Part 2 (1/2)

”You know that spanking we talked about?”

”Yes...”

”Consider it a promise, not a threat,” he warned before turning to continue to the door.

Lily stayed where she was, not because Jonas had ordered her to or because she feared the reprisal of that promised spanking, but because watching him like this was...well, it was mesmerizing.

For such a big man, he was incredibly light on his feet, stealthy, those heavy biker boots not making a sound as he pressed back against the wall and moved the rest of the way to the door before putting his eye to the security peephole.

What happened next was a blur of movement too fast for Lily to follow.

She knew Jonas must have unlatched the security chain and opened the door, because he stepped out into the hallway. A snarl and a squeak followed.

Lily arrived at the open doorway in time to see Jonas holding a man up against the opposite wall by a hand about his throat, the man's face on a level with Jonas's as his feet dangled several inches off the floor.

Panicked brown eyes looked pleadingly across at Lily, the hand about the man's throat not only causing his face to turn a mottled shade of red, but also preventing him from talking beyond that garbled squeak.

”Jonas-”

”Stay the h.e.l.l out of this, Lily.” Jonas didn't so much as allow his glittering gaze to waver from the man he held in his grasp. ”So, you like to play mind-f.u.c.k games with women, do you? Like to send them letters telling them the sick things you want to do to them? Send them roses dripping with blood.” He shook the other man as if he weighed no more than a rag doll. ”Answer me, you sick little-”

”Jonas, he can't answer you when you're choking the life out of him.” Lily quickly crossed the hallway to pull ineffectually at the hand Jonas was using to hold his captive off the floor. ”He's a friend, Jonas,” she told him in exasperation, reaching up to try to physically pry his fingers loose now. Again without success. ”I'm guessing you didn't watch the play this evening?”

”No.” Nights at the theater weren't exactly Jonas's thing.

”If you had, then you would know that this is Evan Butler. He stars in the play with me,” she added when Jonas remained unimpressed.

Jonas froze for a second or two, and then he released Evan so abruptly, the other man crumpled to a heap in the carpeted hallway, hand raised to his throat. He choked and coughed, attempting to draw breath back into his starved lungs.

Lily went down onto her haunches beside him. ”Are you okay? Oh G.o.d, Evan, I am so sorry.” She turned to glare at Jonas. ”Shoot first and ask questions later much?”

A nerve pulsed in his tightly clenched jaw as he towered over them. ”He's still alive, isn't he?”

”Barely,” she snapped before turning her attention back to the other man.

Jonas scowled. What the h.e.l.l had Lily expected his reaction to be when a man rang her doorbell at almost one o'clock in the morning?

Come to think of it, what was a male friend doing calling round at this time of night?

There seemed to be only one answer to that question.

Gabriel hadn't mentioned his sister having a boyfriend, but that didn't mean she didn't have one. Lily obviously preferred not to confide in any of her brothers regarding her private life, had only done so regarding those letters because the whole situation was becoming so frighteningly intense.

But if this was Lily's boyfriend, what the h.e.l.l had she been doing flirting with him minutes ago?

Had she been flirting with him?

It had seemed as if she was at the time, but Jonas was the one who had picked her up and molded her body to his. Who had confirmed he had been thinking about f.u.c.king her. Who had caressed and fondled her a.s.s.

s.h.i.+t.

Jonas stowed his gun back in the waistband of his jeans. ”I suggest we move this inside your apartment, before any of the neighbors decide to investigate the reason for all the noise.” He made no effort to offer his a.s.sistance as Lily helped the other man up onto his feet.

Jonas closed and locked the apartment door behind him before following them down the hallway into the sitting room, eyes narrowed on Evan's arm about Lily's shoulders, hers about his waist.

Lily didn't need to look at Jonas to be totally aware of him standing across the room, arms folded in front of the broadness of his chest. He leaned back against the wall watching her through narrowed lids while she helped Evan cross the room and then to sit down on the sofa, before sitting down next to him.

She shot Jonas an impatient glance. ”Why don't you make yourself useful and instead of just standing there glaring, go and get the man you almost choked to death a gla.s.s of water?”

”I'm not your f.u.c.king maid!” he rasped.

”You're not my f.u.c.king anything.” Lily used the word deliberately, knowing how much it had annoyed Jonas earlier. One rule for him and another for her didn't cut it as far as she was concerned.

Besides, he had almost strangled poor Evan.

”Is it safe to leave me alone with him?” Evan eyed Jonas nervously as Lily got up to go through to the kitchen.

”Is it?” Lily quirked a questioning brow at Jonas.

”For the moment,” he allowed grudgingly.

Lily would like to think he was joking, but she knew by Jonas's behavior in the hallway that he wasn't. One wrong move from Evan, and he was likely to find himself pressed up against the wall again, Jonas's hand once more about his throat. And this time, he might not let go.

”It's safe,” she told Evan, shooting Jonas a warning glance as she continued into the kitchen to get the gla.s.s of water.

Jonas a.s.sessed Evan. Mid to late twenties, about six feet tall, slender frame, pretty-boy face, tousled brown hair. ”So you're an actor?”

The guy's Adam's apple bobbed nervously up and down before he spoke. ”Yes.” He gave an enthusiastic nod. ”I also have a boyfriend called Todd,” he added quickly.

Jonas's eyes narrowed. ”Then what are you doing here?”

”Todd goes away on business a lot, and Lily and I occasionally go for coffee after the show when he's away.” He s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably. ”I was concerned earlier when someone said she'd left with you.”

”Why?”

”Well...the letters. Those roses.” Evan shuddered. ”I thought you might have been him. The stalker. You aren't him, are you?” he added as a worried afterthought.

Jonas gave a derisive shake of his head. ”I'm a friend of her brother.”

Evan's eyes lit up with interest. ”The big dangerous-looking one, with the incredibly wide shoulders and gorgeous green eyes?”

”That would be all of them. And I'll take your word for it on the gorgeous green eyes,” he drawled.

”This brother also always wears suits that look as if his tailor loves dressing him.” Evan gave a swooning movement with his eyes to emphasize his point.

”That would be Gabriel.” Although Jonas had a feeling the other Knight brothers looked as good in a suit. ”And yes, that's the right brother.” He wondered how Gabriel would react to this man's obvious crush. No doubt the same way he reacted to everyone-with complete indifference. Gabriel didn't have women, or men, in his life, only in his bed, and then only for the time it took to satisfy his s.e.xual itch. ”I wouldn't waste my time in that direction, if I were you.”

”Are you and Gabriel together?”

Jonas almost choked on his own tongue. Him and Gabriel? It would be like putting a tiger and a panther together, and anyone's guess which one would maul the other to death.