Steampunk 3 – Jo & Griff
Jo stormed into the foyer of her house, Griff close on her heels. “You can not honestly expect me to sit by while you pursue the bastard that hired me to kill you.”
“That is exactly what I expect. By Tesla woman! How can you think otherwise?” Griff jammed his fingers through his hair. “I will not stand by and watch a woman be put in harm’s way.”
Jo stabbed her hat pin viciously through her riding hat and slammed it down on the table. “Any woman? Really. Your mother must be so proud of the chauvinist she has raised. Truly she must be a paragon of womanly values.” The sharp inhale of breath heard from across the room should have warned her that she had steamed right past the line of good manners, but she was angry. Damn angry.
“Heartwell wants me dead. He will do anything to achieve that end, including hurting you to get to me. I will not have you anymore exposed than you may already be.” Griff’s voice came low and growly.
“Damn it Griff. I am no babe in leading strings. I am a hired assassin. I kill people for a living. Don’t you think I can handle someone like Heartwell?” Jo drew a breath and tried to calm her temper. “Truly Griff, I meant no offense toward your mother, but I am not your average Victorian woman. I am different. I am more than just a pretty face in a fancy dress. I have a purpose.” She stepped toward him, pleading for him to see her as she saw herself.
Griff took one step backward. His face was carved of stone, the cold glint back in his silvery eyes. They no longer burned with molten desire. “I will thank you to remember that my mother was- no is one of the strongest women I have known. It would be a great compliment for me to compare you, a purveyor of flesh and sometime assassin, to her. This discussion is at an end.”
Jo watched as he turned on his heel, slapped his hat on his head, and stomped out of her foyer.
Oh dear. I believe he is quite angry with me. However will I help him see that he does not need to protect me in the way he is accustomed? For Jules’ sake, I am more than capable of managing Heartwell if he comes around. I have faced worse. She paced the floor from one end of the hall to the other. A strangely crumbled blue ball on the side table caught her eye. She picked it up and realized she had mangled her hat in her fury. Perhaps she had been a tad too angry. She must apologize.
