I kept my voice low when I answered, “Oh, they want to kill her. But they want other things first.”
She shivered against me, and I stroked her hair.
“So what do you know about this guy? Who sent him?” Liam asked. I could see his mind already working to formulate some kind of plan.
“I don’t know. I don’t know much of anything right now, and I didn’t have time to torture any info out of that douche.”
“Did he run away?” Bellamy worried.
“No,” I said.
“What happened to him?”
Liam and I shared a glance. Then I shifted my gaze over to Bells and dropped the wall I used to hide the cold inside me.
Realization dawned on her face. Silence filled the room.
Sabrina felt the change and perked up, turning to face Bellamy. “He did what he had to do.”
My stomach somersaulted. Part of me was awed Sabrina loved me enough to not even blink an eye at what I’d done… The other part of me? It was horrified. What kind of man asked the woman he loved to accept he was a killer?
“I know,” Bellamy told her softly, offering a smile. “Men like that don’t deserve to live anyway.”
Sabrina nodded, seeing Bellamy wasn’t all that shocked, and sank into me again. One of her scraped-up hands curled around the back of my neck and stayed there.
“You don’t know anything?” Liam pressed. “Nothing that could help us protect her?”
I didn’t bother to point out that I was the one who would be protecting Sabrina. The last thing I wanted was for Liam and Bellamy to get caught in the crossfire.
Still, I had to keep him in the loop. Unfortunately, there might come a day that I was forced to call him. Just like last night.
“I have a theory,” I said carefully.
Sabrina sat up in my lap, her eyes wide. “You do?”
I nodded. “Obviously, whoever we’re dealing with has done their homework.”
“How so?” Liam asked.
“Because they know the only way they’re going to get to her is to take me out.”
Brina gasped and shot up. “What?”
The distress in her voice made me pause, only momentarily. I would have preferred to keep this shit on the down low. On the down low = not telling her all the details. Unfortunately, this was one of those situations where protecting her from the truth might get her killed. It was better if she knew exactly what was happening.
Besides, Brina wasn’t a damsel in distress. I might be tasked with protecting her, but it wasn’t because she was weak.
“They plowed into the Hummer on the driver’s side where I was. Then they pulled her out of the truck while I was unconscious. When I came to, the fucker was trying to stuff her into his truck.”
“They know who you are,” Liam replied, thoughtful, his face grim.
I nodded. “Enough to realize they won’t get to her unless I’m dead.”
Upset, Sabrina tried to scramble off my lap and nearly fell. Catching her around the waist, I pulled her back down. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
She was unfazed. “Because of me people, want to kill you now, too!”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“Oh, so you mean if I hadn’t been in your Hummer last night, that guy would have come here, run into you, and made you unconscious!”
“It’s gonna take a lot more than that to take me—”
A rough sound forced its way out of her, and with it came a sudden burst of strength that allowed her to propel herself off my lap. I reached for her, but she skirted back, out of arm’s length.
“Don’t you even say it!” she demanded. “Don’t even insinuate something so terrible. I will not put your life in danger by being here.”
Her words were punctuated with her retreat.
“Brina,” I called.
She didn’t stop or turn back.
I stood and glanced at Liam. “We’ll talk later.”
He nodded, understanding on his face.
I caught up with her in the mudroom as she was struggling to get the lock on the door unlatched. From behind, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my body.
A sob broke out of her throat, and she pushed at my arms. “Let go, Alex. I’m leaving.”
I didn’t let go. I did turn toward a nearby keypad, entering the code so the locks would disengage.
When the door was open, she tried to run away from me again. I bent and lifted, swinging her up into my arms.
She opened her mouth to likely yell at me, but I growled and silenced her with a hard look. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, but her eyes were angry.
“If you’re leaving,” I told her, unaffected, “then I’m coming with you.”
Sabrina
I’ve come to learn that war is gritty.
It’s messy and there really are no winners… just survivors who pick up the pieces and embrace the life they fought so hard for.
Love is a lot like war.
If Alex thought I was the type of girl who would just roll over and accept his life was on the line because of me, he was wrong. He might think of me as a kitten, but when I really wanted something, I knew how to fight like a lion. My brother made sure of that.
Still, I was there. In his house. In his bed.
Why?
Two reasons:
1.) I made a promise to Daniel.
And…
2.) I asked Alex not to leave me again. How could I then turn around and do it to him?
It took forever to get here with him—the man I knew would be the love of my life. How the hell could I go?
How could I stay and put him in danger?
If you’re leaving, then I’m coming with you, he said.
I’ll go somewhere you can’t find me! I’d hurled the words back.
His eyes flashed with promise. There is nowhere on this earth you can hide that I won’t find you.
We spent the rest of the night going at each other between the sheets like one of us was going to prove who was the most dominant.
In the end, exhaustion beat us both, and we fell sleep tangled together, all naked limbs and sweat-dampened sheets.
As much as I wanted to run, I wasn’t stupid. It would be useless. He could find me. He would. And while I was out running around, playing stupid games, he would be out in the open, risking himself even more.
At least here in his triangle house, he was familiar. He had a plan.
My only hope was Daniel would come back soon and all this would be over.
What then? What would happen when Daniel came home? Would I just go back to California and Alex stay here? Life was different now. Changed. I had no idea what anything would be like moving forward.
I was awake, pondering all this, when I heard a car approach the house. Alex slipped out of bed but left his gun where it was—a very telling act.
As soon as he was gone, I sat up in the middle of the twisted blankets to listen. All I heard was the soft sound of a door opening and, shortly after, closing.
His footsteps drew closer from the hall, and I dove back into the blankets and shut my eyes.
A few moments later, he spoke above me. “I know you’re awake.”
I pushed the blankets back from my face and stared at him, about to demand what he was up to.
The large, orange pumpkin in his arms stopped the words from forming.
“What is that?” I gasped.
He glanced down at it and then at me. “After all the noise you made about wanting to put these things all over my deck, you don’t even know one when you see it?”
“I know it’s a pumpkin.” I grumped, sitting up. “What I don’t know is why it’s here.” Cocking my head to the side, I considered something else. “Did you just have that delivered?”
Alex plopped the pumpkin in my lap. It had a tall, winding stem.
“It’s your birthday present.”
I gasped, clutching it. “My birthday?”
I squinted, thinking.
When I didn’t answer right away, he patted my head. “It’s okay, kitten. It’s been a rough few weeks for you.”
“Today is my birthday?” I asked, dubious.
“I should get some points because I remembered and you didn’t.”
I scowled. “How can I think about my birthday when I have to worry about you being shot up because of me?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, regarding me. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
“It’s true!”
“Well, good for you I’ve been shot up before, and it’s not anything for you to worry about.”
“Alex—” I began, wrapping my arms around the huge pumpkin and leaning over it toward him.
He stopped the words with his lips, kissing me sweetly with the giant orange surprise right between us. When he pulled back, I was dazed and a little confused. “No more worrying about this. Not today.”
“Not today,” I echoed.
Smiling, he kissed the tip of my nose. “Happy birthday, kitten.”
I smiled, glancing down at the pumpkin. “You got me a pumpkin.”
“There’s a few more out in the kitchen.”
I hugged it. “I love it!”
“Most girls want jewelry or fancy trips. You want something that grows in a field,” he muttered as if he were confused.
“You’re going to help me carve it, right?” I asked, trying to climb out of the bed with it.
He reached down and lifted it so I could stand. “Do I have to?”
“It’s my birthday. You have to do whatever I want.”
“Then I guess we’re carving a pumpkin.”
“I’ll handle the knife. You can scoop out all the goop.” I decided, picking up a sweatshirt off the dresser to pull over my head. It was his, but it was my birthday, so I was doing what I wanted.
“Like I’m giving you a knife,” he argued.
I scoffed. “Please. I’m better at carving than you!”
“That so?” he drawled, turning from the doorway of the bedroom to look at me. “How many pumpkins have you carved, Miss California?”
“We have pumpkins in Cali,” I refuted.
“How many?” He pushed.
“It’s my birthday. Why are you arguing with me?”
He laughed. “All right, come on, then. Show me these mad pumpkin-carving skills you have.”
I marched after him, making faces at his know-it-all back.
The second I stepped into the kitchen, the look fell from my face and I gasped. Alex turned, a small smile on his face.
“You did this?” I said, gazing around in awe.
The entire kitchen was filled with balloons. All of them, yellow, orange, and red, crowded the ceiling. Some of them were clear but filled with golden glitter, and the long golden strings attached to each one hung down from the ceiling like glittering rain.
A large bouquet of red roses sat in the center of the island with a few more pumpkins around it. If that wasn’t enough, there was a box of apple cider donuts and cups of hot cider from Caribou sitting right beside them.
“When did you have time to do all this?” I asked, finally pulling my eyes away from everything to stare back at Alex.
He wasn’t looking anywhere but at me. The large round pumpkin was still in his arms.
“I had some help.” He half smiled. “I didn’t want to leave you here alone.”
“I can’t believe you did all of this,” I said, awed once more. Wandering into the center of the room, I lifted a hand to trail my fingers through the long strings. The balloons overhead bobbed and knocked into the ceiling.
Alex caught my hand and tugged me around. “This is nothing. This is all I could throw together last minute.”
“This is more than anyone has ever done for me before,” I confided. “Trust me when I tell you this… this is everything.”
Alex lifted me, my legs snaking around his waist. Snatching a single balloon overhead, he tugged it down so it was beside us and offered me the string. “From now on, your birthday is a holiday in this house, got it?”
My heart squeezed so tight I had trouble breathing deep.
When his lips touched mine, it was like a whoosh of oxygen right into my lungs. The balloon I’d been holding hit the ceiling when I let go to reach around and grip the back of his head. When finally he lifted his head, my chest rose and fell rapidly as I gazed up at all the beautiful balloons.
“You like it?”
“I love it.”
“What about me?”
I looked at him, at the way his eyes were playful and his head cocked to the side. I smiled. “You’re okay, too.”
He growled and dove into my neck, nipping at the skin and making me squeal.
“I love you, too!”
The smug smile on his face only made my heart swell further. “Breakfast, pumpkin carving, and then…”
“And then?”
“And then you’ll probably need a shower from all those pumpkin guts I’m going to make you scoop.”
“You’re probably going to have to shower, too.”
He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.
“Sounds like the perfect birthday.” I sighed and glanced up at the ceiling again.
“You think that’s all we’re doing?”
“It isn’t?” I asked, brow puzzling.
“Nope. The annual BearPaw Fall Fest is tonight. It’s pretty much the last thing we have here before the first ski of the season.”
“I love fall.”
He chuckled. “I know. You’re like a walking pumpkin head.”
Smacking him playfully, I replied, “We don’t get seasons in California. Not like this.”
“Liam and Bellamy will be there, too. They want to wish you happy birthday.”
I nodded.
Alex sat me down and reached for the pumpkin again. “All right, birthday girl, let’s do this.”
Alex
Even though it was technically off season at the resort, the BearPaw Fall Fest was a big draw. People came from Caribou for the yearly tradition, as well as guests from out of state. This year’s turnout was impressive, with crowds forming everywhere.
There was an entire vendor row with different booths filled with food, games, and crafts. Local businesses from Caribou had setups, as well as a few businesses that traveled here as sponsors. The crisp air was filled with the scent of fried dough and cinnamon, baking apples, and pumpkin spice.
String lights hung everywhere, and a live band played from a stage. Kids were racing around, laughing, adults were smiling, and the ski lift was running for the crowds that wanted a spectacular view of the colorful mountains.
Leaves scattered the ground everywhere and blew in front of us as we made our way toward the heart of the festival.
“I don’t think I will ever get enough of all these leaves. The scent and the sound of them underfoot,” Sabrina said, dreamily gazing down at her booted feet shuffling through the multicolored foliage.
I leaned down beside her ear. “Wanna know a secret?”
She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, nodding. Unable to help myself, I reached up and tugged the end of the giant-ass scarf she draped around her neck. The long strands of her hair were tucked beneath it. “We have extra leaves brought in just for this.”
She made a sound and smacked me. “Don’t tell me such things! Let me believe this is all just natural.”
I chuckled. “Whatever you say, birthday girl.”
“Hey, what’s that crowd up ahead? Must be some popular booth,” she said, forgetting about our conversation.
I glanced up and smiled. “That’s not a booth, kitten. That’s Liam.”
She sucked in a breath. “Liam?”
I laughed beneath my breath and snatched her hand to link our fingers. “Your forgetting again that Liam is a big deal. People literally line up to see him. Whene
ver we have events like this at the resort, some people come just to see him.”
“How exhausting,” she muttered.
“Lucky for us we have front-of-the-line privileges.” I tugged her hand, angling my body slightly in front of hers as we moved through the crowd.
People parted naturally. Liam might be the celebrity in these parts, but I wasn’t someone anyone ignored.
“Bro,” Liam called out when he saw me. Pausing in the middle of signing an autograph, he held up his fist. I slammed mine against his and glanced down at the pic he was signing.
“Dude, that pic is not your best.” I cackled.
From beside him, Bellamy giggled. “I think he looks handsome.”
Pulling Brina up beside me, I said, “What do you think, kitten?”
She glanced at the picture and then at Liam. “Looks fine to me.”
“Ha,” Liam said and finished scrawling his name. After handing it back, he posed for a couple pictures and then started to move out of the crowd.
People still stared and whispered as he went, but he was used to it and barely noticed. Bellamy still wasn’t quite used to the fascination with her husband and glanced back at all the people staring.
I caught her eye and winked, which made her blush and turn back around.
“Killer turnout this year,” I called to Liam. “Everyone wants a glimpse at last year’s winter games gold medalist.”
“Exactly why we left Shaw at home,” Bellamy said. “Too much ruckus.”
“Does all the attention bother you?” Sabrina asked Bellamy.
“I’m getting used to it,” she replied with a smile.
Liam hooked an arm around Bellamy and pulled her into his side. “She knows she’s my favorite girl.”
“Happy birthday!” Bellamy said, switching subjects. “We have a gift for you in the car.”
Sabrina seemed surprised. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”
Bellamy made a sound. “We wanted to.” She stepped closer to my girl. “So did you like your surprise this morning?”
“You know about it?” Sabrina asked, her brows lifting.
“Liam is the one who dropped off all the stuff,” I explained.
Subzero (BearPaw Resort Book 4) Page 20