Free Night Shield by Nora Roberts

place. All I did was walk into a public place. I’m entitled to buy a drink in a bar when I’m in the mood.”
    “You’re not entitled to follow me or to jeopardize my cover in a police investigation. You crossed the line, and I’m calling the D.A.’s office in the morning.”
    “You don’t have to do that. Come on, Ally. How was I supposed to know you were on the job here? I just happened to pass by and—”
    “Don’t lie to me.” She balled her hand into a fist, then in frustration tapped it against her own temple as she turned away. “Don’t lie.”
    “I just miss you so much. I think about you all the time. I can’t help it. I know I shouldn’t have followed you. I didn’t mean to. I was just hoping we could talk, that’s all. Come on, baby.” He took her shoulders, buried his face in her hair in a way that made her skin crawl. “If we could just talk.”
    “Don’t … touch me.” She hunched her shoulders, started to pull away, but he wrapped his arms around her, one hard squeeze of possession.
    “Don’t pull away. You know it makes me crazy when you go cold like that.”
    She could have had him flat on his back with her foot on his throat in two moves. She didn’t want it to come to that. “Dennis, don’t make me hurt you. Just leave me alone. Take your hands off me and leave me alone, or it’s going to be so much worse than it already is.”
    “No. It’ll be better. I swear, it’ll be better. You just have to take me back, and things’ll be the way they used to be.”
    “No. They won’t.” She stiffened, braced to break the hold. “Let me go.”
    Light spilled out of the kitchen door as it opened. “I’d advise you to do what the lady asked,” Jonah warned. “And do it fast.”
    She closed her eyes, felt temper and embarrassment rise up under the frustration. “I can handle this.”
    “Maybe, but you won’t. This is my place. Take your hands off her.”
    “We’re having a private conversation.” Dennis turned but pulled Ally with him.
    “Not anymore. Go inside, Ally.”
    “This is none of your business.” Dennis’s voice rose, cracked. It was a tenor she’d heard before. “Just butt out.”
    “That wasn’t the right response.”
    She moved now, breaking free and stepping between the men when Jonah moved forward. There was a gleam in his eye that worried her, like a flash of lightning against thin ice. “Don’t. Please.”
    Anger wouldn’t have stopped him, nor would an order. But the plea in her eyes, the weariness in them, did. “Go back inside,” he said again, but quietly as he laid a hand on her shoulder.
    “So that’s the way it is.” Dennis lifted bunched fists. “There’s nobody else. That’s what you toldme. No, there was nobody else. Just another lie. Just one more of your lies. You’ve been sleeping with him all along, haven’t you? Lying bitch.”
    Jonah moved like a snake. She’d seen street fights before. Had broken up her share while in uniform. She only had time to swear and leap forward, but Jonah already had Dennis up against the wall.
    “Stop it,” she said and grabbed his arm to try to pull him off. She might as well have tried to shove aside a mountain.
    He shot her one steely look. “No.” He said it casually, like a shrug. Then he plowed his fist into Dennis’s belly. “I don’t like men who push women around or call them names.” His voice stayed cool and steady as he delivered a second blow. “I won’t tolerate it in my place. You got that?”
    He let go, stepped back, and Dennis collapsed in a heap at his feet. “I think he got it.”
    “Great. Wonderful.” While Dennis moaned, Ally pressed her fingers to her eyes. “You just gut-punched an assistant district attorney.”
    “And your point would be?”
    “Help me get him up.”
    “No.” Before she could try to haul Dennis to his feet, Jonah took her arm. “He walked in on his own, he’ll walk away on his own.”
    “I can’t leave him here, curled up like