His Challenging Lover Read Free Page B

the man’s momentum to throw him off balance. He came back at her in only seconds, not giving her enough time to regroup. As she stared at the bloodlust in his eyes, she knew that the previous tackle was only a precursor to this one but she spun around and braced herself, prepared to do whatever it took to stop this man.
    All she saw was him coming towards her one moment and the next, he was gone, slammed up against the wall of the deli with his arm twisted behind his back and his right cheek smashed so he wasn’t able to look anywhere but up at the ceiling.
    “So, you like taking swings at women half your size, eh?” Xander was saying, twisting the man’s arm slightly and causing him to flinch again. “How about if you take on someone a bit bigger and see how you fare?” he asked.
    There was applause all around but Autumn only saw Xander’s enormous, magnificent body as he glared down at the portly man. She knew she should hide her appreciation for his tall, muscular form, but it was simply too impressive.
    There was another commotion over by the doors as the police belatedly arrived, hands on their pistols as they quickly surveyed the situation. When they saw who was holding the man, both police officers’ jaw dropped.
    “Are you okay, Mr. Thorpe?” one of them asked, rushing over with his handcuffs in his hand, efficiently taking over the man being restrained.
    “I’m fine. But this man assaulted the lady on the floor and Autumn Hallman, my office manager.”
    The police officer was more than a little overwhelmed by the idea of talking to Xander Thorpe. He was sort of a legend in the boxing ring as well as the legal community. But the officer squared his shoulders, eager to look good in front of the man most officers revered. “We’ll book him for assault and battery as well as disorderly conduct,” the other officer said. He went over to the elderly woman, helping her stand up and checking her to see if she needed an ambulance. Meanwhile, Xander spun around to glare at Autumn and she cringed at the furious look in his indigo blue eyes. Why was he angry with her?
    Okay, so that was a silly question. Xander was always angry with her for one reason or another. And normally, she would spit the fire right back at him, giving as good as she got. But she’d never seen him this furious. Normally, he reserved his anger to sarcastic, pithy comments in a meeting or biting remarks when she didn’t find him a staff addition or replacement quickly enough.
    This was a whole new level of fury.
    With the police officers trying to organize the witnesses, get statements and haul the brute away, Xander walked slowly towards her. Actually, it wasn’t so much walking as it was stalking. There were only about five steps separating both of them, but it seemed like a lifetime for him to reach her. When he was less than an inch away from her, she looked up into his blue eyes, her neck craning back because she couldn’t move backwards and he wasn’t relenting.
    He didn’t say a word. He simply grabbed her arm in a vicelike grip and hauled her out of the deli.
    “We’re going to need Ms. Hallman to give us a statement,” one of the officers was saying as Xander dragged her to the doorway.
    Autumn scrambled to keep up but it was hard because the Xander was so much taller than she was. Well, and she was wearing three inch heels. She knew they made her legs look awesome, but they didn’t make running too easy.
    “I’ll bring her to you later,” Xander replied to the officer as politely as his anger would allow.
    Autumn was about to demand an explanation but he didn’t stop long enough for her to even get a breath. This man had tormented her for years with his anger and she was sick of it! It was going to end today! She was just about to pull her arm free and confront the man when he pulled her to the side of the building.
    Xander didn’t even try to get control of his anger. He’d never been so terrified in his life as