Bulletproof Christmas

by Barb Han

  A look of complete shock darkened his features as his gaze practically bore through her. His jaw clenched and released a few times, and it looked like he was grinding his molars. His stare became a dare when he said, “Then marry me.”

  Chapter Four

  “For what reason, Rory Scott?” There was a time when Cadence would’ve said yes in a heartbeat to a marriage proposal from Rory. But this one had the stench of obligation attached to it and from the sounds of it, anger. Just how well would that work out for her or the babies?

  She’d seen firsthand the problems with that logic. Her father had married her mother because she’d been pregnant with Cadence’s older sister. Her mother had apparently been so miserable that she’d taken off when Cadence was still in diapers.

  “You’re pregnant for one. It’s what a man does,” he stated, squaring his shoulders.

  “We’re done with this conversation,” Cadence said, covering the hurt. His words were knife jabs to her chest. Because a part of her she didn’t want to acknowledge still had feelings for him. A whole lot of good that did. Of course, she cared about Rory. He was the father of her growing babies.

  “No, we’re not anything, Cadence. You can’t run away from this.” His words had the effect of bullets from a machine gun, slamming into the target wildly and with inaccuracy.

  “Why don’t you just leave again? Take off. You know you want to,” she shot back. The two of them were just as opposite as they had been when he’d broken off their fling and taken off five months ago. Nothing had changed. Neither one of them was different. Okay, that part wasn’t exactly true or fair. Cadence was different. She put her hands protectively around her belly. “It must feel awfully hot in here to you.”

  “You’re trying to make it that way.” He had a lot of nerve blaming her.

  “I’m sorry that you’re finding out this way. This is not what I had planned. None of this was on my agenda, actually. But the only thing a pregnancy does is make us parents, Rory.” She blew out a breath. This wasn’t the way she’d intended for him to find out and emotions were already running too high. Someone needed to have some common sense, and they both needed to cool it for a minute before her blood pressure careened out of control. “I need a drink.”

  He shot her a look that dared her to have a glass of wine.

  “Of water.” She stormed past him, needing to break the bad energy in the room. She stomped down the hallway, into the kitchen, and stopped in front of the fridge after grabbing a glass from the counter. She filled it while he made himself at home with the coffeepot. And then she whirled around on him. “What are you really doing here, Rory? I know you didn’t come to see me.”

  “You’re in danger,” he said.

  “That’s not answering my question,” she shot back. “You couldn’t have known that until you arrived.”

  “Your brother called and offered me a job. I need the money,” he said.

  Dalton and Dade walked into the kitchen, both stopped and stared at Cadence.

  “I’m pregnant,” she said to her twin brothers, watching as their jaws fell slack.

  “Hold on a second,” Dade said, looking like he was trying to absorb the news. It also seemed to dawn on him that this was the reason she’d objected to their calling in Rory for the job.

  “You two?” Dade looked from Cadence to Rory and she was pretty sure she saw a look pass between her brother and Rory. Shock? Anger? Betrayal?

  This was exactly the reason she’d wanted to keep their fling quiet. She hadn’t needed her brothers weighing in on her love life and they’d been close with Rory growing up. He’d wanted to tell them but she’d known better than to clue them in. Seeing the look of guilt on Rory’s face now had her questioning her judgment.

  “I didn’t know anything about the pregnancy until ten minutes ago but I take full responsibility,” Rory said with a look of apology toward her brothers. He was trying to do the right thing by her and she could appreciate the act of honor. She was also realistic enough to know that a forced marriage wouldn’t make either one of them happy; she’d seen what could happen when two people had children who didn’t love each other. “I asked her to marry me but she turned me down.”

  “Why would you do that?” Dalton asked Cadence.

  “My personal life is off-limits to you and you.” She pointed her finger at each brother individually in case they didn’t get it that she was talking about both of them.

  Dade started to argue but Dalton stopped him with a hand up.

  “We have a bigger issue to deal with right now,” Dalton said.

  Ella joined them with an awkward look at Cadence’s bump. What was that all about? She knew her sister wasn’t making a moral judgment. Dalton was right. There was another pressing problem to address.

  “My family filled me in on what’s happening on the land with poachers. I get that someone’s on the land that we need to get rid of but I thought you didn’t want the job,” she said to Rory.

  “Not you as in the family. I mean you as in,” he motioned toward her with his hands. “You personally.”

  “What happened?” Dalton said as her brothers closed ranks around her. “And she’s right. You refused the job. So what are you doing here?” There was more than a hint of aggravation in his voice. Again, Cadence would deal with her family later. This was exactly the reason she didn’t want to be in Cattle Barge in the first place. Her siblings had always acted more like parents to her and she was a grown woman.

  “I thought it would be best if no one knew I was working or in the area. That’s the reason I refused the job. I had every intention of helping, paid or not. I hope you know I’d do whatever it took if any one of you needed me.” He had a long history with the family and was the same age as the twins. As their little sister, she’d trailed behind on their adventures, wanting to be included, but she had been so young. She had known Rory and vice versa for ages and that was exactly the reason Cadence knew a real relationship with Rory would never work. He craved independence a little too much to be tethered by a family of his own. She’d known it from the beginning and that was probably half the fun of spending time with him. He was untamed and untamable much like the land. There was a certain beauty to that freedom, which she admired.

  Just like a too-wild horse, putting a saddle on it broke its spirit. She didn’t have the heart to do that to Rory.

  Cadence had always been drawn to a challenge. She couldn’t regret the pregnancy, not since she felt her children’s first movements, but that didn’t mean the situation wasn’t complicated. But losing her father and the subsequent attacks on her siblings had given her a new respect for how quickly everything could be taken away from her. She was learning to appreciate every day and embrace the adventures life brought.

  Rory stood there in the family kitchen and she couldn’t deny that he still looked good—damn good. It was probably hormones making her weak, making her notice the sexy dark stubble on his chin. He’d always had rugged good looks and she’d tried to forget how handsome he was. Dark hair, dark eyes. He was intense. About everything. Including making love. Especially making love.

  A trill of awareness skittered across her skin at the memories.

  Lot of good thinking about that would do.

  She tuned back in as he was explaining the campsite he’d come upon. There was an animal, a beagle, which he’d brought with him and was now in the sleeping quarters with the ranch hands.

  “Why is he out there and not in here?” Cadence asked a little too forcefully.

  “I have no idea if Boots is housebroken and I couldn’t leave the poor thing alone on the land with all the coyotes,” Rory said.

  “I wasn’t suggesting you should leave him out there.” She swept her hand toward the backyard.

  Rory started to speak but cocked his head to the side and compressed his lips.

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sp; “The rifle was trained on the house and when I checked the scope it was aimed at Cadence’s window,” he said, glancing at the open shutter. He moved to the double doors that led to the patio and started closing blinds.

  Dalton smacked his flat palm against the counter and grunted a swear word before joining Rory.

  “It would be a tough shot but it’s possible with a high-powered rifle,” Dade said after a thoughtful silence. He muttered a few choice words under his breath as he worked to close the blinds in the great room.

  Ella stared at the granite countertop. “We need to let security know what’s going on. They’ll want to take action against the threat.”

  “Good idea. But keep in mind a trained shooter can hit a target from quite a distance and Landry didn’t find the guy. I did,” Rory supplied. “A professional would know to account for wind and velocity as well as other variables, even with a difficult shot.”

  “We need to call the sheriff,” Ella said.

  “Already did.”

  “How about the guy? Did you get a good look at him?” Cadence asked. The horror of what was going on started sinking in.

  “Yes.” He provided a description. “Do you know who he is?”

  “Not off the top of my head.” Cadence searched her brain. Surely, she’d seen the guy before.

  “Which means Cadence doesn’t go anywhere,” Dalton said with a look toward her. “Agreed?”

  “Are we sure someone is after me?” She couldn’t fathom the thought, even though, to be fair, several of her siblings had been targeted since their father’s death. With the reading of the will coming up, everything could be stirring up again.

  “I can’t think of who would want to hurt you but I’m giving Terrell the description of him so he can alert the others and keep watch for the guy,” Ella said. She was already texting.

  “I’m guessing that you’re limiting access to the ranch based on recent events,” Rory said.

  “That’s right,” Ella supplied.

  It was probably just because she needed to eat but Cadence was dizzy and felt a bout of nausea coming on. This couldn’t be right. She’d been in Colorado for months now and had hoped to return the minute the will was read. This definitely wasn’t the time to tell her family that she had plans to move to Colorado on a permanent basis but Cattle Barge was proving to be unsafe for a Butler. She realized she’d been touching her stomach without noticing it. The move was becoming habit. She was already attached to the little people inside. “I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take every precaution but the wind could’ve moved the gun. I mean, it’s cold and windy outside and I don’t even think anyone knows I’m home.”

  “Good. Let’s keep it that way. Maybe this guy was aiming at a random room and it had nothing to do with you personally,” Rory offered. There was enough hope in his voice to make Cadence believe he still cared about her. At least in general terms, and he probably cared even more now that he knew she was pregnant with his child. This didn’t seem like the time to tell him she was having twins.

  He might’ve made it clear that he wasn’t the settling-down or parenting type when she’d thrown caution to the wind and had the fling she’d craved—or was it excitement? Who could tell anymore? Point being, he didn’t want the responsibility of a family and she hadn’t planned on any of this happening, either. There they were. Stuck in a situation and now it seemed that her life was on the line.

  * * *

  “WHAT KIND OF rifle did you say he had?” Dalton asked.

  “M40.” One look at Cadence—at the hurt Rory had caused her—was all it took for him to know Maverick Mike Butler had been right. Rory was bad for Cadence. The senior Butler had given Rory a job on the ranch when he was destitute with the condition that Rory stayed away from his daughter. He must’ve seen the way Rory had looked at Cadence then. He’d given his word—and that was all he had to give at the time because he was poor—that he’d leave her alone. As soon as he came to his senses during their fling, realizing that Cadence would always be a Butler and he would never be the man she needed him to be, he’d done what he should’ve long ago and cut her loose.

  At the time, she’d told him it was fine with her. She’d been convincing and he’d believed her. Until now. Until he saw the hurt deep in her eyes that she was trying to cover with anger. Until he realized she was hurting because of his rejection.

  She could literally have any man she wanted. If Rory lived to be a hundred and ten years old he wouldn’t understand her. Her express rejection of his marriage proposal had him scratching his head and more than a little offended. He knew he was broken, but did she have to rebuke his offer so fast? Did she have to cut him down so quickly? He also couldn’t understand why she didn’t seem to want protection and especially while she was in such a fragile state. He almost laughed out loud. Cadence fragile? Pregnant or not, she’d always been a firecracker. Although, judging from the looks of her determination and everything he already knew about her, she didn’t seem at a disadvantage in any way shape or form, no matter the obstacle.

  In fact, she seemed like even more of a force to be reckoned with now that she was carrying a child. His child. The fact that he was going to have a baby hadn’t really absorbed yet. Maybe when this whole scenario was over and the Butlers were out of danger, he could consider what was going on. Laser focus and the ability to shut everything else out had kept him alive so far.

  Besides, how could he feel good about bringing a little person into the world with his messed-up background? His parents were the epitome of explosives and an agitator. Those two fought like cats and dogs, if cats and dogs were venomous creatures. The only person he’d been close to growing up had been his sister and he hadn’t seen her since he was fifteen. She’d taken off the minute she’d turned seventeen and never looked back. Back then, there was very little social media and Rory wasn’t the type to be online anyway. Hell, he still wasn’t. His smartphone didn’t even have email loaded. It had the capability but he’d never felt like he needed to be reached that badly.

  Dade and Dalton had been like brothers. Rory had been friends with the Butler twins, Cadence’s brothers, since they were all knee-high, and being close to a tight-knit family—at least from the perimeter—had been one of the best experiences. It had almost given him hope that he could have that someday, too. And that thinking was what had gotten him into bed with Cadence in the first place. It was also the line of thinking that had had him imagining everything would magically work out.

  Wishing was for kids with quarters standing in front of fountains.

  The look of betrayal in Dade’s and Dalton’s eyes was a knife to the chest. Rory deserved it.

  He clued back into the conversation going on around him when he heard the words it could be the same.

  “I mean, the guy, or person, who shot our father had the same kind of rifle,” Ella said.

  “It’s one of the most popular rifles around.” Rory didn’t say that it was popular with criminals.

  “But we can’t rule it out,” Ella continued.

  “Not without a ballistics report,” Dalton interjected.

  Ella locked eyes with her sister. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but have you pulled any of your stunts lately?”

  Cadence folded her arms across her chest. “Do I look capable of doing anything besides eating and sleeping?”

  Ella turned to Rory after another quick glance at her sister. “I’m sorry about what happened to you earlier with our security.”

  His hands were already up to stop her before she could say anything else. “You have to be careful and no one expected me.”

  “We didn’t suspect you of anything. You know that, right?” she continued.

  “Of course not.”

  “Then will you stay on?” Ella asked. Cadence grunted.

  “And where will I go?” she asked.
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br />   “Right here.” Ella must’ve caught on to the fight she was about to get from her younger sister because she threw her hands up. “I realize the plan is not without complications. But now that security has seen Rory and presumably the man who wants one or all of us dead has, too, we need all the extra help we can get around here.”

  Cadence started to speak but Ella shot her a severe look.

  “Our dad’s will is going to be read in five days and the town is already starting to work itself into a frenzy about a big revelation in the will. Maybe the guy who aimed a gun at this house has something to lose,” Ella continued. She moved toward the coffee machine. “I doubt I’ll sleep tonight and work is good for feeling anxious. I’ll throw on a fresh pot. Is anyone hungry? I could cook something—”

  “I appreciate the offer but I’m better off sleeping out there.” Rory motioned toward the ranch hands’ bunkhouse. He didn’t feel right sleeping in Maverick Mike’s house, knowing that the man wouldn’t want him there. It seemed wrong and that might be twisted logic considering Cadence was pregnant. But Maverick Mike was gone and Rory wanted to respect the man’s wishes as if he were still alive.

  “No way,” Ella protested.

  Cadence issued another grunt and her frustration shouldn’t have made him want to chuckle. He suppressed the urge, figuring he’d only make matters worse.

  “At least stick around long enough to help us come up with a plan,” Ella said.

  Rory noticed that Dade and Dalton had been mostly quiet so far. They had to realize he’d had no idea about the pregnancy. But he’d betrayed their friendship by not telling them about his relationship with their sister.

  When they were young, Cadence had been the annoying little sister. Dade and Dalton had refused to let her hang around. If they had, Rory might’ve viewed her like a younger sister, too. He’d felt a brotherhood with the twins that hadn’t extended to Ella and Cadence since he hadn’t been close with the girls. Mr. Butler had made damn sure his daughters hadn’t had anything to do with the hired hands. But the boys had been like brothers. More guilt nipped at him thinking about it.