Justice Is Always Ready (A Graham Family Story, 1) (15 page)

Alex Richman.

“
Hello, Kassidy,” he
purred in a low tone.

Should have looked through
the window at who it was.
She skimmed him
from head to foot. Impeccably dressed, like normal. It amazed her
that this man used to take her breath away and make her almost
willing to give up everything, including her family, just to be
with him.

“
What do you
want?”

“
Is that any way to greet
your boyfriend?”

She couldn’t stop the gasp from
escaping. “Boyfriend? I don’t know where you got that idea, but you
couldn’t be farther from the truth. Now what do you
want?”

“
Another
chance.”

It felt like snakes were winding their
way around her limbs and she fought off a shiver. “No
way.”

“
Why? You know you’re not
dating anyone.”

More headlights cut into the driveway
and she immediately felt better when behind those lights she made
out a red Corvette.

“
Whether I am or not is
none of your business. I don’t want you here, Alex.
Leave.”

“
No. I want you to say
you’re going to give us another chance.”

In the light from her
porch she could make out beads of sweat on his brow.
It’s not that hot out.
“There is no ‘another chance’ for you and I, Alex. Why are
you here?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.
Leave.”

“
Don’t force this,
Kassidy.”

His tone dropped even more but this
time rang with ugliness. She battled back another shiver but
refused to cower. She’d done that enough when they were
together.

“
Get off my porch,
Alex.”

He reached out as if he were going to
grab her. Right before he made contact another hand circled around
his wrist and halted the motion.

“
Don’t touch
her.”

Kassidy looked to the left and found
Justice standing there, a murderous expression on his face. Gone
was the man who made her feel like she was the only one in his
world and in his place stood this one, who in her opinion, seemed
more than ready to commit violence.

“
What the he—” Alex
started to demand but got cut off.

“
She told you to leave,”
Justice’s voice cracked like a whip through the air. He moved and
somehow managed to get between her and Alex. “You have ten seconds
before I throw you out of here.”

“
This is crazy, man, you
can’t just go around grabbing people like this.”

“
You think you can grab
her, you’re lucky it’s just your wrist I’m putting pressure on.
Five seconds.”

Kassidy wasn’t sure what to do. Part
of her was glad to let Justice handle it but there was another part
of her that didn’t need him to do so. She moved to the right to
slide around him but he moved with her, keeping himself squarely
between them. Placing her hands on him, she peered
around.

“
We still need to talk,
Kassidy,” Alex said as he hurried off down the steps to his
car.

She knew he’d be back. He wasn’t one
to give up. Stepping fully around Justice, despite his grumblings,
she hollered, “Wait, Alex.”

The man turned and there
was a grin on his face.
Like he knew I
would stop him.
The fake gold tooth made
its presence known and she fought the urge to roll her
eyes.

“
Yes, Kassidy?”

Moving to the top step she said, “Say
what you need to, then never come back.”

The arrogance that had lit his
expression faded away. “We need to talk in private.”

“
No, Alex. This is your
one chance to say whatever is so important for you to seek me out
after all this time.”

Chapter
Ten

Justice clenched his hands into fists
as he watched Kassidy move down the steps to the crushed shells of
her front walk. Unbelievable anger had flowed over him the moment
he’d pulled into her drive and saw that man, she’d called Alex,
reaching for her. He knew just as sure as he was standing there
that this was the man who’d hurt her in their past
relationship.

And she’d actually called out that
roach’s name and was currently speaking to him. He struggled to
remain up on the porch and give them a bit of privacy but he also
wanted to make sure she wasn’t in any danger.

Alex was about six feet tall, dark
skin, and his black hair in cornrows. He wore a silk suit that
despite all attempts didn’t fit him well in the slightest. The gold
teeth in his mouth only made Justice want to roll his eyes and
punch him right in the shiny objects. But he did none of that. He
remained by the door, the screen part keeping Libby in the house,
and observed.

Their voices weren’t clear enough for
him to understand but the tone was. Neither was happy.

“
No!” Kassidy shouted and
turned to walk away.

The second that hand reached out to
hold her still, Justice moved. He jumped over the steps and was at
her side, intercepting the grab.

“
I warned you not to touch
her,” he growled low, then slammed Alex to the ground.

“
Justice!” Kassidy gasped.
“Stop it. Let him up.”

Alex made some noise, but in truth
Justice wasn’t listening to him in the least. But Kassidy, that was
a whole other bucket of bolts. With a low rumble he shoved Alex one
more time then got to his feet. The moment he stood upright, he
hauled Kassidy up against him.

“
What are you doing,
Justice? You can’t go around hitting people.”

He tipped her face up toward his.
Despite her bravado he could see the fear in her gaze. “I’ll do a
lot worse than that to him if he thinks of touching you again.” He
tilted his head slightly. “Are you okay?”

She swallowed and nodded.
“Yes.”

Instead of releasing her, he drew her
in closer. He longed to end the subtle quivers that traversed her
body. He brushed his lips along her forehead. “Good.” His quiet and
calm vanished when he turned his attention back to the man still
getting to his feet. “You,” Justice ground out, “you leave and
never bother her again.”

“
Kassidy?” Alex coughed
and rubbed his wrist.

“
Go, Alex. We were
finished the day you walked out that door and told me I wasn’t good
enough for you. I wasn’t ambitious enough, pretty enough, smart
enough. My hair was too curly and hordes of other crap you told me.
Just go.”

Justice shook with the force of his
anger. He longed to plant his fist right in that man’s face and
then do it again and again. How anyone could say such a thing to
any person was beyond him. Especially when it came to Kassidy. She
was worth so many of that sorry excuse standing before
them.

Kassidy put a hand on his
chest and moved forward a step, her chin lifted and she said in a
crisp, cold tone, “You are a sorry person, Alex. And while I would
love to wish bad things upon you, I can’t because that would make
me no better than you. And you know what? I
am
better than you. Stay out of my
life.”

Her slight tremors turned into full
blow quakes when she buried her face in Justice’s chest. He held
her tighter and shot a warning glare at Alex. There was a glint of
something in the man’s expression that had Justice wondering if he
wouldn’t try again. But Alex conceded this encounter and walked
away.

He didn’t move until the man had sat
behind the wheel of his Cadillac and left the driveway. Then and
only then did Justice sweep her up in his arms and carry her into
the house, her slender body pressed tight against him.

With the heel of his boot, he shut the
door and went to the couch to lay her down. Glancing over his
shoulder, he saw the television paused on a movie. Then he noticed
a bowl of popcorn. He sat her there, covered her lap with a blanket
and gave her the popcorn. Then he headed back to the front and
locked up her house.

Before long, they were cuddled on the
couch, Libby on the other side of her, and the movie playing. He
wanted to ask her about Alex, but refrained. Instead, he sat beside
her and let her work through whatever she needed to.

A small smile tipped up the corners of
his mouth when soft snores slid from her. On the screen, Leeloo was
asking Korben for a reason to save their world, since she didn’t
know love. He watched the man struggle to admit that it was him who
really needed her, that love was true, and that he loved
her.

He dropped his gaze to her when the
credits began to roll. Her thick lashes rested against her cheeks
and she looked so adorable. Reaching for the remote, he turned off
the television and gently eased out from under her. He covered her
with the blanket before picking up the bowl and carrying it to the
kitchen. She hadn’t stirred by the time he returned. Libby jumped
down and he knelt before her.

“
Wake up, beautiful,” he
whispered, dragging his hand slowly down the side of her
face.

Her lids drifted up and exposed him to
the soft gray of her eyes. Kassidy blinked a few times before she
pushed into an upright position.

“
I fell
asleep.”

“
Yes.”

He sat when she patted the cushion
beside her. “What are you doing here, Justice?”

“
I wanted to see you, so I
left Billy’s and came over.”

“
I suppose you want an
explanation about Alex?”

Yes!
“If you feel like telling me.” He had no clue how he remained
so nonchalant about it.

“
To make a long story
short, he wants me back since this next client of his supposedly
knows of my family and is friends with my dad.” She shrugged then
messed with the blanket a bit. “So I am now no longer worthless to
him.”

It was difficult, but he swallowed
back his rage and anger. “I’m glad you told him to
leave.”

“
I can’t believe you hit
him,” she said, pushing against him.

“
He’s lucky that I stopped
when you told me to. I wanted to do so much more to him. No man
should
ever
think
it is okay to treat a woman like he treated you.”

Head cocked at an angle, she watched
him, her eyes full of wonderment. “You are one heck of a man,
Justice Graham.”

Nose to nose, he said in a hushed
voice, “All yours, beautiful. I’m all yours.”

He carried her back to her bedroom and
tucked her in. One of the most difficult things he’d ever had to do
was leaving her there alone, but he did. He kissed her with
tenderness, made sure she was tucked in, and then he let himself
out the front. After he double-checked the lock, he headed for his
car. He glanced around and hesitated to leave, unsure if Alex would
make a reappearance or not.

In the end he drove away, his day
started bright and early. Still she was on his mind even when he
woke for work the next morning. He had an extremely busy week and
only got to talk to her during short breaks. She sounded fine, but
seemed distracted.

Saturday he’d had enough of not seeing
her. He called her over his lunch but had to leave a message. After
work, he worked out, then showered. By his locker he reached for
his shirt and tugged it down over his head when he heard a
vibration on the floor of his locker. He saw his phone moving,
informing him of a message.

Grabbing it up, he pulled the
information up. Kassidy. He shoved his wallet into his pants and
pressed his voicemail. Bag in hand, he strode out of the building
into the lovely afternoon. She’d left a message just saying she was
returning his call. Nothing more than that. Nothing more personal
than that.

So, he called her.

“
Hello?”

A man’s voice.

Justice frowned and looked at the name
on his screen just to make sure he had called the right
one.

“
Hello?” The question came
again.

“
I was looking for
Kassidy.”

“
Oh, hang on a second.”
Muffled voices, then the one who made his heart melt.

“
Hello?” she
asked.

“
Kassidy?”

“
Justice. How are
you?”

“
Who answered your phone?”
It just blurted out, he had no way to stop it.

“
Arlen. How are you
doing?”

“
I miss you. Can I see you
tonight?”

“
Hang on one second.” Her
voice faded for a few moments before it returned. “If you don’t
mind going to a birthday party that is.”

“
Your birthday?” Her
chuckle made him smile.

“
Not quite. Think a lot
younger, with streamers, princess hats, and lots of screaming kids
hyped up on
way
too much sugar.”

“
Sari?”

“
One of her friends. I got
suckered into helping watch. If you’re feeling brave enough, I’ll
give you the address and you can stop by. It starts at
four.”