The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 609

Waldo Vane was trailing closely behind Ezra in a second security vehicle.

Seeing the sports car accelerating dangerously toward Winona's bumper, Waldo didn't even blink. He jerked the steering wheel hard to the left, wedging his massive, reinforced SUV directly between Ezra's car and Karina's.

There was a horrific screech of metal. Karina slammed straight into the side of Waldo's vehicle.

Waldo's SUV was heavily armored; the impact barely left a dent in the steel paneling. Karina's luxury sports car, however, crumpled like an accordion. The airbags deployed instantly, but her head still whipped forward, smashing hard into the steering wheel.

Dazed and bleeding from a nasty gash on her forehead, Karina realized her attempt to run Winona off the road had failed entirely. Stefan had given this woman a literal motorcade of elite bodyguards? It was infuriating.

Waldo stepped out of his vehicle, his face carved from stone, and rapped his knuckles against her shattered window.

Gritting her teeth against a wave of dizziness, Karina lowered the glass. "Waldo?! Are you kidding me?"

She recognized him instantly—he used to be the head of Stefan's personal security detail. Why was he playing chauffeur for this nobody?

Ignoring her outburst, Waldo said in a lethal monotone, "I will be reporting this incident to Mr. Goddard. Do not attempt to follow Ms. Jowett again."

"I'm his cousin!" she screamed, holding her bleeding head. "Who the hell is she?! You work for my family!"

Waldo's expression didn't shift. He knew perfectly well that Stefan and Winona were legally married, but Stefan's orders regarding absolute secrecy were law.

Sirens wailed in the distance. The police pulled up a moment later.

Realizing she was entirely at fault for a high-speed collision, Karina's rage morphed into sheer panic. She looked up at Waldo desperately. "Waldo, you have to tell them it was an accident. Tell them she cut me off!"

Waldo stared at her coldly, then turned to the officers and gave a highly precise, damning statement of Karina's vehicular assault. Ten minutes later, Karina was handcuffed and shoved into the back of a squad car.

A mile down the road, Winona glanced in the rearview mirror. "Did Waldo's car take a hit?"

"He's got it handled, ma'am," Ezra assured her from the driver's seat. "You don't need to worry."

When Winona walked through the front door, she was surprised to find Stefan already home, loosening his tie in the foyer.

"She tried to ram a vehicle at high speed, Mom," Stefan said, his voice deadly quiet. "That's not a prank. It's a felony. And your constant coddling is exactly why she's unhinged."

"She's just a young girl!" Margaret cried. "You get her out of there right now! She can't survive in a jail cell!"

"She's in her twenties," Stefan fired back. "She's an adult. It's about time she faced a consequence." He hung up and tossed the phone onto the counter.

He looked at Winona, the tension draining from his shoulders. "Dinner?"

Winona smiled, knowing he had everything entirely under control. "Starving."

***

Karina spent five agonizing hours in a bleak holding cell before Margaret's high-priced lawyers finally managed to post her bail.

By the time she walked out of the precinct, the adrenaline had worn off, and the gash on her forehead was throbbing with blinding intensity.