Elf Against the Wall: A Holiday Romantic Comedy (The Wynter Brothers Book 2)
Elf Against the Wall: Chapter 3

Snowball started growling as soon as we approached my parents’ house.

The Christmas lights hadn’t been put up yet, and the house was dark.

Snowball’s white fur was puffed out even more than usual.

“Can you please just be calm for once?” I begged the dog.

I’d snuck out after the family went back to fawning over the triplets.

It made my heart ache to watch them get what I wanted—the unconditional love and admiration of our parents.

Is it really unconditional if they’re legitimately prettier, smarter, more successful, and more charming than me? I wondered as I stuck my key in the lock on the oversize door of the restored Victorian house.

That seems like it’s conditional and they met the requirements. Performed as advertised.

I frowned as the key jumped in my hand. The front door was already unlocked. I must have forgotten when we left earlier for the party.

Dummy.

Good thing I came home early after all. Otherwise, my dad would be pissed if he found out.

Setting Snowball down, I stepped into the dark foyer.

She was acting weird, little body low to the ground, teeth bared as she crept through the faint yellow glow of the porch light that shone in through the windows.

“Come, Snowball,” I hissed, trying to get her to follow me into the kitchen, where I was going to make some tea then disappear with the snacks I’d stolen from Aunt Jennifer’s holiday party and hide up in my drafty attic bedroom and lose myself in a book.

“Seriously, can you not act like an elf cracked out on hot chocolate and candy for one freaking night?”

Instead of turning into the emotional support lapdog I’d always hoped she’d become, Snowball revved her engines then rocketed into my father’s dark study off the generous foyer.

“Snowball!” I yelled. “I swear to god!”

I raced after her, then I screamed as a menacing shadow loomed in front of the French doors that led to the wraparound porch. A headlight from a passing car illuminated it briefly.

There was a man—a huge man!—in my father’s study, all in heavy black motorcycle gear, a helmet hiding his face.

Snowball had her needle-sharp teeth latched onto the robber’s pant leg, and he was batting at her roughly, trying to knock her off.

“Don’t you hurt my dog!” I screamed, picking up a priceless wood statue my parents had brought back from their anniversary trip to Japan and racing after the attacker.

He grunted in surprise but raised his arm too late to block the statue from crashing into his motorcycle helmet, shattering the tinted visor.

Eyes like a raging winter storm glared back at me through the broken glass.

I hefted the statue again, and it connected with one of his massive arms.

The hit didn’t even knock him off-balance.

“Oh shit,” I whimpered as he took a step toward me.

The huge arm came up, knocking the statue out of my hands to split on the floor.

I spun to escape but tripped on the corner of the rug and crashed to the floor, yelling unintelligibly as he pounced on me, pinning me on my back. His huge gloved hand covered my mouth and nose so I couldn’t scream. I could barely breathe.

“Shut up,” the deep voice ordered, slightly muffled by the broken motorcycle helmet.

I struggled under the massive male body that had me trapped on the floor, clawing ineffectively at him.

“What the hell?” he growled. “Fuck, I need to do something with you.”

Was he going to hurt me? Or take me with him to be—Gulp—disposed of somewhere else?

Don’t let yourself be taken to a second location!

But I couldn’t budge all the muscle and sinew holding me down.

“Motherfuck—” he roared, snatching his gloved hand back from my mouth as Snowball bit him, her sharp teeth sinking through the gloves into his thumb.

Sucking in shuddering breaths, I pummeled the man’s helmet as he shook his hand, Snowball not letting go as he flapped her around.

Scraping my nails on his neck, I managed to drag his helmet off his head and hoisted it, banging it on his face and shoulders as he cursed, finally shaking the dog and the glove free.

His tattooed hand made a fist and punched the helmet out of my grasp. His knee pinned my hip to the floor. As he raised himself slightly, his face was lit up by passing headlights.

“Oh my god,” I whimpered, eyes bugging out of my head as I took in his chiseled face, strong jaw, black hair, wintery gray eyes, and scars on his cheek and across one eye.

“You’re the… the… the…”

“The… the… the…” he mocked as he catalogued my dawning recognition.

The Grinch!

“You’re him.”

“Your family’s sworn enemy.” The baritone had a mocking lilt.

Anderson Wynter.

I hadn’t seen him since the military trial my whole family had attended almost eight years ago, where my sisters all sobbed on the stand and my mom had clung to my tense father. Those pale-gray, almost-silvery eyes—Snow-demon eyes—had bored into me as they led him away to prison.

Those eyes used to give me nightmares after seeing them for weeks in the courtroom.

“You tried to murder Henry,” I choked out. “You almost got my brother killed in battle. Oh my god, you’re here to kill us all, aren’t you?”

I tried to push him off me, to escape. But that massive body didn’t budge “Are you going to hurt me? Are you here for revenge because Henry put you in jail?”

He could kill me. Easily. I mean, look at the size of those hands. Though he’d seemed big at the trial, now he was absolutely monstrous.

No one knew I was here. I’d snuck out of the party. It would be hours before anyone realized I was missing, and then it would be too late.

“You aren’t going to get away with this,” I warbled as he looked down at me coldly. “I’m going to call the police.” I tried to dig in my jacket pocket for my phone.

“You threatening me, Gingersnap?” He grabbed my wrist with that tattooed hand, fingers squeezing hard.

I blinked furiously. I refused to let Anderson see me cry.

“No,” I whimpered.

His fingers slacked.

“Honest, just please let me go. I promised Aunt Amy that I’d help prep breakfast casseroles.” Yet another of my ham-fisted attempts to worm my way back into my family’s good graces.

“I don’t like being threatened,” he continued.

“I’m not. Please don’t hurt me. I won’t tell anyone,” I babbled.

Don’t tell anyone…

Suddenly, I didn’t feel afraid anymore.

Instead? I felt inspired, like a star lit up on the top of a Christmas tree.

He peered down at me as a smile twitched on my mouth.

“What? What are you doing?” I heard a twinge of apprehension in the deep voice.

“I take it back.” My smile widened.

“No.”

“I a—”

“No.”

“I am threatening you!” I raised my voice. “Help me or else!”

“No. No you’re not.” He shook his head, his dark hair falling into his eyes.

“Look, I’m being gaslit by my ex. He lied to my whole family, saying we weren’t in a relationship, and he’s ruining everything, my entire life. I’m about to be disowned! You’re a criminal. You must have… I don’t know…” I made little Tinker Bell hand motions. “Skills? Know the right people? You can help me clear my name. You can save Christmas! All for the low, low price of my silence.”

A scowl set in on his face.

“We can help each other out.”

“I don’t need anything from you, Gingersnap.”

“It’s Christmas. The season of giving,” I wheedled, totally convinced that blackmailing my family’s sworn enemy was the ticket to a merry Christmas. “We can pretend the breaking-and-entering episode never happened. I’ll even dust off your footprints in the snow when you leave.”

He shifted his weight. His hand fumbled at my hip.

I strangled a gasp as he reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and dropped it on my chest.

“Hard. Fucking. Pass. Go ahead and call the police. I’d rather be in jail than help you get your ex back.”

“Then,” I said, spreading my arms, “you will have to kill me. Right here on my dad’s floor.”

He swore loudly and stood up, taking his helmet.

“You don’t understand.” I clambered upright.

Ignoring me, he bent down to grab the glove Snowball had removed and worked it onto his tattooed hand.

“Snowball, attack!”

My dog latched herself onto his boot, snarling.

It didn’t even halt the heavy footfalls.

I raced after him into the foyer.

“You have to accept my blackmail offer. Please, it’s my only chance! Besides, I will ruin you.”

He gave me a dismissive look. “Doubtful.”

I puffed myself up to my full height, which admittedly wasn’t much. “I have half a semester’s worth of a marketing degree. I will make sure you’re the most hated man in America.” I jabbed a finger into his rock-hard chest. “You have a criminal record. You’ll go back to jail. You almost killed an American hero.”

“Is that what they’re calling him now?” He slipped the helmet onto his head.

I grabbed his wrist as he reached for the door.

“I swear,” I hissed at him. “You don’t know what it’s like to have your back against the wall, to have everyone hate you, to believe you’re a liar. I’m desperate and crazy.”

The helmet turned toward me.

“I’m on a sinking ship, buddy, and I will take you down with me. If you aren’t going to help me clear my name, then I’ll be forced to deploy Plan Blitzen. I’ll be the hero that caught the villain and saved Christmas.”

Anderson zipped up his jacket and made a disgusted noise.

“I’ll tell everyone how you cast me to the ground, and…” I floundered, thinking about my grandmother’s old bodice-ripper romance novels. “And threw yourself onto me in a violent passion.”

In half a second, he had me pinned against the wall, gloved hand at my throat.

“Word of warning, Gingersnap. You don’t blackmail someone like me,” he hissed into my ear. “I will fuck you up.”

“Desperate and crazy.” I pointed at myself. “Right here. You’ll be in jail for the rest of your life,” I rasped. “Or you could just help me. You know, mutually assured destruction.”

He drew back.

Those ghostly silvery-gray eyes bored into mine.

I shivered, unable to break my gaze away as we stared at each other.

The grandfather clock chimed.

Wordlessly, he lifted his right hand and extended it to me.

I slipped my smaller one into the rough glove, and he gave me a crushing handshake.

Then he was gone, disappearing out into the wintery night, leaving me feeling like I’d slipped a leash on the devil and I was about to regret it.