by Katie Knight
It had felt comfortable, easy, normal, to be with her. It had felt right.
Their kisses returned to his mind and his body tightened before he could stop it. None of that. Not now. Not until Diana was out of danger. And then, maybe not even after that. All of this was new territory for him, frankly, and he had no idea what he was doing. For a guy who was always in control, it was scary stuff indeed.
Something about Diana, though, made him want to try. Without thinking, he bent and kissed her forehead, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo, before laying his hand on her stomach. Beneath his palm, he could have sworn he felt a tiny kick, and his world seemed to shift on its axis. That was the baby.
My baby.
His need to protect surged higher. He’d take care of them, take care of this situation, once and for all, no matter the cost. But first, he had to get them out of this damned town and somewhere safe.
Frustrated in more ways than one, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair, walking back over to the windows and moving the curtains aside an inch or so to scan the parking lot. Already people were out and about, wearing the colours of their favourite teams, smoking and talking and laughing, as if there wasn’t a crazed killer on the loose and after the woman he loved and their child.
Wait. What?
That last thought stopped Demetri short. He didn’t love Diana. Hell, up until last week he hadn’t even seen her in months. And sure, he liked talking to her, liked holding her, liked kissing her too. Liked her. But there was a world of difference between like and love. And yes, she was pregnant with his baby. He’d provide for his kid, whether she wanted him to or not, but the L word?
Yeah, no. He didn’t do that. He’d seen what that horrid emotion did to people, how it tore lives apart, and he wanted no part of it.
It was just the closeness, the adrenaline, the danger messing with his head, giving him these thoughts out of nowhere. That was all.
Once they caught this guy and put him behind bars, things would cool off between him and Diana. He’d be there for her and the baby, but their lives wouldn’t be tangled up together like they were now. There would be distance. Calm. Perspective. Anything more than that could only lead to pain and suffering down the line, right? That was what had happened to his parents. True love, then total disaster. Okay, maybe not total disaster. What had happened to his dad had been an accident. He could see that now. And up until then, his mom and dad had been super happy.
Love drove your mom to leave you behind. Love hurt her too bad to go on.
Demetri leaned his shoulder against the wall and hung his head. When he’d been a kid, he’d used those thoughts to keep himself protected, to wall himself off from the world, to justify his decision to avoid any kind of attachments to avoid ending up like his poor mother. After he’d been orphaned, he'd been taken in by his Aunt Rebecca. She’d never had kids of her own, never married, but man, she’d treasured him like he was her own. He’d been lucky to have her and would always be grateful to her, but he’d never once said he loved her.
His heart pinched slightly and panic made his blood pound. He’d hustled her into a safe house weeks ago, when the threats had first started. But what if the safe house wasn’t safe enough? If anything happened to his Aunt Rebecca, he’d be devastated, just the same as he’d be if anything happened to Diana and the baby now.
Oh God.
He scrubbed a hand over his face and stared up at the ceiling. Had he somehow fallen in love and not known it? The idea made him break out in a cold sweat. He didn’t want to care that much, didn’t want to get hurt again, didn’t want to have his life torn to shreds when people left. Because that’s what people did. Leave. He’d always tried to be the first one out the door so he wasn’t left behind.
But now…
Ding!
His phone vibrated with a new text and he pulled it out to scowl down at the screen. It was from Eric, asking him to call ASAP. Finally.
“Hey,” Diana said, her voice groggy from sleep as she rolled over and squinted at him. “What time is it?”
“A little before ten,” he said, forcing the words past his tight vocal cords. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, a little.” She rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. “Be right back.”
He called in to Eric while she was otherwise occupied. “What do you have for me?”
“Got a hit on that facial recognition software,” Eric said. “You aren’t going to like it.”
“What else is new?” He grabbed the pen and complimentary pad of paper from the nightstand, then slumped down in a chair at the table. “Tell me.”
“It’s Franklin Harris.”
“Seriously? What the fuck?” A muscle ticked near Demetri tight jaw. Harris had been his biggest competition in the naval academy, and the rivalry between them had carried through all the years since. Still, while they’d never been friends, he’d never imagined the guy would resort to murder to get ahead. Then again, Harris had been ruthless when it came to getting ahead and there’d been that promotion that they’d both wanted and Demetri had received, so maybe Franklin did have a score to settle. Would he still be pissed off enough about that to come after Diana, though?
Shit. Just shit.
The bathroom door opened and Diana came out, her cheeks pink and her smile bright, and his chest squeezed with yearning before he could stop himself.
Dammit. Whatever the reason Harris was after them, Demetri intended to take him out. He would not let the guy hurt Diana or their baby.
“What do you want us to do?” Eric asked.
“Sit tight and let me think about this for a bit. I’ll call you back in an hour.” He ended the call and exhaled slowly before forcing a tight smile. “Feeling better?”
“Yep. I’m good, thanks. Better than you, apparently.” She came over and sat opposite him at the table. “You look like crap this morning. Did you sleep at all last night?”
“Not really, no.” He scratched the stubble on his chin. “And thanks for pointing it out.”
“My pleasure.” She snorted and sat back. “Was that your buddies on the phone? Did they find out anything?”
He considered keeping the information secret, but then she had as much on the line here as he did. “Yeah, Eric was able to match the man in the hoodie to one of my old classmates from the naval academy—Franklin Harris.”
“So the guy who’s doing this is someone you know?” Her blue eyes widened. “Wow. Didn’t see that coming. Is he a SEAL too?”
“Yep.” He explained about their history of rivalry, including the promotion he’d just gotten that Harris had wanted.
If there was one thing that stuck in his craw about all this, it was the fact that Harris—for all his many faults—was part of the brotherhood. He might be an asshole, personality-wise, but Demetri had believed he was still loyal. Even during their fiercest competitions, Franklin had always upheld the SEAL creed. To persevere and thrive on adversity. To be physically harder and mentally stronger than the enemy. To get back up, every time he was knocked down. And most of all, to draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect his teammates and to accomplish his mission.
Protect my teammates.
They’d all taken that oath, put their lives on the line to keep it. Harris might be an ambitious SOB, but Demetri couldn’t imagine him going against his vow. What did all of this mean? Was there some other explanation?
He set his phone aside and stood, heading for the bathroom himself. “Let me get cleaned up, then we’ll get some breakfast, okay?”
Diana flipped through the TV channels while she waited for Demetri, seeing all news reports about the soccer game and alerts about road closures and traffic jams. Her stomach growled and she found a leftover package of saltines in her bag to munch on to keep her hunger at bay.
Man, another SEAL was stalking her? Why? She wasn’t an expert on them by any means, but her brother, Peter, was always going on about their honour and courage a
nd their willingness to make sacrifices for others. None of that sounded like stalker material. It made no sense. Still, if Demetri and his friends said that this was the guy, she believed them.
The next question then was what to do about it. A shudder ran through her before she could stop it and she placed her hands on her stomach, where the baby was doing its usual morning somersaults. Fierce protectiveness seared through her bloodstream. She’d do anything to keep her child safe. And she knew Demetri would, too.
Sitting there talking with him last night had been good. There’d been no pressure for more, no throbbing need like there’d been the other night. Just peace and quiet and contentment. Funny, that. When she’d been with Brad, that had been all she’d wanted from him. But he’d never once sat and just listened to her the way Demetri had. Nope. Brad had been all about the flash and dazzle, giving her flowers and presents instead of time and attention. And of course, most of the presents had been subtle insults—clothes he picked for her because he said she had terrible taste; expensive trinkets that he showered on her to make her feel obligated, as if she owed him; flowers that made her sneeze because he liked chrysanthemums but had never seemed to remember that she was allergic.
But now, after last night, she felt more connected with Demetri than she ever had with anyone else. She wanted to know what he was thinking, if he was feeling this thing between them too. Not that he’d tell her. He was even more guarded than she was, but over the time they’d spent together, she’d gotten glimpses of the vulnerable man beneath and she was more intrigued than ever to know the real him.
Once they caught this crazy stalker guy, of course. And if Demetri was still around after, which wasn’t entirely certain even if he wanted to be, since SEALs got deployed at the drop of a hat.
Shouting from the parking lot startled her out of her thoughts and she lifted the curtains to peer outside. Looked like festivities were already underway for the big game that afternoon. People were milling about in the parking lot in their team’s gear, their faces painted and funny hats on their heads. There were even a few vendors already in place, setting up booths with hats, shirts, and face masks despite the early hour and the distance from the stadium.
Demetri walked out a few minutes later, dressed in clean jeans and a T-shirt, his handsome face shaved clean and his hair still damp from the shower. He sat on the edge of the bed to put on his socks and shoes. “If you tell me what you want, I’ll go get our food.”
She sighed. “Honestly, what I’d really like is to get out of this room for a while. Stretch my legs. How about if we go eat at the restaurant next door?”
“The fast food place?” He made a face. “We just had that last night.”
“No. The diner on the other side. I’m dying for some real eggs and taters.” She gave him her best puppy dog look. “Please?”
“I don’t know, Diana.” He stood and grabbed his wallet from the nightstand to shove in his back pocket. “The idea of you being out there while Harris is running around makes my hackles rise.”
“What if he doesn’t know it’s us?” she asked, thinking back to the vendors she’d seen in the parking lot earlier. “What if we had disguises?”
He frowned. “Except we don’t have any.”
“We could, though.” She told him about the hats and masks on sale downstairs. “You could go down and get them when you do your perimeter check. Might come in handy later anyway, right? We have to leave this place sometime, and what better time to do it than when there’s people everywhere? We can get lost in the crowd.”
“That’s…” He blinked at her a moment, then exhaled. “That’s actually not a bad idea. Not that I’m thrilled to have you in the open, like I said, but we do have to eat and until the parking lot clears out a bit, there’s no way we can get the car out.” Demetri seemed to consider it a moment, then nodded. “Fine. Let me go downstairs and check it all out. I’ll get us some stuff and then we’ll go eat.” He headed for the door, then turned back to her. “Lock up after me and don’t let anyone in until I get back.”
Thirteen
Half an hour later, Demetri returned to the room with hats and funny glasses and big baggy sweatshirts for both of them in the bright green and yellow colours of his favourite team. He had to admit that her idea was a pretty clever one, considering they’d be stuck at the motel for at least a couple more hours because of the congestion. At least his perimeter walk hadn’t shown any sign of Harris or his black hoodie.
Once they’d both donned their gear, they headed out to the diner, Demetri keeping hold of Diana’s hand to stay close in the crowds. And well, because he liked touching her. But mainly the safety reasons. That’s what he was telling himself anyway.
The diner was packed and they had to wait a bit for a table, but once they finally sat down, the food was good and the company even better. He felt full and focused again once he was done.
“So, if Harris is on our tail, we’ve got to be extra cautious. He’s been through SEAL training and plenty of missions just like me, so he’s got skills.”
“Yes, but you’re better, right?” She winked at him and the temperature in the diner seemed to go up a notch. “That’s why you got the promotion and not him.”
“True.” He couldn’t help grinning. “We still need to be on alert, though. He knows we’re in town, so he’ll be looking for us. It’s only a matter of time until he tracks us to the motel. Process of elimination.”
“We’re moving again?”
“Yep. I’ve already sent a message to John to get us new reservations. Might be tough, though, with the roads so crowded from the game in town. He had a hard enough time getting us into this place. We lucked out with a last-minute cancellation. Still, we need to keep moving.”
“What do we do if there isn’t another room and Harris finds us?”
“We improvise.” He checked his phone, then shoved it back in his pocket.
“Improvise how?” She leaned her elbow on the table, her expression eager. “Drive off into the sunset, hellbent for leather?”
“No.” He laughed. “You’ve been reading too many of those romance books.”
“Hey. You said you liked the last one.”
“I did. But real life isn’t quite so neat and tidy. Or glamourous.” He sighed. “We might end up staying in a safe house, or even a hostel, if need be.”
“What about the car?” she asked, sitting back to let the server take away their empty plates. True to her word, she’d gotten a huge plate of eggs and fried potatoes, plus bacon and juice. Demetri wondered where she’d put it all, since the only extra weight she’d gained so far with the pregnancy had been in her baby bump.
“Maybe we’ll ditch it at some point, if we need to throw off Harris.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“It’s what I do. Plan. Protect.”
She watched him a minute, then narrowed her gaze. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”
Warmth prickled up from beneath the collar of his green sweatshirt that had nothing to do with the temps in the diner and everything to do with the woman across from him. “Thanks. Same.”
He smiled and glanced out the window beside them, then froze. Amidst the sea of green and yellow and red and purple clothes of the soccer fans, he caught a glimpse of a figure in a black hoodie, staring directly at him from beneath the brim of a baseball hat.
Franklin Harris.
Adrenaline flooded his system and his heart raced. He took a deep breath to calm his pounding pulse and swallowed hard. “Diana? I need you to listen to me carefully.”
Her smile slowly faded. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s here. In the parking lot.”
“What?”
She started to turn her head to look, but he took her hand. “No. Stay focused on me. Don’t let him know we know. Now, what’s going to happen is we’re going to get up and head to the cash register to pay for our food. After that, you’re going to go to the bathroom, then we
’re going to walk out of here with that big group of people over there who are getting ready to leave. Understand?”
Diana’s fingers trembled beneath his and her eyes looked huge in her pale face, but she nodded. “Yes, I understand. Are you sure we’ll be okay?”
“No. But your idea for the costumes should help us blend in better.” He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Great thinking, by the way. Ready?”
She nodded and they scooted out of the booth before putting on their hats. Demetri covertly kept an eye on Harris. At the register, he paid and chit-chatted with the hostess, putting his arm around Diana like they were a real couple. Then she went to the restroom while he stood guard, thankful that the large group was now up and ready to go. As soon as Diana returned, they casually blended into the edges of the larger party and headed out the door, Demetri’s senses on high alert to any moves by Harris. They wouldn’t be able to go back to the room or the car, which meant they’d need to find another way to safety.
Diana was strong and insisted she could walk, but he didn’t want her pushing herself too hard. From across the parking lot, he saw a bus stop and nudged Diana that way. “Over there.”
A bus approached from down the street and she looked up at him. “Got it.”
Together, they managed to weave through the crowds, the presence of Harris behind them a constant weight on Demetri’s back. People were everywhere, making the going slow, and the bus wouldn’t wait long. As they neared the edge of the parking lot, he slipped his fingers through Diana’s and took a deep breath.