She turned her face toward him and kissed his cheek. “Do you want me to be here when you get home?”
“You know I do.” Today and every day for the rest of his life.
“Then I will. Once my job starts, I’ll have to figure out this whole staying in one place thing. It’s scary.”
He released his hold and moved to face her. “The last thing I want to do is scare you away. If I’m coming on too strong, please let me know.”
She put her hand on his face. “I’m not scared of you, Bryce.”
“That’s good to know, darlin’.” He kissed her palm. “Do you like frozen waffles?”
“I prefer them heated.”
He laughed and popped some Eggos into the toaster—a feat of cooking he could actually handle. They ate and cleaned up the mess together, the routine as effortless as if they’d already lived together for months.
She walked him to the door and kissed him on the cheek, and he paused to take in her beauty.
“You are an amazing woman, Alexis Gentry. I’ll see you tonight.”
She smiled. “Bye, Bryce.”
He tugged the door open and stumbled over a heap of fabric blocking the exit. A brown envelope slipped from the pile and landed at Alexis’s feet. The color drained from her face as she bent and scooped the fabric and the envelope into her arms.
“This is my jacket.” Her voice came out as a raspy whisper.
Bryce’s heart slammed against his ribcage. “The one you left at Eric’s?”
She nodded, and he wrapped his arm around her, pushing her back inside before locking the door. He should have expected this. Abusers never let go that easily.
Standing utterly still, she stared at the envelope in her grip. “He found me.”
Bryce took the envelope and carried it to the kitchen. “I guess someone bailed him out of jail.” He tore it open and dumped the contents onto the counter. A stack of glossy photographs slid across the Formica, and anger burned in his chest. “Bastard’s been watching us.”
Alexis peeked over his shoulder as he spread the photos out on the surface. Pictures of his car parked at the station, Alexis’s Ford on the curb in front of his house. The two of them walking hand-in-hand beneath the oaks on their way to dinner last night. A shot of them embracing in the living room, taken through the open blinds.
She picked up an image of her and Macey having lunch in a restaurant. Dropping it on the countertop, she covered her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry. I really thought this was over.”
“Guys like that don’t take rejection well. I’m not surprised at all.” But he had let his guard down. He’d been so caught up in his feelings for Alexis that he’d been careless. Sloppy. The bastard had been following him, and he hadn’t even noticed. He was a detective, for Christ’s sake; he should have caught on.
Her hands trembled as she stacked the pictures. “I’ll go talk to him.”
“No, you won’t. This.” He gestured to the photographs. “This is stalking. He’s already hurt you once.”
She dropped her gaze to the floor, and ice flushed his veins.
“At least once.” He didn’t need to know exactly what the asshole had done to her. The look on her face said enough. He ground his teeth. “You need to get the police involved. Get a restraining order, so if he does something like this again, I can arrest him.”
She opened her mouth as if to argue, but she let out a defeated sigh instead. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll get a restraining order.” She fumbled with the pictures, nervously stacking them face-down on the counter. When she reached the image of the two of them embracing in the living room, she swallowed hard and shoved it into the middle of the pile.
He called Sam inside and locked the back door. “Put your shoes on, and you can come to the station with me. I’ll take the day off and stay with you until we can get this sorted out.”
She inhaled a shaky breath. “If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to get Macey’s help with this.” She glanced into his eyes before lowering her gaze again. “After our talk last night, I feel like she would want to help.”
Hooking a finger under her chin, he raised her eyes to meet his. “You won’t regret that.” He tugged her into a firm hug. “I’ll follow you to her house to be safe.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Her face was pressed against his chest, muffling her voice.
“I want to.” If he didn’t trust Macey with his life, he’d insist she go to the station with him. Macey would keep her safe, though, and this might be exactly what they needed to mend their rocky relationship.
She sighed and pulled from his embrace. “Okay. Let me get my things from your room. I’ll just be a minute.”
Alexis gazed at Bryce through her rearview mirror on the way to Macey’s house. Even at a distance, his clenched jaw and furrowed brow were unmistakable. His concern for her safety warmed her soul, and part of her actually considered his suggestion of letting the police handle Eric. Maybe another run-in with the law would convince his bully of a father to take him back to Biloxi. Then again, if he hadn’t bothered this time, he’d probably washed his hands of his delinquent son.
She pulled to a stop on the curb in front of Macey’s house and said a silent prayer thanking whatever god was responsible for ensuring that cars lined the rest of the road so Bryce had nowhere to park. He stopped in the middle of the street and rolled down his passenger side window.
Alexis slipped out of her car, lightly shutting the door to avoid bringing any attention to her presence. Resting her hands on the door, she stuck her head through his SUV window. “Thanks for the escort, officer.”
He pressed his lips together, his brow knitting as he held her gaze. “I know Macey can protect you, but…if you need anything, please call me. I—”
“I will.” She couldn’t let him finish the thought. Not if it was the same thing he’d tried to tell her this morning. He might change his mind after what she was about to do.
A car stopped behind him and honked.
“You better get out of the road. I’ll see you later.” She straightened and wiggled her fingers. “Bye, Bryce.”
He nodded. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
He hit the button to roll up the window and slowly drove away.
Alexis spun around and made her way toward Macey’s front door, but as soon as Bryce turned the corner, she got in her car and sped off in the opposite direction.
Eric wouldn’t stop until Alexis was by his side or dead, and being anywhere near Bryce put him in danger. A restraining order would do nothing to stop a werewolf. She had to handle this herself.
She turned onto Interstate 10 and headed to Pearl River. Maybe she couldn’t beat Eric in a fair fight, but she could outsmart him again. She’d take care of this problem for good, and then she’d come back to New Orleans and settle down with Bryce like her wolf had been begging her to do.
And once her sadistic ex was no longer a threat, she’d tell Bryce what she was…tell him everything. She’d bring him into her supernatural world once it was a safe place for him to be.
Her stomach soured as she pulled into the driveway and parked behind Eric’s Mustang. She shoved some clean clothes into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder as she paced up the walk. A new video doorbell hung beside the frame, and she pressed the button before smoothing her hair into place. A red light blinked beside the camera, and a few seconds later, the lock disengaged.
Eric crossed his arms and leaned against the jamb, a smug smile contorting his features. “I knew you’d come back to me.”
“You didn’t give me much of a choice.”
“You always have a choice, baby. You finally made the right one.”
She clenched her jaw, trying to keep her expression neutral. “If I help you, you will leave Bryce alone. Macey too.”
His grin widened as he drew a cross over his chest. “You have my word.”
“Like that means a lot.” She pres
sed her hand against the small of her back—where Bryce’s gun fit snugly into the waistband of her jeans—and pushed past Eric to enter his home.
Chapter Fifteen
Bryce set his phone on the desk and stared at the blank screen. Two hours had passed with no word from Alexis. She hadn’t shown up at the station to report the bastard yet, and anxiety had him wound up so tight his muscles ached. His knee bounced incessantly beneath his desk, and he popped a piece of peppermint gum into his mouth, clenching it between his teeth.
He’d called her half an hour ago and gotten her voicemail. She was doing exactly what he’d suggested: getting Macey involved, building the bond with her sister. And he trusted Macey with his life. She could handle whatever that bastard threw at them, but damn it, not knowing where Alexis was made him crazy.
He’d almost told her he loved her several times that morning, and now he was cursing himself for not forcing the words from his lips. She’d had a hard life. Wasn’t used to people caring about her. She didn’t understand how profoundly her actions could affect the people who loved her. If she changed her mind and went after Eric on her own…
Shit. Why hadn’t he told her?
His computer chimed with an e-mail, and he clicked it open—the autopsy report on the female they’d retrieved from the river. He scanned the document and squinted at the body temperature. That couldn’t be right. Bryce rubbed his eyes and looked again. Thirty-eight degrees.
He scrolled down to the examiner’s comments. Evidence of freezing after death.
What the hell? He pulled up the other case. Nothing new since Macey suggested an animal attack. Had she even seen the autopsy? Or was something else going on that she was trying to cover up?
A sour sensation crept from his stomach up the back of his throat. Had Macey gotten involved in something sinister? No way she’d voluntarily participate in something like this, but if she were being forced…and he’d sent Alexis to her for help.
He mashed the button on his phone to dial Macey’s number.
“Bryce? Is everything okay?” Her voice was raspy, and the sound of rustling sheets filled the silence.
His heart sank. “Were you asleep?”
“It’s not even ten a.m. What’s wrong?”
He swallowed the thickness from his throat as icy tendrils of dread wound their way up his spine to grip his neck. “So you haven’t seen Alexis today?”
“No. What happened?”
“Nothing. I’m sorry I woke you.” He pressed end and slammed his phone onto the desk. How could he have been so stupid? Alexis never had any intention of asking her sister for help. She was stubborn and overly confident, and he’d let love blind him to her faults. He should have known.
Assholes like Eric couldn’t be reasoned with. Bryce had been on his fair share of domestic abuse calls, and these guys never quit.
He dialed Alexis’s number. Straight to voicemail. A quick search of the database gave him Eric’s address, and he grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the station.
His mind reeled on the drive to Pearl River. What exactly was he going to do when he got there? He had no warrant. No legal reason for busting in and beating the shit of the dude. Alexis went there of her own free will, so as a cop, his hands were tied.
But as a man…
He yanked his badge from his belt and tossed it on the passenger seat. If he’d have been thinking straight, he’d have stopped by his house to grab his personal firearm, but he didn’t plan on needing to use it. He was simply there to talk. Right.
Pulling into the grass on the side of the road in front of Eric’s house, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Alexis’s car sat behind a Mustang in the driveway, and Bryce closed his eyes, gritting his teeth until pain shot through his jaw.
He wasn’t breaking any laws. Yet. He’d knock on the door and ask for Alexis. If the bastard wouldn’t let him talk to her, then…he’d cross that bridge when he got to it. Prying his fingers from their death-grip on the wheel, he opened the door and slid out of the car.
Sunlight glinted off his badge lying on the seat, and he slammed the door. If he did cross any bridges today, the emblem wouldn’t shine so brightly as his boss confiscated it. His career would end. He squared his shoulders toward the house and marched to the door. He’d choose Alexis over his job any day.
Ignoring the doorbell, he pounded his fist against the wood. A muffled shout sounded from somewhere inside, and a tiny red light blinked beside the camera on the bell. The sound of something hitting the floor resonated from the other side of the door, and Bryce’s heart rate kicked up.
He clenched his hands into fists, ready to defend himself if the asshole tried to catch him off guard, and he took a step back as the lock disengaged. Alexis’s face appeared by the jamb, and his breath caught in his throat.
She glanced over her shoulder before stepping through the doorway and shutting it. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Like hell I shouldn’t. I told you not to try to talk to him.” He took her hand. “C’mon. We’re going home.”
She pulled from his grasp. “This is my home, Bryce, and you don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“No, Alexis, this isn’t…you don’t have to stay here. We’ll get the restraining order, and if he tries anything else, I’ll throw his ass in jail. I will take care of you.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me.” She crossed her arms and lowered her gaze to the ground. “I don’t want you to.”
“What?” He blew out a breath. “What are trying to say?”
The muscles in her throat worked as she swallowed and lifted her gaze to his. “I’m saying I want to stay here. With Eric.” Her lip curled as she said his name. “This is where I belong, and I’m sorry for leading you on. I…” She cut her gaze to the side before making eye contact again. “I was using you until the heat blew over. He forgives me now, so you should go.”
As she held his gaze a moment longer, a tiny shard of doubt wriggled into his mind before he slammed the door on it. After everything they’d shared last night and this morning, there was no way. “C’mon, darlin’. You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
She didn’t. The rapid blinking, cutting her gaze to the left, holding eye contact longer than was natural when she did look at him…they were all classic signs of lying. And the way her brow knit as she glanced over her shoulder at the window, she couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes if she tried.
The red light on the doorbell camera blinked, indicating Eric was watching every move she made. Bryce stepped toward her, lowering his voice and resting his hand on her elbow. “Did he threaten you? Is he making you say this?”
“No, Bryce.” Her gaze hardened, and she whispered, “Look, we had sex, okay? It doesn’t mean I want to move in with you. Just…go home and forget about me.”
“That’s enough, babe. Time to come inside.” Eric’s massive frame darkened the doorway.
Alexis’s shoulders tensed.
Bryce clenched his fists. “Please, Alexis. Come home with me. I love you.”
She locked eyes with him, and a thousand emotions played across her features. As she opened her mouth to respond, her lower lip trembled. “I could never love a man like you. Go home, Bryce.”
Eric grabbed her arm, but she yanked from his grasp and stomped inside. He turned to Bryce. “Whatever you thought you had with my girl is over. I don’t want to see your pig face again.”
He didn’t move as Eric slammed the door. Not a word of truth had spilled from Alexis’s lips, but what else could he do? Bust the door down and drag her away? If she wouldn’t listen to him, he’d call in backup.
Turning on his heel, he ground his teeth and strode to his SUV. This was far from over.
Alexis leaned against the kitchen counter, careful to keep her back toward the wall. Eric hadn’t let her out of his sight since she’d knocked on the door, and she needed to stash Bryce’s gun somewhere she could get to it later.
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A fissure tore through her chest as pressure built in the back of her eyes. Bryce had said the words, and they’d nearly crumbled her. Fate had bound her heart to his, and hearing him confirm it had her wolf howling with joy.
And then she hurt him.
Lying to Bryce had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she’d had to do it to keep him safe. If he thought he didn’t have a chance with her, surely he’d give up long enough for her take care of Eric. Then, with the threat extinguished, she could crawl back to Bryce on her hands and knees and beg for forgiveness.
What else could she do? The man held her heart in his hands, and Eric would tear Bryce’s throat out if he knew.
“Don’t look so sad, babe.” Eric adjusted his crotch and sauntered toward her. “He’s a human.”
She blinked back her tears and nodded. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking running to him. I was stupid.”
“Damn right you were.” He slid a hand up her shoulder, and she recoiled.
Clutching her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he forced her gaze to his. “I think I need to fuck you ‘til you forget him.” He grabbed the back of her neck with his other hand. “What do you say?”
She shrugged out of his hold and paced toward the couch. “I’m on my period.”
Following, he leaned toward her and sniffed the air. “I don’t smell blood on you.”
“I wear tampons, dumbass. Of course you don’t.”
His lip curled in disgust. “Nasty bitch.”
“Wow, Eric.” She hung her backpack over her shoulder. “If you’re trying woo me, you might want to watch your language.”
He shuffled around to block the front door. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To the bathroom to change my tampon.”
“Hold on.” He jerked the bag from her shoulder and opened it. “What you got in here?” He stuck his hand in the bag and rummaged around.
She rolled her eyes and unzipped a side pocket before yanking out a handful of feminine hygiene products.
Bound by Blood (Crescent City Wolf Pack Book 3) Page 16