"Uh-oh, looks like the tables have turned," I mocked him.
He just scowled back at me. "Regardless, Kody, go. Time is ticking."
Kody made a sound of agreement, then stepped between Archer and me, breaking our stare-down. "He's actually right. I need to sort out these phones quickly. If your stalker hacked Bree's, he could have done a hell of a lot more than just clone her number. I'll swing past later, okay?" He smacked a quick kiss on my lips before I could protest, then shot Steele a lightning-fast look that I imagined roughly translated to "Keep an eye on our girl and don't let Archer fuck it all up again."
Or maybe it was just a look. Who knew?
He took off out of the empty range, and I leveled my stare at Steele. "Explain?"
"If our phones were compromised, then there could have been any number of spyware modifications added. Shit that doesn't get removed with a sim card." Steele didn't seem as concerned as Archer, but he was definitely worried. "There's every chance you're right that he just cloned Bree's sim to freak you out, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
My lips parted, and understanding rippled through me... closely followed by embarrassment. I should have thought of that, but it hadn't even occurred to me.
"Oh," I replied, feeling totally stupid.
Steele gave me a gentle smile. "It's okay, you couldn't have known."
"She would have if it hadn't taken a day and a half to tell us about it," Archer said, waspish as all hell. "Come on, Princess. Time to go."
He grabbed my upper arm in a tight hold, basically dragging me with him as he strode outside again. I let out a squeak of protest, but it was all I could do to keep my balance and not land on my ass in the dirt. He was damn lucky my coffee cup had a lid, or it would have spilled and then I’d be forced to remove his skin with a potato peeler.
"Arch!" Steele barked from behind us. "Hands off. Don't make me smack some manners into you like Kody did the other week."
"You could fucking try," Archer muttered, but his grip on my arm eased off before he jerked the passenger door of his car open for me. "Get in, Madison Kate."
I folded my arms and glared back at him. "And if I don't?"
Something flickered across his face that was way too close to amusement for my liking. These boys had all too much fun throwing me around like a rag doll, so it really wasn't smart for me to challenge them. Then again, I had to get my kicks somewhere, right?
"Archer, lay off," Steele snapped coming across the parking lot toward us. "I can take her home when I've closed up here. You don't need to do this shit right now."
Archer didn't look over at his friend, his eyes locked on mine. "I disagree. My lovely wife and I are way overdue for this particular chat. Get in the damn car, Madison Kate."
"You don't have to," Steele told me, his tone calm but firm. "You can come with me."
But my curiosity was hooked. What did Archer want to discuss so badly that he was willing to be such an insufferable bastard about driving me home?
"It's fine," I told Steele with a small smile. "Archer won't hurt me, will you, Sunshine? After all, you need me alive for my twenty-first birthday or this whole sham marriage was for nothing, isn't that right?"
Archer just smiled. "Get in the car."
I rolled my eyes at his attitude but did what he wanted anyway.
Maybe I was being an idiot, but a small part of me just enjoyed antagonizing him. It was fun, simple as that. Obviously, it was likely to bite me in the ass sooner or later. But that was a risk I was willing to take over and over again.
"So?" I asked after placing my coffee in the cup holder and buckling my seat belt. "What vitally important discussion do we need to have? Is this the one where you confess you're secretly in love with me and everything you do is for my own safety?"
He cast a what the fuck kind of glare at me as he pulled out of the shooting range parking lot and accelerated onto the mountain road.
"Wait, no," I continued on, not bothering to wait for him to reply, "this is when you apologize profusely for ruining my whole fucking life and explain that this whole sour attitude you're rocking is the product of a chemical imbalance in your brain. Right?"
He snorted a laugh. A short one, don't get me wrong, but a laugh nonetheless. "Ruined your life? I seem to remember saving your life on several occasions."
I rolled my eyes, but he had a point. "Whatever."
"Tell me about your meeting this morning, Madison Kate." His question—or demand—wasn't what I'd expected, but I should have. Of course, he wasn't just going to let that go so easily.
"Can't," I replied with a truckload of sass. "Attorney client confidentiality, you know?"
"That only applies for your attorney," he said, the irritation in his voice clearly conveying that didn't care for my games. Well, too bad.
"But does it?" I mused. "I might seek legal counsel on that."
"Princess, quit the bullshit. What did you discuss with Demi?"
I batted my lashes at him, knowing full fucking well he could see me even while his eyes seemed to be on the road ahead. "Why do you care, Sunshine? Are you gonna be a sad panda when I find a way to dissolve that bullshit marriage contract? Did you think this was all going to end in a fairy-tale happily ever after or some shit?" I scoffed a laugh. "Maybe you should look into spending some of that D'Ath fortune on a therapist, babe. You seriously need your head checked."
Archer's jaw clenched and his temple throbbed. "Don't be so fucking naive, Madison Kate. You're smarter than that."
I seethed. It drove me nuts when people suggested I was being intentionally dense, and he probably knew it.
A bitchy retort started to form in my mind, but it was gone again in a flash as Archer suddenly gunned the engine. I let out a small yelp of surprise, clutching my door handle for stability, and he shot me a quick look.
"Hold on," he said, rather unnecessarily. "We're being followed."
I spun around to look, and Archer hissed a curse at me.
"Get your head down," he snapped. "Quit giving them a fucking target in case they're planning to shoot at us."
I gaped at him in shock but did as I was told, slinking down in my seat a little more. I stayed like that for several minutes, eventually squeezing my eyes shut as Archer's driving grew increasingly hair-raising.
When I felt the car slowing, I peeled my eyelids open cautiously and glanced over at him.
"Lost them," he informed me with a quick glance. "You okay?"
I licked my lips several times to fix the serious case of dry mouth that had just hit me and nodded. "Do you care?" I replied, an edge of bitterness in my voice. I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but my filter grew faulty when I was scared.
Archer slowed his car and rolled to a stop directly in front of my apartment building, then speared me with a hard stare.
"Of course I care, Kate. Your safety is important to me." His voice was gentle, and it sent a shock wave of emotion rolling through me.
For a long, way too tense moment, we just sat there with our gazes locked and silence reigning supreme through the car. Archer was the first to look away, turning his gaze forward as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.