“Where were you?” he demanded roughly, his tone creating shocked expressions on Ana’s face and that of her companion, who offered a quiet excuse and slipped away.
Hot color invaded Ana’s cheeks as she looked at him.
“Chance, what’s wrong with you? You’re being rude. I was just talking with an old friend, if you must know.”
“I wondered where you were, and I searched everywhere and couldn’t find you,” he explained, feeling more like an idiot by the minute, but he couldn’t seem to temper his reaction. “I thought someone had come after you again.”
Ana blinked, as if trying to process what he was saying. “I’m sorry you worried. I went for a walk. I needed to think,” she said.
“A walk? By yourself? That isn’t safe,” he said, knowing that on some level he was being irrational.
“I was fine. But guess what, Chance? Not everything in life is safe. In fact, a lot of the best things aren’t. You of all people should understand that. Or maybe you are only willing to risk when there really is no risk at all,” she said, her voice loud now, too. She raised her chin, facing off with him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You will take on criminals, jump from cliffs, throw yourself out of planes or all of these other things, but you never really risk yourself, do you?”
It was his turn to be confused.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ana. Listen, whatever. I’m glad you’re safe. I guess I was wrong.”
“I guess I was, too,” he heard her say under her breath as he turned away. Pausing, he stopped, turned back.
“What does that mean?”
She looked at him with her heart in her eyes, tears shimmering. Chance told himself it was anger. She was just angry at him for calling her out.
“It means that you can share your body—risk your body, your safety—but not your heart. That is locked up safe somewhere, where no one can really touch it. I thought—” She stopped, closed her eyes, shook her head as if shaking something free. “Never mind. It does not matter. Your job is done here, Chance. Go home.”
With that, she stormed away, leaving him speechless.
“You said we were nothing serious. You said it was only a fling,” he called after her, surprised to hear the words come from his own lips.
But watching her turn her back on him had ripped him open. He should leave. He should go home. As he intended to do; as she told him to do. But he couldn’t seem to move from the spot.
All he could think of was Ana and the gut-wrenching fear he’d felt watching her held at gunpoint in the cave. How afraid he had been when she went to save her sister. And how his blood had switched to ice when he hadn’t been able to find her tonight.
Fear. Chance didn’t like being afraid of anything, and with Ana, he had experienced fear more deeply than he had ever known.
She must have heard him, but kept walking, disappearing into the house.
People around him milled in the opposite direction, seeming oblivious to the drama, on their way to the center of the village to watch fireworks and count down the New Year.
Chance went to join them. Not to celebrate, just to leave.
She doesn’t want me, he thought, the image of her walking away carved in his mind.
He didn’t need this. Something, the incident with Logan, all of his brothers finding their wives and the holiday, Ana...it had all skewed his thinking. Nothing felt the same.
Nothing felt right. He had to leave, to get his balance back.
Walking down through town, he headed to the lot where they had parked their cars to get them out of the driveway for the party, and felt for his keys.
Damn, he’d left them at the house.
He would wait a bit, and when Ana joined her friends and family, he could go back, get his stuff and get the hell out. He’d fly back, find some friends. Maybe spend a few weeks going sport fishing or scuba diving. Something.
“She’s right, you know,” someone said behind him.
Marco.
Chance turned, just agitated enough to want to fight with someone, and snarled at the big man.
“Mind your own business, Marco. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I think I know a little bit about it,” he said with an easy laugh as he joined Chance walking, matching his pace easily. “I realized, after the fact, that I was scared to death when Lucia told me she could be pregnant. I don’t know that I had ever been that frightened in my life, until she was kidnapped. Then...” He took a breath, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Then I knew real fear. It’s not easy for men like us to take, the fear. But I think the love can outweigh it.”
“I’m not afraid,” Chance said between his teeth. “This just...ran its course. I should have known better, anyway. I was distracted, and maybe if I hadn’t been, none of this would have happened. We wouldn’t have gone to the cave, she wouldn’t have been shot. And if I had been on my game, she never would have gotten out of my sight that night and gone after Lucia,” he said, cursing under his breath. “I’ve botched this entire job.”
“Falling in love will do that,” Marco said easily, kindly. “But the truth is that you protected Ana fiercely, and like her sister, these women are not going to be held back. They make their own decisions, and you cannot protect them from that. Maybe that is what scares you most of all,” he offered.
“I’m not in— That’s not what—” Chance sputtered, losing track of his thoughts, everything jumbled.
Marco turned, standing in front of him, stopping his progress down the street.
“Really? Then why the hell are you running away if you are not afraid? Look at you, heading out of town like a scared dog with its tail down,” he scoffed, challenging.
The change in tone shocked Chance and really pissed him off. If this guy was looking for a fight, he’d come to the right place. Except that...as much as Chance’s body stiffened, his muscles tightening, readying for a fight, his mind, everything inside of him seemed to collapse inward.
He cursed on the expelled breath that seemed to flatten him as he realized Marco was 100 percent right.
Marco put a hand on his shoulder again, as if knowing he’d won the round without throwing a single swing.
“You only have to ask yourself, Chance, if the fear is worth it. And if you think leaving and never seeing her again will truly make you happy. If so, travel well, my friend,” Marco said with a slap to his back. “I must go find Lucia. We are bringing in this New Year, and all of the ones ahead, together.”
Chance stood, again rooted to the spot, hearing the cheering of the crowd, the blasts of fireworks in the distance.
He imagined never seeing Ana again. Never touching her, never arguing with her. He was walking away from the biggest adventure, the biggest risk, he’d ever faced. His father had once told him that if there was nothing to fear, then there was no real gain, either.
Real risk meant you might lose.
But it also meant you could win, big-time.
Chance had been taking acceptable risks—easy, predictable leaps that he controlled, that he could live with.
Until now. Losing Ana...the thought sucker punched him in the gut. Like Jill had almost lost Logan; like Garrett had lost his first wife, Lainey.
In the larger sense, he couldn’t control it. Life was dangerous. But he could control losing her now by not walking away.
Maybe it was too late. She didn’t want him; and he didn’t blame her.
Even so, he turned and started heading back to the house. Glancing at his watch, and seeing it was only minutes to midnight, he broke into a run.
14
ANA WATCHED THE FIREWORKS from her bedroom balcony, but she didn’t really see them. All she kept seeing was Chance walking away, leaving.
He’d called out to her, and she had kept walking.
What had she been thinking? She’d told him to go. So he went.
Why was she surprised? Because som
ewhere in her heart, hope had blossomed. Hope for the more that they had mentioned that day at the baths.
Tears fell even though she tried to hold them back, her hands curling around the wrought-iron rail of the balcony until they hurt. How could she feel this strongly about a man she had met only days ago and whom she had not even wanted in her life?
How had very little to do with love, her mother used to say when she was a young woman, and she had asked all the usual questions. How long will I wait? How will I know? How come he doesn’t ask me out?
How come I had to fall in love with a man who walked away from me so easily? Ana thought, finally letting the pain have its way.
She thought when she challenged him, if she called him out, he would fight. He would deny what she said. He would tell her she was wrong and that he did want to take a risk with her.
Oh, well.
Ana returned to her room, intent on crawling into her bed and not coming out until the New Year. And until she could face her family without feeling like such a fool. Maybe, though, she would go downstairs and get some wine first...while the house was empty.
As she reached for the door, there was a noise outside and a hard knock.
“Ana? Ana? Open the door,” Chance said.
She paused, silent. Shocked. Unsure.
“Ana, please. I saw you on the balcony. Please. Let me in,” Chance said, something in his voice that made her reach for the door, open it.
“Ana.”
Her name came from him on a sigh of relief—had he been afraid she wouldn’t open the door?
“Chance, what are you doing?” she asked, passing her hand under her eyes discreetly, hoping her tears didn’t show, but then she remembered he’d said he’d seen her from the yard.
“I...” He stopped, looking as if he was searching for words. He had clearly seen her crying and was trying to...what? Assuage his guilt so that he could leave with a clear conscience?
“There’s no need for apologies, Chance. Goodbye,” she said wearily, deciding to make it easier on both of them. Then it hit her that he could only have seen her crying if he had come back.
“I love you,” he said, so quickly, so nervously, that she wasn’t sure she had heard it correctly. Then he repeated, “I love you. At least, if this isn’t love, since it’s only been a few days, I’m pretty sure I’m on my way there, and fast,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Maybe we could find out, though?”
Ana wasn’t sure she’d heard him right and stood there in silence, uncertain what to say. Her heart was telling her to throw herself at him, to tell him she loved him, too, but her head was too busy arguing.
Chance stepped forward.
“Can you forgive me for being a jerk? I was...afraid. I’ve seen people fall in love and lose and be wrecked by it. I guess I thought it was a risk I didn’t want to take, but then I met you. Now I know it’s worth it.”
Ana heard an indistinguishable sound come from her lips, and too much emotion welled up, making words inadequate. Her heart, however, told her exactly what to do.
She nearly knocked Chance over as she threw herself into his arms and met his mouth for a desperate, hot, then consuming, completing kiss.
She held him so tightly, making sure he was actually there, saying the things that she couldn’t even imagine. Suddenly, the sound of the fireworks outside filled the air, and she knew it was midnight.
The New Year, a new love.
“Ana?” Chance whispered against her lips. “I guess this means you forgive me?”
“Only if you forgive me back,” she managed, reaching past his shoulder to close the door behind him.
Chance pulled back. “Forgive you for what?”
“For walking away first. You called out to me, and I didn’t answer. I told you to go,” she said, holding his face in her hands, wondering how she could have ever been so stupid.
“I’d told you I was leaving earlier. I knew it then, that it was wrong, but when you took off after Lucia and when I found the empty truck, I... It was the only time in my life that I had ever been that afraid. I thought it was a bad thing, something I needed to avoid, to get away from. But I don’t want to get away from loving you, Ana. Though I do wish you’d take fewer risks,” he said, and she laughed.
“This! Coming from you!” she exclaimed, sheer joy suffusing her as she teased him. “Maybe we should take our risks together, Chance. Keep each other as safe as we can. I’m willing to put my heart in your hands. I love you, too,” she said, the words she hadn’t said to any other man falling very easily, surely, from her lips.
He led her toward the bed, his mouth coming down on hers, exploring. She opened to him completely, not wanting to hold anything back, and hoping he wouldn’t, either.
The way he touched her, hands everywhere, unzipping her dress, sliding over her skin, as she undressed him as well, told her that they were both finished with holding back. From now on, they would take every leap together.
“Hey, what do you know...it worked,” he said, his eyes drifting down over her.
“What?” she asked breathlessly as his lips brushed her earlobe, nipping, then her throat, and lower.
He stopped, sliding a finger under the clasp of the lacy red bra she wore—matching panties, as well—and it hit her.
“The red... I guess we both got our New Year’s wish,” he said, letting the material slide from her body as he came up to kiss her fully. “Happy New Year, sweetheart,” he said.
“Happy New Year, Chance. Something tells me it’s going to be the best one ever,” she whispered before he kissed her again and made the rest of her wishes come true.
Epilogue
Six months later...
THE BERRINGER BROTHERS SAT around the conference room table, watching the latest episode of Ana’s Kitchen. Chance had told them they all had to see the premiere, and no one was arguing.
“She looks happy,” Jonas remarked, and Chance nodded.
“Getting out of the reality TV show was a good decision. This makes her happy, and the show has taken off. She has complete control, though, and does it her way.”
“Knowing Ana, I can’t imagine anything else,” Garrett commented.
“You’ve got that right.”
“I can’t believe you got married in Mexico,” Jonas said, shaking his head. “But it sure agrees with you. You look happy, bro.”
Chance grinned. They’d seen no reason not to make it a double wedding with Lucia and Marco.
“You know me. I like to jump right in,” Chance said, knowing that the leap he’d taken with Ana was one of the best risks he’d ever taken in his life. “Listen to this part,” he said, making his brothers stop talking and pay attention.
“Today’s show focuses on food for children,” she said, “and how to include your children in your cooking. I became a cook because my mother and my aunt taught me how to work in the kitchen since I was very small. It’s a good way to bond with your children and to teach them to cook for themselves, as well as a way for them to exercise their creativity. I look forward to cooking with my own children very soon,” Ana said, making eye contact with the camera in a way that seemed to look right out at them.
All three of his brothers turned to Chance, who sat grinning, waiting to see how long it would take them to get it.
“Uh...does she mean what I thinks she means?” Jonas asked.
“Hell, Chance, I haven’t even made it down the aisle yet, and you’re going to be a dad?” Garrett said, his own wedding still a month away.
Chance shrugged, bringing out a nice bottle of tequila that he’d gotten south of the border specifically for this occasion.
“What can I say? Ana and I both like an adventure,” he commented. “Lucia will be due around the same time, so it’s nice the cousins will be close in age.”
“That’s just amazing, man,” Ely said, wrapping his youngest brother in a bear hug.
“Thanks. I wouldn’t have seen it coming, either, but Ana�
�s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Too bad Luke couldn’t be here. I’ll have to call him to let him know,” he said as his brothers congratulated him with a toast.
“Where is he, anyway?” Ely asked, having been away in Montana for several months. “Everything going okay with him?”
“He’s gotten up to speed quickly, and we’re picking up more white-collar gigs,” Garrett said. “He was acting strange the other day. Asked for some time off, said he needed to go help a friend. It was all he’d say. It seemed like something had shaken him, but he wouldn’t say what. Didn’t want to talk about it, I guess. I told him to go, take whatever time he needed.”
“I wonder what’s up,” Jonas said and then shrugged. “Luke always was a little different. In a good way, but sometimes he’s hard to figure. And he’s been through a lot. Better now, but maybe you never get over that kind of thing.”
Chance nodded. Luke had everything at one time—wealth, fame, his own investment firm—until one of his employees had lost their job and committed suicide. He’d sold it all then—his shares in his company, his houses, his cars, every last bit of it—and had disappeared for several years. But he’d gotten past that difficult phase. Healed, or seemed to, anyway.
“Well,” Chance said, “as long as he knows he’s one of us now, and we watch each other’s back. Whatever he needs, we’ll be there.”
The brothers raised their glasses to that, to all of their futures and all of the adventures that were surely coming their way.
* * *
LUKE BERRINGER HAD BEEN sitting outside the school for hours. Days, actually. It didn’t make sense, finding her here, but this was where the online trace had brought him. Only Nicky Brooks would run a scam from inside an elementary school. She’d probably hacked into their computer system. Brilliant, really—the FBI didn’t tend to look for thieves who used fourth graders’ computers.
She had to show up sooner or later. And when she did, he’d have her.
On a silver platter, ideally.
Nicole—Nicky—Brooks was back. He’d been waiting for years for her to pop up on the radar somewhere, and finally, there she was. A glimpse of her on the airport facial-recognition software that Luke’s former company had created had pointed him in the right direction.
His Kind of Trouble Page 17