Simon Says Die

tugged her hand out of his grasp. “I couldn’t ask Logan for help. He’s on his honeymoon, or had you forgotten?”
    â€œEven Italy is only a phone call away. He would have helped, and you know it.”
    â€œYou’re right. He would have helped. But Logan’s version of help would have been to cut his honeymoon short and come here. I couldn’t let him do that.”
    â€œGive your brother some credit. He thought you were in some kind of trouble this morning, and he didn’t cut his honeymoon short. He called me . And he made me swear to help you. You’re not getting off the hook by denying what we both know. You’re in the middle of some kind of trouble. And until you tell me what that is, I’m sticking around so I can keep you from getting hurt.”
    She jumped to her feet. “Logan shouldn’t have called you. I can take care of myself.”
    He eased off the bench and stood, towering over her. “Right,” he snapped, “that’s why you almost got shot this morning, because you can take such good care of yourself. You need help, but as usual, you’re too stubborn to admit it. Tell me who the shooter was.”
    She shoved her hair back behind her ears. “I don’t know.”
    His face tightened. “Yes, you do.”
    â€œYou think I’m lying?”
    â€œI know you are.”
    Why couldn’t he just let this go?
    She took a step back and darted a glance toward the front gates. Her convertible was parked just outside the entrance. Could she reach it before he caught up to her? He was wounded, which should slow him down. If she surprised him, he might not react fast enough. She felt in her pocket for the clicker to unlock her car.
    â€œWho’s the shooter?” he demanded again.
    â€œI told you, I don’t know.”
    â€œThe hell you don’t.”
    She took another step back.
    He closed the distance between them and gripped her shoulders. “You don’t have a head start this time. You wouldn’t even make it to the gate. Who’s the shooter? I’m not going to ask again.”
    She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but gave up when his hands tightened on her shoulders. She stomped her foot in frustration. “Why would I lie about knowing who the shooter was?”
    â€œGood question. Why would you? You’re an intelligent woman, Mads . If you saw a stranger watching your house, you’d call the police, no matter what B.S. they’d said about arresting you.”
    Mads. What a ridiculous nickname. At least when her brother called her “trouble,” that made sense. Pierce was the only one who’d ever called her Mads. It was silly. It wasn’t even cute.
    And every time he called her that, it made her go all melty inside.
    She took a deep breath and tried again. “ You might not think the police would have really arrested me if I’d called them, but I do. That’s why I didn’t call.” The excuse sounded weak, but it was all she could think of with over six feet of angry male glaring down at her.
    â€œYou chased after that man instead of calling the police,” he continued, as if she hadn’t spoken, “because you knew who he was and didn’t want the police to know. But you underestimated him, thinking you could catch up to him and confront him, not realizing he was armed.”
    Good grief. The man was like a hound after a fox, which didn’t bode well for the fox.
    â€œWhat does the gunman have on you?”
    â€œNothing,” she squeaked, her voice rising with panic.
    The disbelief on his face was far more damning than any accusation he could have spoken. For several minutes the tension stretched out between them. Then he shook his head and released her arms. He scrubbed a hand across the stubble on his jaw.
    Madison slumped with relief, only to stiffen again when Pierce pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. Unease crept up her spine.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” she asked.
    He pressed one of his saved contacts and showed her the face that appeared on the screen.
    Logan.
    She gasped and tried to grab the phone.
    He held it up, out of her reach.
    â€œDon’t do this,” she said. “He’s probably asleep. It’s like”—she waved her hands in the air—“three or four in the morning in Italy right now.”
    He held the phone to his ear. “One