Free Colters' Woman by Maya Banks Page B

before she thought better of her response.
    Satisfaction glimmered in Adam’s eyes. “Then it’s settled. We’ll tell Cal to proceed with the divorce action, and we’ll come up with a plan to make sure the bastard doesn’t come within a square mile of you.”
    She opened her mouth to protest but he shushed her with his finger.
    “Trust us, baby.”
    She sighed. The thing was, she did trust them. It was insane. She’d only known them a few days, and yet she trusted them more than she’d ever trusted another living soul.
    “Okay,” she said quietly.
    Adam bent his head and kissed her hungrily. His hand shoved into her hair and kneaded the back of her neck as his tongue delved into her mouth.
    When he pulled away, she was breathless.
    “Well, I must say, this is a surprise,” a feminine voice drawled.
    Holly whirled around to see a tall redhead in a cowboy hat and wearing a badge.
    Adam swore. “Damn it, Lacey, don’t you know how to knock?
     

Chapter Eight
     
    Ryan grasped Holly’s wrist and shoved her behind him. His face darkened into a thundercloud, and Adam stepped forward in an effort to defuse a potentially explosive situation. Ryan didn’t like Lacey at all, and if she posed a threat to Holly, Adam wasn’t sure what Ryan would do.
    “What the hell are you doing here, and what do you want?” Adam demanded.
    Lacey raised a brow in surprise at his vehemence.
    “The question is what is she doing here?” Lacey said with a nod in Holly’s direction. “Unless I’m mistaken, she bears an uncanny resemblance to the woman on a missing person’s report lying on my desk.”
    Fuck, fuck, fuck. Why did Lacey have to show up now of all times?
    “Her husband claims she was abducted,” Lacey continued. “What does the lady have to say about that?”
    “I wasn’t kidnapped,” Holly said hotly.
    Ryan shoved her back behind him and glared harder at Lacey.
    “As you can see, she’s perfectly fine,” Ryan said icily. “I’m sure your services are required elsewhere. They aren’t here.”
    Lacey flinched. “You never did like me.” She shook her head. “But that’s not the point. The point is I have a worried husband searching for his missing wife. Now if she’s here of her own free will, that’s her business, but I need her to come to the station with me and give me a statement. Away from any undue influence,” she said looking pointedly at the three brothers.
    “Over my dead body,” Adam growled.
    “She’s not going anywhere near her bastard husband,” Ethan spoke up.
    Lacey sighed and moved her hand to rest on her hip, mere inches from her gun. “You guys aren’t going to make this easy, I see.”
    Holly moved in front of Ryan. “I’ll go,” she said softly.
    Adam’s chest clenched at the blatant fear in her eyes.
    “No, baby. You’re not going.”
    She turned troubled eyes on him. “I won’t cause you any trouble. I’ll go.”
    “Fuck that,” Ryan said. “Lacey can take your damn statement here.”
    “Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but I need to hear Mrs. Bardwell’s version. One that isn’t colored by three huge-ass men glowering over her shoulder. She’ll need to come with me. Don’t make me force the issue, Adam. You know I don’t want to have to do that.”
    “What the fuck is your problem, Lacey?” Ethan interjected, surprising Adam with the anger in his voice.
    “I’m doing my job,” she said in an even voice. “You lied to me when I asked if you’d seen her. I have a very important man raising all sorts of hell in my town looking for his missing wife. His new wife, I might add. Now I find her here. She looks frightened out of her mind, so you’ll have to excuse me if I want to hear from her own mouth what the hell is going on.”
    “It’s not us she’s frightened of,” Ryan pointed out.
    “Fine, then she can come with me and explain,” Lacey said.
    Holly sucked in her breath, trying valiantly not to panic. She couldn’t allow