“It’s just Daniel now,” he said quietly as we went toward the house.
I slid a glance in his direction.
“I’m out,” he added. “It’s better if everyone believes I’m dead.”
In the house, I sat Sabrina on a chair and moved to put on some coffee. “Is it safe for you to be here?” I asked—because I had to.
Sabrina gasped. “It doesn’t even matter!” She scolded me. “He’s not leaving.”
“I’m not suggesting he’s got to go, sweetheart.” I cajoled. “But a man needs to know what he’s working with. I have a wife and kids to think of.”
She made a harrumphing sound. But given the way she caressed her stomach, I knew she understood.
“You know nothing is one hundred percent,” Daniel allowed. “But I’m pretty sure it’s clear. It’s why I hid out for a year. I wanted to make sure no one else came out of the woodwork. I wanted to make sure everyone believed I was dead.”
I nodded.
“Rush was in on it,” Sabrina confided. “He tried to kill me.”
Daniel’s face was grim, and anger sparked in his eyes. “Yeah. I figured as much.” He met my stare. “You got the message I sent?”
I nodded once. “I took him out.”
“Good.”
“Daniel, where have you been?” Sabrina asked.
“Here and there,” he answered, vague.
“You aren’t leaving again, are you?”
“Was thinking I might stick around here. Apparently, I got nephews to spoil and a brother-in-law to harass.”
Sabrina jumped out of her chair and tumbled forward. I vaulted over the island, but Daniel caught her, keeping her upright.
I pulled her away from him and into my arms. “You tryin’ to kill me?”
“You can stay here with us,” Sabrina said, not even fazed by almost ass-planting on the floor. She gasped. “I know! Daniel can live here after we move out!”
Daniel blinked. “You’re moving out?”
“It’s a one-bedroom, and we have twins on the way.” I reminded him. “We aren’t going far.”
“Right,” he said, gazing around. “I could maybe rent this place from you. Once I get a job.”
Sabrina bounced around in my arms, and I made sure to keep a tight hold on her. “I have all your money! I haven’t spent anything out of it at all. I’ll sign it all back over to you,” she informed him proudly.
Daniel’s eyes widened. “You saved it all?”
She seemed offended. “Of course. I wasn’t about to spend your money.” She blanched. “Well, I did use it for one thing.”
“What’s that?” he asked, curious.
“I bought something for the boys.” Her lower lip wobbled. “I was going to tell them it was from you.”
Daniel pulled her out of my arms and hugged her. “Aww, Brin-Brin. I love you.”
She sniffled. “I love you, too, bear.”
It was good to see her like this. The suspected death of her brother had altered something inside Sabrina, and I was hoping now that deep wound might begin to heal. “I’m sure we could find some work at the resort for you, too.” I offered.
“I’d appreciate that.” Daniel agreed.
“Welcome home, Daniel,” Sabrina said happily and nearly danced toward the fridge. “I’m going to make you a huge breakfast.”
He watched her a few moments with love and relief mixed in his eyes. Finally, he pulled them away to where I was standing nearby. He came forward, offered his hand. “I won’t ever be able to repay you for keeping her alive.”
“There’s no debt here,” I said, shaking his hand. “You bringing her back to me was the best thing that ever could have happened.”
“So we’re even?” Daniel asked.
I shook my head. “No. There’s no keeping score with family.”
Daniel smiled. “I was wrong to keep you apart before. I’m sorry.”
I smiled. “Forgiven.”
“You know,” Sabrina asserted from beside the stove. As she spoke, she punctuated each word with the spatula in her grip. “I’m the one who decided to stay.”
She turned back to the eggs, muttering about men taking all the credit when she was the one who was carrying around twins. “Probably going to act just like the both of you, too.”
I threw back my head and laughed, going up behind her to slide my arms around her and my boys. “Now, kitten, you know I’m happy as hell you married me, filled my deck with pumpkins, and turned this house into a home.”
“This house was empty before I got here.”
I made a sound of agreement. “And now it’s overflowing.” I pressed a kiss below her ear, and she sighed, turning in the circle of my arms.
“I suppose you were worth all the trouble,” she mused, then leaned up to whisper against my lips, “I love you.”
Between us, the babies moved, and I smiled down at my beautiful wife. The ability to go subzero was always going to live within.
I accepted it.
Now I knew without a doubt it would never control me because the rest of me was filled with so much warmth.
THE END
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Thank you for reading the BearPaw Resort series!
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Writing a book is hard. Very profound, right? LOL. Though it’s not profound, it is the truth. Especially when you are writing a book about a character people have been asking for since the first book in a series. I’m not really sure why, but Alex was one of those characters that everyone wanted to know about almost from his first appearance on page. I might even say some of you probably like him better than Liam. Me? I couldn’t choose between them. But I do love them both, and I do understand why Alex was so intriguing. He had that mysterious, dangerous past and that sometimes cold interior that, when you got a glimpse, made you shiver with anticipation.
I have no idea if I did Alex justice. I know I tried. I hope you all think that I did and are satisfied with his story. I did enjoy writing this book. I enjoy writing flawed characters that we all like anyway.
I really enjoyed Sabrina as well. I like her tough, take-no-shit attitude and the way she didn’t back down from Alex.
Though I enjoyed writing this book, it was at times stressful. It took a while to nail down the plot and certain aspects of this book. I would say the hardest thing about writing Subzero was the timing. Halfway through writing this, I hit my stride and was ready to pound out the entire book. Then we were evacuated for the large hurricane that hit the East Coast. It was the first time we’d ever been mandatory evacuated for a hurricane, and it was sudden and stressful. We were gone for a little over a week, staying with friends. It pulled me out of my routine and the headspace I was in for writing. When we arrived home, there was a lot of cleanup and things to deal with. We were lucky our home only had minor damage. Unfortunately, so many people here lost everything. It is very heartbreaking to witness such things firsthand.
Even as I type this, my kids are still not back in school. Kids in this county have missed a full month of school so far due to damages.
Suffice it to say, the most challenging thing about this book was timing and getting back into the right frame of mind to write this story. I will say it was a good escape at times, but other times it was a challenge.
Now that the BearPaw Resort series is ending, I look forward to new projects on the horizon, and I hope you all will stick around to see what comes next!
As always, thank you for reading and for all the amazing support you have always shown my work.
See you next book!
XOXO,
Cambria
ABOUT CAMBRIA HEBERT
Cambria Hebert is an award-winning, bestselling novelist of more than forty books. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair
.
Besides writing, Cambria loves a caramel latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching movies. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of birds (including chickens). You can often find her painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails) or walking her Chihuahuas (the real rulers of the house).
Cambria has written within the young adult and new adult genres, penning many paranormal and contemporary titles. She has also written romantic suspense, science fiction, and male/male romance. Her favorite genre to read and write is contemporary romance. A few of her most recognized titles are: The Hashtag Series, GearShark Series, Text, Amnesia, and Butterfly.
Recent awards include: Author of the Year, Best Contemporary Series (The Hashtag Series), Best Contemporary Book of the Year, Best Book Trailer of the Year, Best Contemporary Lead, Best Contemporary Book Cover of the Year. In addition, her most recognized title, #Nerd, was listed at Buzzfeed.com as a top fifty summer romance read.
Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.
You can find out more about Cambria and her titles by visiting her website: http://www.cambriahebert.com.
Please sign up for her newsletter to stay in the know about all her cover reveals, releases, and more: http://eepurl.com/bUL5_5.
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