Page 86 of Porter's Angel
“That’s the thing about Nash,” Porter said. “He’s not going to let you get to him. He always makes the right decision in the end.”
“You don’t know what you’re up against.” Lacy smirked. “There’s an avalanche of trouble coming for you Slades. Ask West if you don’t believe me.”
Porter stiffened.
Lacy glared over at Cadence. “Your little boy toy can’t help you. I own half his family, and starting next week, I’ll own this town. Bad luck for them that you decided to run here,my little Angel.”
The term of endearment set a fire in Porter’s eyes, and he grabbed Lacy by the collar and slammed him up against the wall. “You might try to own the town, but you don’t own the people in it.”
Lacy startled Cadence by laughing. “You’d be surprised what money can do… or maybe not.” He glanced over at her. “Unblock my number, I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”
Porter shook him. “Get out before I kick you out.”
Lacy bumped him back with his shoulder, snarling like a wild animal. “You made a big mistake, Slade,” he snarled again. “I will see youandthis town burn.”
He meant it. Lacy shot through the cheerful yellow door, his face all shades of red. Cadence’s legs felt weak with dread at his threats.
Forget just being a snake, Lacy was the fifty-pound king cobra come to swallow them whole. What could Cadence possibly do to stop him?
“Unblock my number.”Lacy’s demand echoed through her ears.
She shivered. No, never. Cadence couldn’t. She never wanted to see him again.
Porter whipped around, his shoulders heaving with his heavy breathing. She fell into his arms.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Porter couldn’t believe how horribly wrong he’d been about everything.
What an idiot he was!
Even now, Cadence shivered against him.
Cadence! Her name is Cadence. Always my angel…
… Except that weasel called her Angel, too.His hold tightened on her. Her whole body shook with fear. She clung to him like a hero—but he wasn’t, not in the least. He’d almost left her in the clutches of that weasel, all because of his hurt feelings! If he hadn’t ducked into Mimi’s store to snatch a list of the town’s phone numbers to beat back WhiteBoulder, he would’ve driven away with screeching tires.
Lacy would’ve dragged her away!
He’d heard the commotion down the stairs, and then horror filled him as he heard the last bit of Lacy’s threats and just why Cadence hadn’t confided in him. Was this what she’d been facing all along?
How could one girl have the power to turn him inside out and flip him over on his head like this?
Cadence had ripped out the remnants of his tattered heart when he’d caught her packing, but this felt worse. She’d taken what was left of that wounded organ of his and ground it to dust when he realized just how scared and alone she’d felt all along—all while he was at her side, obliviously trying to impress her with all the wrong, shallow things.
His hands tangled through hers. Memories rushed through him of her tugging on her clothing, her healthy appetite, even that fainting spell at the waterfall. He thought that she was dying when she’d talked about throwing up until she put his mind at ease. What an idiot he was. “You’re pregnant?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said mournfully, “but Nash told you already!”
“No!” He absolutely did not! “Nash didn’t even know an ‘Angel’ when I asked him about you. And then Emily had no idea who you were, either.” She groaned at that. “And, honestly, I just thought,” he grimaced as he confessed exactly what he’d thought, “you were working a scam on this town with Lacy.”
She looked shocked. “Your twin said that?”
“No, no.” He almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “He said he was working some deal with Lacy that felt shady, and then I assumed… well, I put two and two together because you’d mentioned dating Lacy, and you’d been so secretive and you kept pestering Funches about his land, and also you were going under a fake name?”
“I’m sorry about that.” She pressed her face into his chest. “I thought you already knew from the beginning.”
“And that was my fault.”