“I have money,” Alan snapped.
“Yeah, but I have more.” Travis walked in the front door, wearing his pristine white cowboy hat and his pressed jeans. He looked every bit the country music superstar he was, and Chase grinned.
Mira gripped his hand. “Travis,” she hissed. “Don’t. He can ruin you.”
Travis shrugged. “My pop tried to ruin me. He failed. Bullies suck.” He walked up beside Mira, facing Alan. “We know what you’re like,” he said simply. “We don’t like people like you.”
Alan’s upper lip sneered in distaste, and he looked at all of them, as if assessing whether he could take on all the Stocktons at once.
He couldn’t, and Chase saw the moment the bully realized he was outnumbered.
Without another word, Alan spat on Chase’s boots, and then turned and walked toward the door.
Mira’s fingers tightened in Chase’s, and he glanced down at her. Her face was pale as she watched Alan go, and he knew she was thinking that it wasn’t over. He pulled her close and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re not alone.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes, and she nodded once, still not talking as she watched Alan lurch toward the door. He careened into one of his men, who caught him. As they helped him toward the door, Chase began to realize that something was wrong. Really wrong.
Alan collapsed before he made it through the front door.
***
“He’s gone. Cardiac arrest.” The paramedics passed the verdict on to Alan’s men, who took the news of their boss’s demise with stoic silence as they turned away and pulled out their cell phones.
Mira’s heart, however, felt like it had been eviscerated. Alan was dead. She watched numbly as the paramedics pulled the sheet over Alan’s face. Dead. Alan was dead. She was stunned, unable to tear her eyes off the shadowed figure beneath the stark white sheet. She could still see the ashen color of his skin as he’d fallen. She could still feel the hate from his bloodshot eyes burning into her as he fell, using the very last moment of his life to punish her with his loathing.
Her father had died in front of her. Her mother had died in front of her. And now Alan. Three deaths. Three times, she’d watched the life, the spirit, bleed from the body of someone, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell. Experiencing death again was like reliving her parents’ death, a gaping wound flooded with tears, loss, and anguish. But at the same time, it was different, so different, because losing her parents had been like losing a part of herself. Watching Alan die was… “I feel happy,” she whispered, horrified that she could feel joy upon someone else’s death. “I just watched a man die, and I feel…happy.”
“It’s okay.” Chase put his arm around her, pulling her tight against his side. “He was a sick bastard who hurt you and those you loved for a long time. You’re finally free of him. Don’t feel guilty.”
She dragged her gaze off the stretcher and looked up at Chase. His face was grim as he watched them load the stretcher onto the ambulance. “Chase?” she whispered.
He looked down at her, and smiled, a smile that was loaded with the weight of death, but one that held the same relief she felt. “I’m not going to lie, Mira. I’m glad he’s dead, and he got what he deserved. He owned his life, and he owned the way he died. He brutalized my best friend, stalked you, and he would have hurt a lot more people. The sun’s going to shine brighter tomorrow because he’s not in this world. I’m not going to waste a second mourning him.” He touched her chin, his fingers so soft and gentle that they seemed to pull her back from the edge of her grief. “And you shouldn’t either, okay?”
She nodded. “I know, but it’s still—” She took a trembling breath, unable to articulate the miasma of emotions swirling through her.
“You’re safe, sweetheart. Do you realize that?” Chase palmed her belly, his fingers spread across her stomach like a shield. “Do you understand? This little baby is safe, for the rest of his life. The enemy is gone. Gone.”
Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and her hands started to shake. She was safe. Forever. Alan could never come after her, and he could never hurt her child. The danger was over.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Chase pulled her into his arms, and she buried her face in his chest, clinging desperately to his strength. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held tight to the only stable thing she had in her life while the tears poured forth. They were tears of loss for AJ and her parents. They were also the cathartic release of a fear that had gripped her since she was a child and acquired him as an enemy after befriending AJ, a fear that had been tightening around her neck with each passing minute…and now it was over. Over.
Chase pressed a kiss to the top of her head, holding her tightly, until the strength and warmth from his body eased her trembling. She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing in his woodsy, masculine scent as the tears began to fade, replaced by a new, fragile sense of hope, of new life.
“Well, I think that’s it for now,” the sheriff said as the doors to the ambulance clanged shut.
Mira pulled back from Chase and looked around at the scene she’d been too upset to notice. The Stockton brothers were standing in grim silence, and Gary was sitting on the front porch, holding a frozen steak to his head. He’d been knocked out by one of Alan’s men, but he’d recovered and refused to go to the hospital.
These men were the victors, the ones who had triumphed, the ones who deserved to win. Her heart softened for these men who had come to her rescue, strangers who hadn’t hesitated to take on an enemy more powerful than they.
The sheriff tilted his hat back on his head and walked over to Chase. He’d already grilled them all on the situation, including failing to convince anyone to go to the hospital or press charges for assault, so there was no drama left. Mira and Chase hadn’t mentioned the email threat, and neither had Alan’s men. It didn’t matter anymore, now that Alan was gone. It was all just…over. The officer was in his thirties, and his short brown hair reminded Mira of photos of her dad when he’d first made sheriff, back when she was a little girl. He’d been so proud in that photograph, a man ready to save the world. Then his life had been stripped from him too early because he’d dared to stand up against Alan. He would be proud of her, she realized. He would have been so proud of her refusing to give in to Alan, of aligning herself with Chase, of finding the strength to battle Alan for her baby. She smiled, almost feeling her dad smiling down upon her.
Sheriff Wilson extended his hand toward Chase. “Let me know how Steen is.”
“You bet. Thanks.” Chase kept one arm around Mira, tucking her tightly against his side as he shook the sheriff’s hand.
The sheriff tipped his hat to Mira. “Welcome to town, Mira. I’m sorry it took this for us to meet.” He gave her a little wink that was so much like her dad that tears suddenly burned in her throat.
“Thanks,” she managed, trying desperately to hold her emotions together.
He eyed Chase’s brothers. “I hope you ruffians stay in town for a while this time. It’s been too long.” To her surprise, he grabbed Travis’s hand and yanked him into a bear hug. He did the same with Maddox and Ryder. There was no mistaking the bond between the men, making her wonder what past the men shared with the sheriff.
He saluted the brothers, then got into his truck and drove off, his tires spitting up dirt as he held his hand out the window in silent farewell.
Silence descended upon the small group. Mira looked around at them, the heroes who had been willing to fight for her. How had she been so lucky as to acquire such a formidable army to fight for her? “I don’t know how to thank you all,” she said, clearing her throat. “The way you came to help me—”
“It’s no big deal,” Ryder interrupted with a shrug, shifting uncomfortably. “It’s how we work.” He jerked his head at Travis. “Call Zane. See how Steen is.” His attempt to change the subject was obvious, a man who wanted no thanks for being a hero.
“I’m on it.” Travis stepped
away from the group as he pulled out his phone.
As he did so, Mira saw Maddox and Ryder studying her. They were both tall and rugged, with heavy whiskers and jeans that were dusty and worn. They looked like men who had been out on the range when they’d gotten the call, throwbacks to the old west, to the days when men and their horses defined loyalty and teamwork.
“She’s pregnant with your kid?” Maddox asked Chase. His dirty blond hair was brushing against the collar of his shirt, and his leather jacket was creased and old. “You called it ‘our’ kid when you were talking to the old man.”
Chase didn’t answer. He didn’t give the party line they’d been planning for so long, about how the baby was his. Instead, he looked at Mira. She knew what he was thinking. With Alan dead, there was no longer a threat to her baby. There was absolutely no need for Chase to declare himself the father.
She didn’t need a protector now.
It was over.
She was free…and suddenly felt like crying. She didn’t need Chase anymore…but she did. How could she let him go? He was a part of her on so many levels. But how could she ask him to burden himself with her? Now there was no need. He deserved his freedom.
So, she lifted her chin and smiled at the Stockton brothers. “I really appreciate all your help. You guys go see to Steen. I’ll clean up here and watch the horses until you get back.” She glanced at Chase. “I should pack my stuff—”
“Let’s go for a walk,” Chase interrupted.
Mira shook her head, wanting them to leave. Everything had just shifted for her and she needed time to process it. Alan was gone, and her baby was safe. Safe. She had to look ahead to a life as a mom, starting her own family, without being forced to play house with a man who didn’t love her, who was committed to her only out of a sense of obligation. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine. You need to go back to Steen—”
Chase was already shaking his head. “No. We need to talk.” He took her hand and started walking toward the barn. “I’ll be back in a few,” he informed his brothers. “Mira and I need a moment.”
Travis grinned, watching them. “What about your brother?” he called out, his phone still in his hand. “You going to walk out on Steen for a girl?”
Chase paused, and looked back at his brothers. “I’ll never walk out on any of you. Ever.”
Satisfied, Travis nodded, as did Maddox and Ryder. It was all Mira needed to hear. She knew what Chase was going to say. She felt like her heart was fragmenting into a thousand pieces, and she knew she would never let him say the words.
She had to say them first.
Chapter 17
Tension flooded Chase when Mira pulled her hand free even before they reached the barn. She turned to face him just inside the doors, her hands settling on her hips. “Listen, Chase,” she said, her voice as steady as he’d ever heard it. “There’s no need for you to do any more for us. Now that Alan’s gone, we’re all set. Thurston won’t want any competition for the family business.” She put her hand on her baby bump. “We’re all set now,” she repeated.
He ground his jaw, fighting against his reaction to drag her into his arms and kiss her until she took her dismissal back. “I think you should stay for a while, at least until you’re sure you’re okay.”
She smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. “Thank you and your brothers for saving me today. I really mean that. But I know there’s no room for me in the Stockton world. I need to be in a place where I belong, and where everyone is fully invested in me.” She shrugged. “That’s what I grew up with, and that’s what I need.”
“How can you say that? Everyone showed up here for you. There is room—”
She put her finger across his lips, silencing him. “Chase,” she whispered. “You don’t need to protect me anymore. It’s about your family, and it always has been. I need to find my way now. You guys were here for me tonight when I really needed it, but I’m okay now. You don’t need to do any more for me.”
Words flooded his mind, demanding that he claim her, that he refuse to let her walk away, but he couldn’t articulate them. They just died in his throat, fading away into the same ugly place where the memories of his childhood lay haunting him. “Where are you going? Back home?”
There was a visible hesitation, and he felt his heart leap.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I might stay in town for a while. I’ve made some good friends, and there’s nothing really left for me back home.” She wrinkled her nose. “Just memories that hurt, you know?”
He thought of the night he’d made love to her so many times. He thought of the midnight ride to see the wolves. He remembered swimming with her that morning, an idyllic moment that felt like an eternity ago. He could picture her crazy hair when she stumbled into the kitchen for breakfast every morning. Every image was burned indelibly into his mind, and he knew they’d be there forever, a constant reminder of the moments that had given him the first peace he’d ever had. “Yeah, I know about memories that hurt.”
She patted his arm. “Okay, so I’ll just start to pack my stuff. I know it’s everywhere in the house. I’ll stay until you’re back from the prison, so you can focus on him, okay?”
He wanted to say more. There were a thousand words rushing through him, words he didn’t know how to say. “Do you want to go?” The question slipped out before he could stop it, and he grimaced. It was clear she was ready to leave, and he wasn’t going to beg. When women wanted to leave, it never worked to talk them out of it. He knew that from the hell of his childhood.
She went still, watching him warily. “Go where? To see Steen?”
He leapt at the idea, grasping at it greedily. “Yeah. They say he’s given up and isn’t trying to live. I know you somehow helped your mom keep going even after the accident, so I thought maybe you could reach him.” He didn’t even bother to consider what his brothers would think if he showed up with her. He just knew he wanted her there. He wanted her with him. He needed her to be a part of whatever he was going to have to face in Steen’s hospital room. “He’s dying, Mira, and we can’t save him.”
Some of the stiffness faded from her shoulders, and she touched his hand. “I doubt I can reach him—”
“Will you try?” He flipped his hand over and cradled her fingers in his. “Please?”
She nodded. “Of course. What about the horses?”
“Gary will be in charge.” Hope leapt through him. It felt so right to be bringing Mira back with him. “Let’s go.”
She looked past him, her gaze settling on his brothers, who were huddled in deep conversation. He felt her hesitation, and he swore under his breath. “I need you, Mira.” The words came out rough, barely muttered under his breath, but when she looked at him, he knew she’d heard him.
Without another word, she squeezed his hand and started leading him back toward his truck.
***
Mira had never been around so much testosterone or so many pairs of Wranglers in her life, especially in such a small, confined, somewhat hostile space. There were six Stockton men hovering around Steen’s bed. Chase and Travis, along with her gallant rescuers, Maddox and Ryder, who were both sporting bruises and moving stiffly from the fight they’d endured on her behalf.
Her throat clogged when she looked at their injuries. They were complete strangers who had jumped in to help her, simply because their brother had asked them to. Such loyalty and commitment to each other was so amazing, and it reminded her of what she’d had with her own parents. She missed that feeling of connection, and a sad envy wrapped around her for the tightness of their bond.
They’d been joined by Quintin, whose tall, lean body reminded her of a wild stallion surviving on guts and courage out on the range.
Lounging against the wall, and giving her the most hostile glare, was a man Chase had called Zane. Unlike the others who were wearing cowboy boots and hats, Zane was in motorcycle boots, and a black leather jacket. He looked fierce and angry, and most of it w
as directed toward her.
Each of the brothers was well-muscled, carrying the air of a man who had been to hell and back, and would never forget it. Travis at least had a decent smile, but even he wasn’t smiling. They all looked worried, almost scared, barely talking as they took over the area around the bed.
As she stood in the doorway, watching them, her heart tightened for what they had endured, and how they’d forged unbreakable bonds with each other for survival. Chase was arguing in low tones with Zane, and she could hear her name being batted around while he tried to convince his brothers to let her talk to Steen.
Her gaze slid to Steen, and her heart seemed to freeze in her chest. With the tubes and the bandages, and his sunken face, it was like seeing her father again in that bed, dying. Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and she put her hand over her mouth, fighting against the surge of emotion. She started to turn away, but then warm arms wrapped around her.
She looked up as Chase pulled her against him, ducking his head so that his face was beside hers. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “I didn’t think about the impact it would have on you. I shouldn’t have asked you to come. I’ll take you home.”
His voice was so tender, his concern so genuine, that it broke through the vise closing around her heart. She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest, feeling the rise and fall of each breath and the steady thud of his heart. He held her tightly, pressing soft kisses to the top of her head, not asking anything of her, just offering his support.
Ever since the accident, she’d had to be so strong, and now, suddenly, Chase was there to hold her. The warmth of his body enveloping hers seemed to infuse her body with strength, taking the edge off the grief. She gripped his shirt, focusing on the feel of him, on the strength of his body.
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