“Why? I did nothing to you, yet I found myself sitting back in jail anyway! I thought I was helping you that night, but you’re just like every other woman out there!”
His hands were up my skirt, gripping the thick black leggings I was thankful I wore. In one painful move, he ripped them down my legs.
“Now I’ll get what I have coming to me! Take what I want, since being a gentleman isn’t what you’re looking for.”
His fingers gripped the band of my panties, and my adrenaline spiked into full-blown panic. With all my strength, I yanked my leg free and kicked back as hard as I could, landing my foot right on his face.
Kurt stumbled back, releasing his hold as blood gushed from his nose.
Taking full advantage, I pushed open the passenger door and scrambled out, darting into the dense forest beside the road. I knew I was close to my house and Logan’s house, so I ran, never once looking back through the heavy snow. It was bitterly cold; my leggings hung around my waist in pieces.
Over fallen trees and through dense, thorny brush I raced, my heart pounding against my chest. I could only hope I was going in the right direction. Rows of fat pine trees blocked the path, and in desperation, I slipped between them. The needles scratched my legs, and a frozen branch sliced into my cheek, but I never stopped. My pulse was racing and body trembling when I heard his sickening cackle.
“You can’t hide out here, Cassandra! You’ll freeze to death before you find help, because I’m not going anywhere until I have what was mine that night!”
I ran faster, tripping over a hidden pile of rocks covered by the snow. It didn’t slow me. I was back up and going.
Kurt’s voice was a constant, his words only growing angrier and nastier as he spouted out exactly what I had coming to me. The man was out of his mind—worse than a menace to society. He was psychotic!
Finally, hope was near. My house. I wasn’t sure if Kurt knew I lived there or if he’d only followed me from town, but it was my only shot. Nobody would be home at Logan’s, aside from the off chance that Natasha was back, but she’d be little help.
I needed my house, my phone, and my gun.
The instant my body collided with the back door, I scrambled for the small porcelain bird to the side that held an extra key, and with shaky hands, slid it into the lock.
“Where you going?” Kurt voice washed over me.
He was close, his voice no longer a yell. Still, I wasn’t looking back to see. The knob turned and I pushed myself inside, then twisted the lock back in place, only to come face to face with his black eyes staring at me through the glass.
“Well, this will be even better—I won’t have to freeze my ass off fucking you!”
I stepped back, eyes wide in terror as his foot connected with the door. There was no time to grab the phone on the wall. No time for anything.
Tears heating my eyes, I raced into my bedroom, slammed the door, and fell to my stomach, digging around under my bed for the safe. It only took a second to grasp the box and pull it out.
The shattering of glass echoed through the room, adding to the pulsating trembles wracking my body as I yanked open my side-table drawer and dumped it on the floor.
Papers, books, and miscellaneous junk were scattered around, yet with luck, the small gold key fell out on top.
His pounding on my bedroom door had me focused on the safe, bent over, on my knees. The key unlocked it with ease. There, exactly where my grandfather had left it, was the gun I’d only used during target practice years earlier.
With the gun in hand, I opened the accompanying box of bullets and spilled them onto the floor in front of me.
Another pound at my door followed by his gut-wrenching snicker had my clammy hands in a fit, unable to place the bullet in the revolver.
“The fun’s over—here I come, baby!” With those final words, the door flew in, busting off the hinges.
I ducked down, the bullets further scattering over the floor with my rushed movements.
“There you are. Getting ready for me?”
I held up the unloaded gun, threatening him to stay there, and hid two bullets in my other hand.
“Leave! Now!” I yelled.
His smile broadened into a wicked grin. “Why would I do that? So you can call the police? Send me back to prison? No, I think I’ll stay.”
He took a step toward me and I swallowed, struggling to hold the gun steady.
“It was more than a coincidence that I saw you in the supermarket today. I mean, here I am, my first day out on bail, grabbing a carton of cigarettes before skipping town, and who do I see? The girl I thought I was trying to help that night. The girl I thought I was being a gentleman with.” He shook his head at me and ticked his tongue.
“I never pressed charges.” My palms were sweating against the weight of the gun in my hands, yet I never let the barrel sway from its aim at his chest. “It was a misunderstanding, that’s all.”
“Yes, I agree, it was. Except your so-called boyfriend didn’t think so. He did press charges, and he also paid off some guards to make my life hell the past couple months!”
“I’m sorry,” I practically sobbed. “I didn’t know. I haven’t thought about you since that night.”
“Funny, considering I thought about you every. Single. Night I was there. With every fist I took to the gut, elbow to the face, knee to the groin, I saw your face. And now I’m going to make it all worth it.”
Kurt ran at me and I darted to the side and around the bed, focused on loading the gun, but he was fast, knocking me down to the floor the instant the bullet slid in. The gun fell, and I rolled to my stomach, scurrying to reach it.
“Come on, it doesn’t have to be like this. It doesn’t have to be painful,” he drawled in my ear, his body lying flat over mine as I lay on my stomach.
His erection pressed into my ass, and tears began to stream down my cheeks.
This wasn’t happening.
Kurt’s hands grabbed mine and buried them under my chest, then he pressed his palm down between my shoulder blades, using my body to lock them down. His other hand was tugging at my skirt, lifting it over my hips. Then his weight shifted, and I heard the earth-shattering sound of his zipper.
I kicked my feet, but it was useless. He was on his knees, his elbow now digging into my back as I felt him pulling his pants down. I needed to move, get a hand free, something. I couldn’t let this happen.
He leaned forward over me, his elbow lifting only to be replaced by his forearm resting over the back of my neck, forcing my face into the carpet. Tears and snot covered my cheeks, but the pressure removed from my back now allowed me to wiggle my hands.
It was the moment his palm slapped down over my ass before he tore at my panties that I managed to rip my hand free and grab the gun. The weight of his entire body dropped onto me as he began grabbing at my outstretched hands gripping the gun. He snarled, trying to reach it as his bare erection rubbed over my backside.
A loud, piercing scream escaped my throat at the feeling of him there, so close, and my body burst into an uncontrollable tremor, rolling from side to side.
I closed my eyes, crying, screaming, begging for the strength to move the gun at the right angle to shoot. But on my stomach with him on my back, it was impossible, until his weight was suddenly gone.
My body flipped over and I pointed the gun up, only to see Logan holding Kurt against him, his arm around his neck.
“Logan!” I cried, the gun shaking in my hands.
“I’m here, you can put the gun down. The police are on their way.”
My breath had abandoned me, a cold sweat pouring down my face. “He…he…” I sobbed louder, my gun never once moving from the target.
“I know, sweetheart. It will be okay now, put the gun down.”
With the inhale of a deep breath and then another and another, my head spinning, lungs empty, I couldn’t loosen my grip on the weapon.
“He...was…”
�
��Shhh, I’m here.”
“Son of a bitch! I’ll fucking kill you both!” Kurt roared, and with indescribable ease, Logan released Kurt just enough to whip him around and connect his fist to the side of his head so hard he fell unconscious to the floor.
Logan was beside me instantly, his hands covering mine and removing the gun slowly. My body fell into his, grasping handfuls of his shirt as I unloaded my sobs onto his chest.
“It’s all right now. I’m here.” He stroked his hands down my back, his heart beating against my ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know they released him. Caleb called right before I got your text. One of Kurt’s friends bailed him out.”
He sighed, and his body fell back against the foot of my bed. “God, I’m sorry, Cassandra. This never should have happened. I promise I’m here now. I’ll never let anything bad happen again.”
I wasn’t sure how long I lay in his arms crying until the police knocked on the front door, but when they did, my entire body stiffened against him, not ready to let go.
Logan called out that the back door was open and drew me closer. My back door was more than open—it was destroyed—yet instead of letting that fact and the images of watching the events unfold tear me back down, I found solace in the firm embrace of Logan’s arms that never let me go.
The police entered the room moments later, guns drawn. After they assessed the scene, paramedics followed.
“Can you talk to them?” Logan asked, lifting my face up gently to meet his pained stare. The pad of his thumb ran over the cut on my cheek, and I winced. “I’ll have you cleaned up soon. They’ll need a statement, but if you’re not ready—”
“I’m ready,” I interrupted, sniffling and wiping away the final tears. “As long as you’ll stay with me. Don’t leave. Not yet.”
His eyes softened. “Cassandra, I’m not going anywhere, ever.”
Logan stood and brought me with him as I relaxed against him. Face to face with him, I leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to his lips.
“Thank you,” I murmured into the gentle kiss.
“Don’t thank me. It’s what a man in love does.”
“Miss Clarke?” An officer stood behind us, clearing his throat.
“I love you, too,” I whispered, then took a deep breath before turning around.
Kurt was lying on a gurney, wearing a neck brace in the all-too-familiar scene. He was alive, but was going to be in some serious pain when he woke up.
“We need your statement, ma’am.”
“Of course. Let’s go in the kitchen,” I said, my hand wrapped around Logan’s.
He was my strength, my rock, my everything, and I was never more confident than with him at my side. We could take on anything.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Collateral
~Natasha~
Two days—that’s how long it had been since I’d showed up at Logan’s vacation house, sneaking in the back, waiting to surprise him. To have him alone and remind him how good we once were—how we could be again.
Yet here I’d sat for two long days. Alone.
As the sun set over the snow-covered mountains, I picked up my phone and dialed.
“I figured you’d be back by now,” Jax chuckled. “Good thing you have the looks, ‘cause baby, you’re not the smartest.”
“Where is he?” I asked, anger lacing my tone.
“Logan? Oh, you know, out.” He laughed again. “Actually, he’s probably in Cassandra as we speak. You know, the pretty blonde that lives next door—the girl he actually enjoys hanging around.”
“You played me!”
“No, Logan played you. I simply got paid to make it happen. Having his ex-fiancée around on Valentine’s Day didn’t sit well with him, so I’m sure you understand. And by the way, no rush on your return.”
Rage consumed me, surging through my veins. Logan wasn’t coming. He was never going to give me a fair chance—at least, not with that woman around.
“I’ll be coming back soon, Jax. And when I do, you’re going to help me win him over.”
“And why would I do that to my own brother?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll tell him all about this past summer in Miami—every juicy detail of how you tracked me down for Oliver, only to spend the week in my bed!”
“I was out of my mind that week! Whatever you gave me—”
“I gave you exactly what you wanted. It wasn’t my fault you couldn’t handle it.” I smiled to myself.
“I went looking for you in the hopes that you’d changed—that you could be his mother. But like I told you the day I left Miami, you’re nothing to this family, and Oliver doesn’t need you. He was happy enough before I got involved and dug you up!”
“No, he wasn’t. You said so yourself. You asked me to return—”
“No, I told you to stay as far away as possible when I realized what you were into! That week is still a fucking blur to me.”
A blur to him, perhaps, but an eye-opener for me. Oliver wanted his mother, and it was the push I needed to return to him.
“I want my son, and I want Logan where we once were: heading for the altar. And you will help me!”
“Logan won’t even speak to you, and you think you can convince him to marry you?” he scoffed.
“I think, with a little persuasion, Logan will see exactly what I want him to.”
“He loves her,” Jax said, sounding a little too convinced for my taste. “He won’t screw that up again, so if you think you can break them up now, you’re too late.”
“Who said anything about me breaking them up?” I grinned as I hit the ‘End Call’ button. After surfing the web on my phone, I found the number I needed. After one ring, a man answered.
“Twenty-Four-Hour Pawn, how can I help you?”
I looked around the lavishly decorated room, smiling. “Yes, do you buy furniture?”
“If it’s in good shape, we buy just about anything.”
“Good. Send out your largest truck, because I have plenty to sell.” After giving him the address, I hung up and walked over to the window.
This wasn’t the way I wanted things to unfold. I tried to be what he wanted, what Oliver needed, but I was running out of time. If Logan wouldn’t listen to me, then I’d just have to make him see things my way.
Look for Book Three of the Harmony Series, the conclusion of Cassandra and Logan’s story, coming early 2014!
About the Author
Angela Graham resides in Tipp City, Ohio with her loving husband and three beautiful children. Her first novel, Inevitable, was released in early 2013 and is part of a three book series.
Visit her at Facebook or Amazon!
Acknowledgments
I have to admit, writing this was harder than I expected. So many kind and generous people have entered my life since I released Inevitable. I am awed by the support I have received and I don’t really know where to begin, so I’ll start with my family that have dealt with my preoccupied state the last few months.
First and foremost, I want to thank my husband, who has stuck beside me and watched from the sidelines, helping out more than ever as I’ve pursued my dream. I love you, babe!
To William, my handsome son, the genius artist who inspires me to dream bigger, I love you. No matter how tall you grow, you’ll always be my little baby.
My little darlings, Tinsley and James, I love you both so much. Hugs and kisses every day.
I also want to thank Maureen and Tom for all their support while I wrote most of this book hidden away in the cottage. You gave my kids a summer to remember, so thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Through this journey, I’m blessed to have Stephanie, my CP and friend, still by my side. She has been my writing rock.
There has been one person welcomed into my life that I can’t imagine not having, and that is Whitney. She keeps this new world organized for me, and in doing so keeps my mind clear so I can focus on writing. Thank you for everything you do.
Another wonderful addition who has come on last minute has been my fabulous new editor, Jen. She has helped me pull this book together to give you the best reading experience possible. I look forward to many more books with her on board.
To my beta readers—you know who you all are—I’m so appreciative of your honest feedback and patience. It was beyond helpful, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts when the third book is ready.
Now here comes the tricky part—the part I’m terrified I’ll forget someone if I start naming names. I have never, in all my life, met anyone as generous with their time and kind with their hearts as bloggers. It’s because of all you guys out there supporting indie authors that readers discover our work. My gratitude is indescribable. I wish I could start from day one of publishing and list every blogger with a heartfelt comment for each, but the fear of missing even one person is too much. I hope you know who you are. To everyone who has reviewed, shared, and promoted my work, as well as spent precious time answering my e-mails, giving me invaluable advice, and helping me navigate down this unfamiliar path: thank you, thank you, and again, thank you!
Lastly, but most importantly, I want to thank my readers. From the very beginning, you have amazed me with your kind words, filled me with happy tears, and lifted my spirits when l was overwhelmed. Your constant support amazes me daily, and is more than I ever could’ve dreamed of. I hope to someday meet you all and wrap you in a tender, warm embrace, as that is what each and every one of your e-mails does to me. There have been so many amazing readers who have gone above and beyond to support my books, and I hope you all know that I see it and am extremely grateful. Thank you!
Irreplaceable Playlist
Plumb—“Cut”
Ed Sheeran—“Give Me Love”
W Temptation—“All I Need”
Jason Walker—“Echo”
Ross Copperman—“Holdin On & Letting Go”
Christina Perri—“Jar of Hearts”
Irreplaceable (Harmony) Page 26