“Stay away from my son. If you harm him, I’ll kill you.”
“Harm him?” Neal asked silkily. “Why would I harm my own flesh and blood?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Dillon demanded, taking a threatening step toward Neal. Sensing his master’s shift in mood, Loner began to growl.
Neal wasn’t intimidated by either. “I’m that boy’s daddy. Didn’t Jade tell you?”
“That’s not true!” she shouted.
“Should I call the sheriff’s office or handle him myself?” Dillon asked her.
Neal taunted, “Yeah, Jade. What do you want him to do? Do you want him to stick around and hear all the sordid details of our long-ago romance? If he’s the one keeping your snatch damp these days, I’m sure he’d be interested.”
“You lousy son of a bitch.” Dillon was ready to throw a punch, but Jade stepped between the two of them.
“No, Dillon. That’s what he wants you to do. I’ve seen it happen before. Leave me alone with him.”
“Like hell,” Dillon snarled, still straining to get his hands on Neal.
“Please, don’t argue with me.”
His eyes roved over her face as though he couldn’t comprehend her at all. Then, cursing, he stomped into her portable office and slammed the door behind him.
“Call off this stupid animal,” Neal said.
Loner was still skulking around him, growling. She called him down. “Say what you have to say, Neal.”
He reached out and stroked her cheek before she was able to swat away his hand, then grinned when she did. “You’re not scared that I’ll harm that boy of yours. You’re scared that I’ll claim him, or better yet, that he’ll claim me.”
Neal was sterile. The Patchetts’ thinking was dynastic. In that startling, terrifying moment, Jade realized how significant Graham’s existence was to them. They would try to make him one of them. Hiding her fear, she said, “There isn’t even a remote possibility of that happening.”
“No? He liked me, Jade. Ask him.”
“I don’t doubt that you charmed him. Boys his age are easily attracted to wickedness.”
He gave a short laugh. “Why don’t y
ou make it easy on us all? If you would only say the word, I’d do right by you and offer you marriage, like I should have fifteen years ago. We could be one, big, happy family, living in the family home—three generations of Patchett men and the house’s new mistress.”
“Stay away from my son,” she said in a sinister monotone. “I’m warning you, Neal.”
“Jade,” he cooed, “you know better than anyone that, in Palmetto, the only warning worth shit is one that comes from a Patchett.”
He stepped closer to her and closed his hand around her jaw. “Let me give you one. Don’t fight me. I’m going to have my son with or without you.” He smiled at her meaningfully. “I’d just as soon it be a package deal.” Then he winked. “You had me once, and it wasn’t all that bad, was it?”
She yanked her head out of his grasp and backed away from him.
“That’s all for now,” he said, his smile still in place. “I’m late for an appointment.”
After blowing her a kiss, he got into his El Dorado and drove away. Jade maintained her fearless posture until he was out of sight, then she slumped against the exterior wall of the temporary building. Dillon barged through the door.
His face was as fierce, dark, and angry as a fallen angel’s. “Okay, I’ve been nice. I’ve been patient. But I’m up to here with this crap. I want to know what the hell is going on and why. You aren’t leaving here until I do.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Taking her hand, he pulled her up the steps behind him. He locked the door, took the telephone off the hook, and pointed her toward the short sofa. “Sit down.”
“I’ve still got work to do, Dillon.”