over onto me, I snarled, “You need help, Mandy.” I made a point of eyeing her up and down. “How can a woman who looks as good as you on the outside be so fucking evil and ugly on the inside?”

“That’s your opinion,” she said scathingly. “I can’t help that I’m a woman who knows what I want and is determined to get it. I know you’ve missed me. We were good together. You’re mine, Eagle. I’m here to beg you to give me another chance. Please!”

Was this my fucking life now? Mandy hadn’t bothered me in almost a year. Was her plan to let so much time go by that I believed she was finally out of my life, only to show up out of the blue and start shit over? She was unstable, and she needed to be dealt with. First, I needed to find out where she’d been all this time. I had a hunch that it would explain a lot. People didn’t just disappear for months.

“You need to leave.” I gave her the look that I used when I was facing an enemy, made sure there was a threat in my voice she couldn’t ignore. It usually got results, and while Mandy was an expert at schooling her expression to what she wanted you to see, I could see right through her disguises. She was just starting her campaign to win me back, which meant that I’d have to be on guard. I knew what she was capable of.

She released a heavy sigh. The smile that transformed her face was as fake as it could possibly be, but it somehow softened her expression, even as it sharpened the purpose in her eyes. “I’ll leave for now. But this—” She pointed at me and her with a back-and-forth motion, “—isn’t over.”

Not about to turn my back on her, I watched her leave. She climbed in her expensive Audi, started it, and took off with the back tires spinning on the loose gravel. Once her car was out of sight, I gave my head a shake and turned back toward the door. I couldn’t believe this crazy woman was a schoolteacher.

I went to open the door, found it locked, and dug out my key. I opened the door to the office and stepped inside, reaching behind me to lock it. Mac was already gone, so Leo was alone at her desk. She looked up at me with a mixture of doubt and disillusionment in her expressive eyes.

Fuck. Looked like Mandy had spread her fucking lies to Leo. Without a word, I walked to the door that led out to the bay area and locked it, too. Leo was about to find out that I wasn’t in the mood to beat around the bush. I’d set her straight about Mandy, but first things first. I was still pissed about her taking off without a word, and I was ready for some physical activity to release some of the tension caused from Mandy’s appearance.

It didn’t take Leo long to recognize my mood and adjust her mood. She slowly stood up. “Why did you lock the door?”

“We need to talk.” I took a couple of steps close to her; she took a couple backwards.

“Then, um, why did you lock the door?”

The thought of taking her pants down and putting my hands on that delicious bottom was turning my dick hard. “You did a reckless thing the other night by leaving without telling anyone where you were going.”

“I’m an adult, Eagle. I don’t have to tell anyone where I’m going. But Mac explained why I shouldn’t have left, and I’m sorry if I caused you or anyone else any worry. I’m not from your world, and I obviously don’t think like you do.”

I stopped. Fuck. Did her apology mean that I couldn’t spank her now?

“What’s wrong?” she asked when I stopped stalking her.