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  "Tantric books isn't a sex shop."

  "Close enough. What are your plans for getting them out before summer hits?"

  "Don't worry about it. I said I will get this project finished by the end of June and I will. I've done the majority of the work. Things are progressing nicely. The landlords have been paid and are pleased with the renovation plans. What are you doing about the element that's still there?" I decided to go on attack. "After all, one doesn't throw pearls before swine. My high-end clients aren't going to shop next to a slum."

  My father folded his arms in front of him. "I have the police doing extra rounds to scoop up any transients and look for any trouble. The problem is we're not a yacht club, like your buddies in Clinton. Anyone who has a boat can trailer it in for the day."

  "But only boat owners who have slips can be there after dark."

  He made a face. "That's one of the rules that has always been flexible. The police don't start caring unless it's noisy or after midnight."

  "It's your job to make them care. I can't do this alone. You can have the prettiest shops this side of Vegas, but if you have crackheads sleeping in the alcoves this has all been for shit."

  "I'm working on a plan to get the police to pay more attention to what's going on."

  "Well, you concentrate on that and leave the other tenants to me." That should keep him out of my hair for a few more days. And by that time, I'd find a suitable store that Dawn could move into where she could be close enough for her customers and be out of my development. I had deliberately not contacted her over the weekend, even though I wanted to see her. We both needed a little space from the intense physical attraction we shared. I still wanted her, badly. But we had a professional problem to smooth over first.

  "Do you think getting her father involved will help?"

  "Huh?" I wasn't sure where my father was going with that line of reasoning. If Dawn's father told her she had to go, she would just dig her heels in deeper.

  "Judge Nolan? I could make a few calls and see if he would talk some sense into her."

  I was rapidly shaking my head. "I think that would be the worst thing you could do. It would completely destroy any progress I'm making. Just stay out of this and let me handle it."

  Shrugging, my father went back to his computer. "Let me know when you've gotten another one out."

  I didn't move from my chair, and eventually he looked up. "Was there something else?"

  "Yeah, I want you and Mom to bring Cammy out on the boat for a day trip."

  "That's impossible." He turned a shade paler.

  "Actually, it's not. I've looked into it. You can get a day pass and request a health aide to accompany you. I can drive them to the boat and we can do a short ride around the Sound."

  "The boat isn't equipped to handle a wheelchair."

  "We can make do."

  My father swallowed desperately. "What if she has a fit? Or gets worse? Or falls in the ocean?"

  "None of that will happen. We'll get a trained nurse as well, if you like. I think it will help."

  "Do you?" he sneered. "You're practicing medicine now?"

  I tensed, but I refused to let him get to me. He was frightened, and when that happened he became abrasive and confrontational in order to intimidate people. I wasn't going to let him do that to me. "No, but I've spoken to her doctors, which is more than you've done."

  "You've ignored her for the better part of four years, now you're her savior?"

  "No. She doesn't need to be saved. What she needs is to be back with her family."

  "This is a fucking disaster waiting to happen."

  "Or it can be a stepping stone to healing."

  "Your sister fried her brain."

  "My sister is recovering from brain damage. No one knows the extent of her healing. But she is no longer in a coma and unresponsive. That might be the best she'll ever be."

  He looked away, his fists clenched.

  "Or she could slowly relearn things and build up to a new base of normal." I leaned over. "We have to stop throwing money at the problem and start getting involved."

  "I'll speak to your mother about this," he said grudgingly.

  I stood. No need to tell him that I already had and she was on board with it as long as I could convince my father it was a good idea. "Let me know the day and time and I'll clear my schedule."

  As I walked to the closed door, I heard movement outside. But by the time I opened it, no one was there. Jeannine was on the phone and typing at the same time. She looked up at me and smiled before going back to what she was doing. Maybe I was being paranoid.

  I considered going to Tantric Books, but I didn't have anything to offer Dawn yet. Instead I went online and ordered her a special bouquet.

  Dawn hadn't contacted me either. Maybe it was time to see if I could get her to pick up the phone.

  Chapter 8

  Dawn

  I wasn't really sleeping when I thought I heard the back door open. The cat and I had finished binge watching The Blacklist and I was staring up at the ceiling trying not to panic about my so-called life. At first I thought it was the wind, but the wind doesn't curse when it bangs its toe on a brass statue of Tiamat.

  Pushing back the covers, I grabbed the baseball bat I kept handy near the futon and crept into the store. Staying in the shadows, I held my breath until my eyes adjusted. There was someone skulking around my store at half past midnight. Flicking on the lights, I squinted as the figure in black jumped back from the cash register.

  "What are you doing here?" he had the nerve to say.

  He was a tall, skinny guy wearing dirty jeans and a hoodie. He was trying to open my cash register. He glared at the lights, and then at me. I brandished my baseball bat. "This is my store. Get the hell out." I'm sure I didn't look too threatening in my tank top and shorts, but boy was I pissed.

  "How do you know I don't have a knife or gun?" he asked, confident that I couldn't get to him with the counter between us.

  "I don't. But I do know"—I pointed the bat at my camera—"that it's a longer prison sentence for armed robbery than it is for just breaking and entering. But today’s your lucky day. You go back to the sons of bitches that hired you and tell them it didn't work last time and it's not going to work this time."

  He looked at the camera nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Get out of my store. Or I'm going to beat the shit out of you and call the cops." My insides were shaking and I was sweating, but I knew how to protect myself.

  "Or I can knock your pretty ass out. Rob the place blind and destroy the video evidence." Pulling out a switchblade, he hopped over the counter. I imagine he expected to surprise me, but I caught him in the gut, midswing.

  He hit the ground hard.

  I slammed the bat down on his fingers and kicked the knife away. Screaming, he clutched his fingers to his chest. Then I kicked him in the nose with my heel. When he curled up into a ball, I cracked the bat into his knees. Leaving him rolling and howling on the floor, I walked behind the counter for some zip ties.

  By the time I came back around, he had gotten up to his hands and knees. I jammed the bat hard into his ribs, and that took most of the fight out of him. Kneeling on his back, I barked out, "Hands behind your head."

  When I was sure he wasn't going to give me a problem, I laid the bat down over his shoulder blades and zip tied his wrists together. Then I whirled and did the same thing to his ankles.

  "Shit, bitch. You're going to regret this."

  "Come back again and I'll get mean," I snarled in his ear.

  I called the cops and put on a pot of coffee.

  I was surprised at this time of night when not only the cops arrived, but also Larry, my landlord, and Rory.

  "Are you all right?" Rory rushed in and tried to hug me, but I brandished the bat at him and he kept his distance.

  "I think you can put that down now," the cop said as he and his partner grinned at my prisoner. Truthfully, t
he adrenaline was starting to hit me. My fingers were still white knuckled on the bat and I didn't think I could let go.

  "I've got a recording of everything that happened," I said, pointing up at the camera. "I'll get you a copy of it."

  "Is that thing always on?" Rory asked, squinting at it as if he was just noticing it.

  I refused to look at him. "Yup."

  He followed me into the back of the store. I had the foresight to close the door to the storage area where I kept the futon when I came back to make coffee. There hadn't been any sign of the cat, so hopefully she had left or was going to keep hiding. The coffee machine and microwave sat on the same counter as the computer that the camera was connected to.

  I could feel the warmth of Rory's body as he stood behind me, watching me call up the data I needed. Why was he even here, anyway? I could see the cops calling Larry, because he was the property owner. Maybe Larry called Rory?

  "Go away," I said as I ran back the last two hours and then copied the Mpara-p onto a thumb drive.

  He peeled my fingers from the bat and rubbed them. "What else have you recorded?"

  I snatched my hand away and whirled to face him. Yeah, definitely too close. I was very aware I wasn't wearing a bra. "If this shit keeps up, you and a lot of other people are going to find out," I whispered menacingly at him.

  His head cocked and his eyes narrowed. "You think I had anything to do with this?"

  "I'm not sure." I hoped he didn't, but I wouldn't put it past his asshole father. Giving him a little shove, I pushed by him and came back out to the main store area.

  "We just have a few questions for you," one of the officers said.

  "Yeah, like what the hell were you doing here at this hour?" Larry asked.

  I bet you'd like to know. I wondered if Larry hired this goon to rob my store so I would have no choice but to sell to Rory or go broke. But I had to play it cool. Because he had a very good point. No one should have been stirring at this hour, not even a mouse.

  Luckily, I didn't sleep in a nightgown. The shorts and tank top I wore were fitting for a summer's night, if a little chilly. "I was coming back from a date and I realized I left my laptop here. As I was about to leave, that asshole broke in and was going to rob the store."

  "You went out on a date like that?" Larry asked.

  Rory stepped a little closer to me and made a sound that was a low growl.

  I turned my back on both of them. "I'd be happy to answer any questions, Officers." I handed one the thumb drive. "I'm prepared to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. I warned him to leave. You'll see in this video that he pulled that knife on me and that I was defending myself."

  I gave my statement, and the policemen left with their prisoner. I was alone with Rory and Larry. "I'll stay here tonight, but I want a locksmith here tomorrow morning bright and early to fix that back door," I said, figuring the best defense was a good offense.

  "No," Larry said. "You go home. I'll secure the door."

  Panic flitted through me. The bus lines didn't run at this hour. I didn't have a car. What if he called my bluff? I could call an Uber, but where would I go?

  I eased a smile on my face. "I couldn't sleep after all this adrenaline. I might as well put the time to good use. I should do some inventory and cleaning anyway. I need to place an order for the big Fourth of July event." Every year there was a parade and a carnival on the town green. I could make my whole year if I played it right. I needed something for the kids so they would drag their parents into my store. It was driving me bonkers because my story wasn't really kid friendly.

  Larry scowled.

  Yeah, he was looking for a reason to snoop around. I could only hope in the excitement, the cat fled out the broken door. I wasn't confident enough the storage area I called an apartment would pass the sniff test if Larry saw how I left it. I don't think he'd evict me for the cat, but it would be another black mark. If he collected enough violations, he could evict me that way as well.

  "You always carry around a baseball bat?" he sneered.

  "I keep it in the store for cases like this."

  "Have you had trouble before?" Rory asked.

  "Sometimes."

  "You should get a better weapon."

  "This is a gun-free area," I said. "I stay away from knives nowadays." I didn't want to tell him that after I stabbed the quarterback, I had nightmares for weeks and would vomit at the sight of blood for longer than that.

  Larry made a sour face. I was willing to bet he was hoping I would have a pistol on me.

  "That seems ridiculous," Rory said. "Then only the bad guys have weapons."

  "It's not my rules. Take it up with your father."

  Rory grunted. "Why don't you go home, Larry? I'll make sure that Ms. Nolan is all right. And I'll take care of the repairs."

  "If she just moves out, she wouldn't have these problems."

  "Hey, I only wanted a three-year lease. You busted my balls and made me sign up for ten years because you thought this place was going to hell in a handbasket and you wanted a guaranteed income. Well, congratulations, you asked for it. You got it."

  "I didn't know you were going to be a smut peddler." He gestured at the erotic books.

  "You didn't care when Zeke was selling Penthouse and Playboy magazines in his cigar shop," I pointed out.

  "That's different."

  "Yeah, there's full-frontal nudity in those books, you fucking hypocrite."

  "All right. All right." Rory stood between us. "That's enough. Dawn has just had a harrowing experience. Give her a break."

  Larry harrumphed. "Looks to me like her burglar got the raw end of the deal."

  "He's lucky I was in a good mood." I wished I still had my bat so I could take a swing at Larry too. "If you or any of your town hall cronies think I'm an easy mark, you're in for a nasty surprise."

  "Maybe you're the one in for a nasty surprise, missy."

  "Enough." Rory shoved us both back. "You, get out. You, make some tea."

  "Go fuck yourself," I said. "You can both get the hell out."

  "I'm leaving." Larry stormed out. He tried to slam the door but the bells just tinkled after him.

  Rory locked it and turned back to me.

  "Do I need to get the bat?" I asked.

  "You might. Show me the drive you were going to give me the other night and bring your laptop out here."

  I sighed. "I told you. I changed my mind about that."

  "Do it," he said. His voice was low and angry.

  "Fine." I shrugged. He asked for it. I went back to my room and quickly folded up the futon as quietly as I could and arranged the blanket I was using over the back of it. No sign of the cat. Grabbing my laptop and the drive with our porno on it, I was surprised to see him standing in the back room of the store. But he was staring at the door.

  "The locks on this place are bullshit. He got in by slamming a screwdriver into the doorjamb and just shouldered his way in.

  "To be fair, we don't get a lot of crime here." I set up my laptop and plugged in my thumb drive.

  "I bet he was looking for drug money. I'm going to have my father's ass for this. I told him he needed to clean up this area."

  "Oh for fuck's sake, Rory. If he was looking for money, he would have hit your new stores."

  Rory rubbed his hand over his face. "He tried. The alarm system informed me there was an attempted break-in. The cops were already en route to do a drive-by when you called them." He sighed. "Are you all right?"

  "I'm fine."

  "Right. Badass. You were on a date?" Rory came back over to me as I opened up the program.

  I adjusted the sound and the scene opened with us kissing on the couch.

  "What's this, wild girl?"

  He pressed against me again, but this time his hands went under my T-shirt and were caressing my breasts. I swallowed hard. I should throw him off. But it felt so good to have his warm hands on me and his strong body at my back. The adrenaline was stil
l coursing through my system, and this would be an excellent way to get rid of it. I didn't need comforting. I needed hard sex. Angry sex. And once he saw this video, Rory would be very pissed.

  On the screen, I sank to my knees. Live and in person, Rory pinched my nipples. I hissed in pleasure and ground back on his cock.

  "You little bitch," he said admiringly, then his hands shot down to my shorts and pulled them and my panties off in one long tug. He chuckled as I kicked them away. "I see you got my gift."

  Yeah, the son of a bitch sent me a dozen panties wrapped up like roses. Millie almost fainted. I put them in a vase on the counter, but when he didn't come in to gloat about it I took them into the back. They were silk lace and easily the nicest things I owned. He pulled my shirt off. I felt him undressing while he bit my neck and watched himself get off on-screen.

  "This was my favorite part," he said in my ear when onscreen he threw me onto the chair.

  Behind me, he spread my legs and rubbed his cock over my ass and then between my legs. Of course, I was wet. I got wet every time I watched this video. I heard him fishing for a condom and I gave him smirk over my shoulder.

  "Keep watching," he said, turning me back to the show.

  Rory eased inside of me just as I came, screaming on the video.

  We both groaned. He fucked me slow as the Rory onscreen fucked me hard and fast. I bucked back against him, but he wouldn't be rushed.

  "Play it again," he ordered when the video finished. "God, I could watch this for hours."

  Pulling out, he turned me around so I was sitting on the counter next to the video. Then he entered me again, paying more attention to my breasts. I squirmed. The erotic sounds of me taking him in my mouth and the feel of his teeth and tongue on me made me writhe on his cock.

  "Yes," I whimpered as the orgasm came roaring through me. My heels dug into his back as my ass came off the counter. He yanked me down from the counter and bent me over the small table and finally took me as hard and fast as I needed him to. Again, I clutched at the wood as he made my body his. He came before his onscreen counterpart did, but he stayed inside me and caressed my back and ass until the video ended.