Free Dark Knight: A Loveswept Romance Classic by Donna Kauffman

you like the highly trained pro you are, if you’ll give me the same courtesy.”
    “A highly trained pro doesn’t relay information without good reason. You haven’t given me one of those.”
    “Yet.”
    She folded her arms. “What is this common bond? Put that on the table.”
    Logan didn’t answer right away. He knew damn well she was there because of Lucas. But until he knew more about why they wanted to keep him “protected,” he wasn’t about to offer his brother’s name up on a platter.
    She shifted away from the table. “I guess we’re at a standstill then.”
    Logan took a different tack. “Why a week? What happens in a week?”
    “I walk out of here, and we never see each other again.”
    “Did it occur to you that as a U.S. citizen I have rights that are being seriously abused?”
    “So sue me.”
    “I just might do that.”
    “I should tell you, I’m not in the phone book. But if you can track me down and tell me what courtroom to be in, I’ll be there.”
    Impatience reared its fiery head, with frustration fanning the flames. It brought back all the low points of his former career in a vivid recollection. He hadn’t dealt well with those emotions then. He’d done slightly better since Sarah’s death.
    Yeah, quitting the force before he was thrown off was a hell of a way to manage stress.
    Well, he wasn’t on the force now. He didn’t have to play by the rules.
    Logan pulled his shackled feet under him and rose. She had the gun cocked and aimed before he’d fully straightened.
    “Take these off of me.” He once again held out his wrists.
    “I thought we weren’t playing games anymore.”
    “Exactly.” He walked toward her.
    She raised the aim from his chest to his forehead. “Stop right where you are.”
    He continued to walk toward her. “I’m done. Either take these damn chains off or shoot me.”
    “A stupid thing to die over, Blackstone. Stop now and you won’t be harmed.”
    There was less than five feet between them. She had braced her legs and held the gun in a two-handed grip. The table was at the back of her thighs. One more step, and she’d have no choice but to give it up or shoot him.
    He took another step.
    She fired the gun.

FIVE
    The bullet whizzed just over the top of Logan’s head and embedded itself in the cabin wall with a loud pop.
    “Are you sure you were the range instructor?”
    Scottie blinked at him, the gun still held in front of her.
The idiot had actually made her shoot at him twice now!
That stunned moment of thought cost her.
    Without warning, Logan swung his chained fists up and knocked her hands to the side. The gun went flying across the room, landing with a clatter by the bedroom door. Scottie lunged sideways onto the table, trying to avoid his attack and reach for the other gun. Logan came right after her. The table splintered under the force of their joined weight, and they went down in a heap. The broken pieces stabbed at her back and shoulders. Logan landed on his side in a sprawl atop her torso and legs, knocking the wind out of her. His chains and cuffs banged heavily against her, bruising and scraping her skin.
    “Get off me!” she managed, gasping and grunting.She tried to twist her ankle around his for leverage, but her foot got tangled in the chains running from his wrists to his ankle.
    “I’m getting real tired of this,” Logan said, breathing heavily.
    “Then stop buying problems for yourself. All you had to do was sit on the couch and stay out of my way.”
    Logan rolled over and glared down at her. “Maybe I didn’t want to sit.”
    The chains bit into her skin, his weight cut off most of her air. Her arms were pinned, one beneath her, one between. His hands were held low at his waist by the ankle chain pulled taut between their legs. Unless he moved, she was going nowhere.
    “It beats getting shot, doesn’t it?” She blew her hair out of her eyes. “I could have killed you.”
    A smile split his face. It was more