by Cindy Stark
The punch to her face came out of nowhere, blinding her with pain and disbelief. She flailed backward into the snow and lay facing the heavens while tiny white flakes fell on her. She raised a protective hand to her damaged cheek, recognizing the signs of swelling already. Blood dripped from her nose, and she tried to staunch it with the back of her hand.
“That was your last warning. No more whining. No more stalling. Get over here and start begging for the sweet Lord’s mercy before I knock your fucking head off.”
Trembling, she got to her knees and crawled forward. Wayward bits of gravel bit into her palm, but she scarcely registered the pain. When she stopped and looked up, he pulled his rock-hard cock from his jeans. Tears spilled from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and deposited the moisture on her jeans. That would only make him like it more.
“Don’t cry, honey,” he crooned. “Soon as you start sucking, we’ll both feel much better.”
“I’m bleeding.”
“I don’t care,” he yelled.
She recoiled. He always cared. Was this a joke? A test? If she tried to do what he said on got blood on him, would that give him another reason to punish her more?
She wiped her nose again. Didn’t seem to be bleeding as much now. Maybe the cold air helped.
She lifted her blood-free hand to take what he offered, wishing she could kill him, wishing she could…
Instead of doing as he asked, she balled her fist and nailed him as hard as she could in the nuts.
His grunt echoed in the night, followed by a quick gasp for air. If she’d had time, she would have smiled.
She scrambled to her feet and dove across the truck’s seat. She found herself in the same position as she’d been before, sprawled and reaching for the gun.
“Bitch,” he rasped behind her and clamped painful fingers around her ankles again. This time when he pulled her from the truck, her fingers were wrapped tightly around the butt of the pistol.
She almost lost the weapon as he jerked her from the truck, and she landed awkwardly on the cold, snowy ground again with her arm and the gun beneath her.
“Dumb bitch.” He kicked her hard in the thigh, and she cried out from the pain.
She wrangled the gun into proper position and released the safety before she rolled over. He towered above her, hatred glaring in his eyes. At first, he didn’t seem to notice the weapon in her hand.
“I said, leave me alone.” Her voice came out as a low growl this time, and she raised the pistol higher.
He opened his mouth to speak and then stopped. Slowly, he shook his head. “Don’t be stupid, Scarlett. Give that to me.”
“Why?” she taunted as she got to her feet and put more distance between them. “Are you afraid I don’t know how to shoot it? Because if you are, I can assure you otherwise.” Triumph flooded her veins, empowering her.
He held out his hand toward her. “Give me the gun, Scarlett.”
“No. I win this time.” Idiot asshole, thinking he could still control her with his words. “You need to climb into my truck and shut the door.” She waved the gun in the direction she wanted him to go. “Now.”
He remained where he was. “Why should I?”
“Because you ruined my truck, so I’m going to take yours.” She pinned him with a harsh look. “Go.”
He held her gaze for several long moments, and she knew he was deciding if she’d do what she said. She narrowed her gaze, warning him she would.
Finally, he dipped his head in acknowledgement and took a step toward Jesse’s truck. Her exhale of relief died the second he shifted directions and charged her instead.
She didn’t have time to think or aim before she pulled the trigger.
The loud explosion ricocheted into the night.
Hank dropped to his knees only feet from her, his eyes wide with shock. He clutched his abdomen and then pulled his hands away. Blood covered them, and he turned to her with a look of horror. “You shot me.”
She didn’t answer him. Couldn’t. Her insides shook like a massive earthquake. Her mind could only conjure one word. Run.
She did. She slipped on the icy surface as she turned toward Hank’s truck still idling in the middle of the road. Her thoughts came like rapid fire chasing her as she ran. The inside of the cab was warm but not enough to stop her shaking. Without hesitating, she shifted the truck into gear and headed toward the flashing blue and red lights in the distance.
As she passed him, Hank reached out a bloody hand toward her, damning her with accusing eyes. She wished she had the balls to run him over.
He thought she was leaving him to die. If help didn’t arrive in time, he would deserve it.
After a few minutes, her nose started bleeding again. She alternated between trying to stop it with pressure and keeping both hands on the wheel.
Several unending, nerve-wracked minutes later, she neared the scene of the accident. She started to unravel when she spotted Jesse looking just fine as he leaned against Lydia’s sedan. He was alive and okay. Her hands began to shake, and she gripped the wheel tighter. She was almost there, almost safe.
Merle’s truck sat halfway off the road in a ditch. A sheriff department SUV waited across from them with the colorful lights bouncing off the snow.
She pulled behind Lydia’s car and barely managed to shift the truck into park. All eyes turned in her direction and squinted to avoid the glare of her headlights. She could tell by the look on her friends’ faces that they didn’t know she was the driver.
She opened the door and nearly faltered as she climbed down.
Jesse was the first to recognize her. “What the…” He hurried in her direction, and she heard Lydia say her name behind him.
Unsure of her ability to walk, she let him come to her. The closer he got, the more serious his gaze grew and he began to walk faster as though he knew something was terribly wrong. She opened her arms as he neared, and he raced to scoop her up.
Tears came in wracking sobs then, and she clung to him for dear life.
“What’s going on, Scarlett? What the fuck happened to your face and why are you in that truck?” His words rushed at her, but she couldn’t answer. A feral growl rose from his chest. “Is that Hank’s truck?”
“Yes,” she managed. She trapped his dark gaze with hers, needing him to understand. “I shot him.” She pointed with a shaky finger. “Back there on the road with your truck.”
He took her by the shoulders and gaped as he looked her over. “Is he dead?”
She swiped at her tears. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“Can I get some help over here?” he yelled at the cop. “There’s been a shooting.”
That got the deputy’s attention, and he left Merle’s side in a hurry. “Did you say shooting?” The overweight, grizzled deputy whipped his gaze back and forth between the two of them as Merle and Lydia joined them.
“Her estranged husband from Colorado.” Jesse offered.
“What?” Lydia asked with a frantic voice. “He’s back?”
Jesse nodded and continued talking to the deputy. “He’s been hunting her, and she’s been hiding out at my place. Now that I see this truck again, his truck, it all makes sense. Ask Merle, but I think this is the vehicle that ran us off the road earlier.”
Merle narrowed his gaze as he studied the truck. “Yeah, I think so, too. If he has my paint on the front passenger side, that will prove it.”
The deputy turned his attention to Scarlett, not seeming concerned about Hank’s truck. “Where is he now?”
She pointed the way, but Jesse was the one to answer. “She said he’s back there on the road. He must have run her down like he did us.”
She nodded as she pressed closer to Jesse’s side. “He did. Tried to hurt me.”
Jesse lifted his hand but didn’t quite touch her face. “Looks like he succeeded.”
“I shot him,” she repeated. The implications of what the split-second decision might mean to he
r future swirled around her, leaving her dizzy. She gripped Jesse’s coat as her legs threatened to buckle.
Jesse tightened his grip on her. “I think she’s going into shock.”
“Keep her safe. Get her warm. I’m calling for back-up.” He strode toward his police unit, talking into his shoulder radio as he did. A few seconds later, he sprayed gravel as he headed in Hank’s direction.
Jesse tugged her toward Lydia’s car. “Come on. Let me take care of you.”
Merle and Lydia joined them, and all four climbed into her car.
“What if he’s dead?” Scarlett asked, her words brittle from the shivers that wracked her.
“Then he deserves it,” Lydia answered. “He attacked you. Self-defense all the way.”
“Don’t worry about that now,” Jesse whispered against her hair. “He’s been outed. After what he’s done today and in the past, there’s no way he’ll escape jail time. Too many witnesses. Too much proof. He can’t hurt you any longer.”
She closed her eyes as she rested her head against his chest and prayed he was right. Hank had managed to get himself out of many sticky situations, but she didn’t see how he could ever escape this one, especially without his cousin to back him.
Jesse rubbed a hand up and down her arm. “They will most likely ask you to go to the hospital.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You need to,” Merle said. “For documentation as well as making sure you’re okay. It’s important.”
Jesse nodded in agreement. “The police will also need a formal statement from you. I’ll see if a deputy can meet us at the hospital.”
“I don’t want to,” she said with more conviction this time. Her breaths grew raspy, and she struggled to fill her lungs against the overpowering pressure that seemed to weigh on her chest.
“Calm down.” Jesse took her face in his hands. “It’s going to be okay.”
“It’s not.” Fearful images came at her like blinding snow. What if she’d killed Hank? Would they put her in jail? What if she hadn’t? He’d be at the hospital, too. What if he tried to tell everyone there she was crazy? What if they believed him?
“Scarlett.” His voice penetrated the fog of her imagination. “Focus on me.”
She looked at him, but everything in the car swirled. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t get enough air.
“Drive,” Jesse commanded. “We can get to town as fast as help can get here.”
Jesse hugged her against him, her back to his chest. “Try to take slower, deeper breaths. It will help.”
She gripped his forearms and struggled to slow her breathing.
“Just relax. I’ve got you, and I won’t leave anyone hurt you.” His warm breath brushed her ear. “Trust me.”
****
Scarlett woke to the sound of hospital monitors beeping. Panic gripped her, and she pulled the oxygen mask from her face.
“Hey, hey.” Jesse was immediately at her side. “Relax. Everything is fine.”
She scanned the room to find Lydia and Merle sitting nearby, watching her with concerned expressions. “What happened?” she asked them.
Jesse squeezed her hand. “You hyperventilated. Passed out for a bit.”
“What’s a bit?”
Jesse looked toward Lydia and Merle who stood and moved closer. “We’ve been here maybe thirty minutes?”
Merle nodded. “Yeah. About that long.”
“Doc says you’ll be fine. You just need to rest.”
She didn’t feel fine. “Where’s Hank?” She glanced to each of their faces looking for answers.
“He’s alive, but I don’t know where he is. He’s the sheriff’s problem now.”
“Am I in trouble for shooting him?”
Jesse shook his head. “You’ll have to answer some questions, but you have nothing to worry about. Lots of evidence against him.”
She released a deep sigh, allowing her muscles to soften.
“Now that you’re awake, we need to have the nurse check your vitals to make sure you’re still stable, and I think they’ll release you. Then we can go home, and you’ll let me take care of you until you feel better.”
“You don’t need to do that,” she countered.
He tightened his hold on her. “Yes, I do, so don’t argue.”
“And I’m helping,” Lydia chimed in.
“You have a new family now, Scarlett.” Jesse kissed her hair. “You might as well get used to the idea.”
Apparently, she did, and she couldn’t be happier. She tilted her head and lifted her gaze to his, and he grinned. “Not fair to use that sexy, irresistible smile on me while I’m down.”
“Too bad. You’d better get used to that, too.”
She stared at him for a long moment, her heart pounding in time with the pulse in his thumb. She’d been through hell to find this man, and she wasn’t about to let him go. “Okay.” She said and opened her arms to him.
“Okay then.” He squeezed her tight, and she sighed. As long as she was in Jesse’s arms and in his life, everything would be okay. Lucky her. She had all that and so much more.
Prologue
Scarlett sat in the courtroom with Jesse at her side waiting for court to reconvene. She’d pictured this day for a damn long time. When the judge read the jury’s verdict of guilty on several accounts, her heart soared. Jesse had been right when he’d said Hank would pay.
As much as he’d deserved to die, she was glad she wasn’t the one to end his life. She didn’t want that scar on her heart.
When the judge had asked if she’d like to speak at Hank’s sentencing, she’d originally declined. She’d seen enough of that horrible man to last a lifetime. But then she’d realized having the last word would eat him alive. She could say whatever she wanted to, and he’d have to sit and listen.
A few moments later, a commotion ensued as Hank, his lawyer and the judge returned. Those around her took their seats while the judge called for order.
After all was quiet, the older man with kind eyes and a short white beard turned to her from his seat behind the judge’s bench. “Ms. West. You have something you’d like to say before sentencing?”
She cleared her throat and stood. “Yes, your honor.” Her ankles wobbled in her short heels as she approached the podium from which the lawyers typically presented. She took a deep breath and then focused on the man who’d tortured her for years.
“You will never touch me again, Hank,” she said in a controlled voice. “Ever. Nor will you be able to hurt another woman who would be fool enough to trust you. In a few minutes, I will walk out of this courtroom a free woman, more than ready to build a new, happy life. Think of that while you sit behind bars. Also, I hope you remember how you taught me to beg for mercy. Surely, there will come a time when some of your inmates will ask that of you.” His pallor whitened instead of turning the usual mottled red as it had in the past when she’d taunted him. “Many times, I hope. Many, many, many times.”
She turned from him and addressed the judge. “Thank you, your honor. I hope you will show him the same amount of consideration that he showed me.”
Scarlett exhaled, shifted on her heels, and exited the courtroom without looking back. As she crossed the threshold, her worries and fears spread their wings and fluttered toward the sky.
She meant what she’d said about walking away a free woman. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe her past couldn’t creep in from time to time, but she intended to fill her days with so much love and happiness that it left very little space for anything else.
“Hey! Wait for me.” Jesse rushed up from behind and took her into his arms. After a long, deep kiss that warmed every inch of her, he pulled back and studied her eyes. “Are you okay, honey?”
He stiffened abruptly. “Sorry. I forget you hate that word.”
Once, she’d been unable to imagine this kind of love. Now, it filled her to overflowing. She drew her fingers down his raspy cheek, loving the way the hint
of stubble tickled her fingertips. “I’m fine. Good, actually. I feel as though my soul has been cleansed. I’m free to love you with a whole heart.”
“Ah, damn. I love you, Scarlett. With all my heart, too. You are the sun to my world.” The sincerity in his eyes nearly undid her.
“Guess what?” she said. “I’ve decided he doesn’t get that word. I’m reclaiming any power he once had over me. Honey is a sweet, loving gesture, and he can’t have mine. I give it to you, instead.”
Jesse’s lips tilted into the sexy smile that never failed to charm her. “I like the way you think. Honey.”
She snorted a laugh. “Let’s be honest. It’s not like you could stop using it anyway.”
“Guilty.” He picked her up and twirled in a circle before setting her down again. “You know, now that the divorce is final, we could see if we could bribe a judge to marry us today. We’re already at the courthouse.”
She laughed at his eagerness and pressed a soft kiss onto his lips. “Impatient as usual. But, as eager as I am to become Mrs. Brogan, I want to do it the right way. I’ve been thinking. How about a small ceremony on your property? It’s so beautiful and serene, and spring would be the perfect time.”
“Our property,” he corrected.
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her smile. “Our property, then. By the creek, with all our friends watching. Then we’ll feast and laugh and burn that memory into our minds to enjoy for the rest of our days.”
He lifted his brows. “Did you say feast?”
She chuckled at his comment. “My man does love his food.”
“Not as much as I love you.” He turned toward the exit doors and grabbed her hand as he did. “Hey, I have an idea, since you won’t marry me today. How about I take you home and feast on you instead?”
“Behave,” she said as they stepped out into the crisp February day. Then she halted and glanced up at him, catching him off guard. “On second thought, I think I like the idea of feasting and misbehaving. What do you say, Mr. Brogan? Would you like to spend the day feasting and misbehaving with me?”