That took the wind right out of her sails. Although she wasn’t proud to admit it, she’d been enjoying their fight. Imagine having someone yell at her like that. And imagine yelling right back without any need to censure her words or stifle her emotions. Her Litchfield ancestors must be spinning in their well-tended graves.

Even though he’d manhandled her, she hadn’t been the slightest bit afraid of him. He might believe he was capable of battering the females who upset him, but she knew differently.

She gave an injured sniff. “You frightened me to death.”

“I’m sorry. I really am.” He looked so dejected that she thought about taking pity on him, but then she thought not. First she wanted her pound of flesh.

Moving away from the window, she crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. “You stepped way over the line.

“I know. I—”

“You manhandled me! Terrified me!”

“I didn’t mean . . . I’m sorry.”

“Do you know that it’s a high crime to harm a member of the first family? You could go to prison.”

Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to keep the relish from her voice, and he gave her a sideways look. “For how long?”

“Oh, ages and ages.”

“That long, huh?”

“I’m afraid so.” She gave him a biting glare. “But look on the bright side. In prison, there won’t be any females to clutter up your life.”

He moved away from the window toward the bed. “That does put a different spin on it.”

“Just tattooed men with names like Bruno. I’m sure a number of them will find you quite attractive.”

He lifted an eyebrow at her.

She glanced toward the locked door. “I’m glad I went to the bathroom before we started arguing. It looks like it might be a while before I get there again.”

He said nothing, but she still wasn’t finished annoying him. “Did you?”

“What?”

“Go to the bathroom.”

“For what?”

He was messing with her. “Forget I asked.”

“I definitely will.”

“When do you think she’ll let us out?”

“When she’s good and ready.”

She caught the flicker of a smile. “Don’t you dare condone what she did.”

“I’m going to beat her within an inch of her life.”

Now she was the one with the raised eyebrow. “Of course you are.”

He smiled again. “You’ve got to admire her guts. She knows there’s going to be hell to pay when I get out, but that didn’t stop her.”

Nealy’s own smile faded. “She’s desperate. I hate thinking about what she’s feeling.”

“Life’s tough.”

He wasn’t nearly as coldhearted as he pretended to be. She watched as he began to pace the room, slowly at first but picking up steam.

“I’m going to break down the door.”

“Spoken like a man.”