vibe. Whoever the snarling bitch turned out to be, Summer knew instinctively that she was very bad news, especially after hearing the words, murdering asshole directed at Arnie.
He answered the woman in a menacing growl. “You have no idea what I’m capable of, so don’t fuck with me.”
Maleficent’s laughter was high-pitched and slightly manic. Summer swallowed hard. She’d never been this close to a monster before and trembled with awareness of the evil before her.
“Don’t threaten me,” the snake in a designer dress hissed. “It’s not too late for me to destroy your father.”
Oh, dear god. What had she walked in to?
“As usual,” Arnie sneered, “we reach an impasse. You make a move on Dad, and I’ll make sure your booze-addled son never speaks to you again.”
The ferocity of their mutual glares made Summer nervous. These two should never, ever be left alone together.
“Grab your broom and be gone.” He crossed his arms and glared down at her.
What happened next threw Summer into a case of panic. The woman hauled off and slapped Arnie across the face. He never reacted.
“You’re going to regret messing with me.” With that pronouncement, the public altercation ended. The woman stomped away, her high heels tapping out an angry rhythm as she crossed the expansive lobby.
Trembling with fear and a disturbing sense of foreboding, she froze in place. When Arnie saw her, he blanched and came to her side.
“What the hell was that?” she asked in a shaky voice as she bit her lip and glanced in the direction of the retreating female.
“Nothing,” he grunted and tried to take her arm.
Too much was happening. She needed to breathe and clear her head. Shaking off his attempt to touch her, Summer willed her booted feet to move and headed for the outside. He didn’t let her get too far before gently guiding her to change direction with his body.
She was almost in the hyperventilation danger zone when they made it to his bungalow. He pried the container of brownies from her rigid hands and urged her to sit.
Everything went to shit. Her senses exploded. Without concrete evidence, she knew in the deepest darkest corner of her being the Maleficent woman wasn’t just a normal menace. She wished harm upon Arnie, and the realization shook her up.
Grabbing his waist, Summer wailed in Arnie’s face, “She wants to hurt you. I-I could feel it. Who is that awful woman?”
Stroking her arms, he dipped his knees so their eyes would meet. “She is less than nobody, and I know all about the bottomless pit of malice she carries inside.”
Irrational fear consumed her. Digging her fingers into his waist, she cried, “You have to protect yourself from her. Don’t ask me how I know this, I just do.”
“Summer, please don’t get upset. Look, my family is fucked up, okay? There are reasons I stay away and don’t talk about them. What you saw was unfortunate, but trust me, it means nothing.”
He guided her onto the patio and lit a fire. As she breathed in the peaceful green calm, the anxiety gripping her lessened bit by bit.
Still shaken but more in control, she chose blunt over polite.
“You threatened her, and you meant it. I heard the backbone in your words.”
The Nordic blue of his eyes turned frosty and glacial. “She crossed a line.”
“Yeah, so I gathered. Why did she call you a murdering asshole?”
She knew her question struck a nerve when a flinch contorted his features.
“Does this have anything to do with your job?”
He stiffened and clenched his fists. She held her breath and waited.
“Just to clarify, we are at a point of no return. A go, no-go point, if you will. My security designation means I’m not in a position to speak freely about a lot of things.”
His tension was palpable. She half smiled and offered a partial lifesaver. “This isn’t my first government secrets moment. My brother is also a lockbox of information without a key. An overview is fine.”
He appeared relieved. She searched his face, and with her senses, she tested the air around them, looking for clues.
“Okay, then you probably get the picture when I say the men in suits who run things, both inside and outside the government, reeled me in rather early. I’ve got a degree in sensory forensics and psychology although you’ll never see it hanging on a wall. Unauthorized disclosure of my work would bring a lot of shit down on me. As far as my public face, it’s simple. For a long