Shatter Read Online Free

stunned her silent. Trapped her in a damned-if-she-did, damned-if-she-didn’t scenario. But she’d been here before, and her past decisions had kept them both alive.
    “I’m sorry, Mitch. I can’t help you.”
    “You can and you will,” he said. “You’re not going anywhere until you answer my questions, Halina.”
    “Heather. It’s Heather .”
    “I am never calling you Heather.” His tone ground back into glass. “Fuck that. And fuck you while I’m at it. What the hell happened to going back to Russia with your husband, Halina? You’re a little far from home .”
    Oh, hell.
    He wasn’t going to let this go. Wasn’t going to let her go. Heather gritted her teeth. “Mitch . . . step back. Please. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment. Long enough to envision one of her sparring partners standing behind her, pushing her to give it her all.
    He gripped her arm and pain shot along her biceps. “Hali—”
    “Sorry,” she whispered, and threw her elbow into his ribs. He grunted and his air released against her shoulder.
    She pushed up on her toes, squeezed her eyes closed on another whispered “Sorry, sorry,” and slammed her head back, connecting with his forehead. Pain flashed in her skull, but as soon as he stumbled backward, she turned to face him. She waited half a second, hoping that hit would take him to the floor, but he lifted his head, his eyes dazed and hot with anger. Blood trickled down his forehead, making Heather’s stomach pinch.
    “Mitch, stop,” she said. “You have to let me go. You have to stop looking for me.”
    He gripped the bed’s footboard with one hand, pressed the other to his forehead. If she’d thought he was pissed when she’d surprised him in the shower, he was now homicidal. Nostrils flaring, eyes darker than Heather had ever seen them.
    “I won’t stop following you until I have all the answers to this clusterfuck, Ha—”
    She stepped in and kicked out, aiming for his solar plexus. Sorry, sorry, sorry. But Mitch saw it coming and grabbed for her leg. Heather pulled the kick, trying to keep from breaking his ribs or—God forbid—stopping his heart, and escaped Mitch’s hand. He grunted, flew back, and hit the wall.
    Halina turned, hauled the door open, and raced down the stairs. She had to grip the handrail to keep from tripping herself. Her mind raced in every direction. She didn’t start thinking in a straight line until she was halfway home.
    She sped down the main boulevard, squealing around corners. “Okay, okay, it’s okay.” She strangled the steering wheel with both hands. “If he was followed, they’ll know where I am. They’ll come after me, not him. They want me. If he’s not with me, he’ll be fine.”
    On her street, she slammed the remote opening the garage, jumped the curb, and skidded to a stop in the driveway. She bolted from her car, door open, engine running. She just needed Dex. He was the one and only thing she’d never leave behind. Nothing else mattered.
    She ducked under the garage door as it opened and rushed into the house. Dex was there to greet her as always. Halina didn’t pause to snuggle like she always did, but raced past, using her momentum to ricochet off the far wall on the way to her bedroom.
    Dex gave an excited bark and followed.
    “No, baby, not playing,” she said, breathless, as she jerked Dex’s favorite blanket off the bed, grabbed a couple of chew toys nearby, and shoved her hand between her box spring and mattress. Her second Heckler & Koch touched her palm, cool and smooth, and she jerked it out and pushed it into her waistband—where the weight of three weapons now nearly took her pants to her knees. At her feet, Dex whined and pranced in place. His nails tapped on the floor and clicked against Heather’s nerves.
    “Okay, come on.” She pivoted and nearly tripped over him in the tight space alongside her bed. “Shit, Dex, out .”
    He danced out