She could see a muscle begin to pulse in his lean cheek, his jaw clenched so hard it had to be hurting his teeth. He took two deep breaths, then ground out, “It was real.”
“And now that we’re back?” She sniffed, fighting hard not to completely lose it. But it wasn’t easy. Especially when she could see the fear and dread etching themselves onto his features, his body drawn so tight with tension he looked like he might crack.
“What are you asking me, Brit?”
She licked her lips again, and whispered, “If I have to ask, then I guess that’s my answer.”
He worked his jaw, but he didn’t comment. She knew he’d understood exactly what she’d been asking him, and his silence was answer enough. Now that they were back, they were back to the real world. The one where they were just fucking each other because it felt good and for the moment it was convenient. Something they’d needed to get out of their systems for a long time, and once Shepherd was caught and in a psychiatric hospital, where he belonged, things would go back to the way they’d been. Maybe they would manage to act a bit friendlier toward one another, but nothing more. Honestly, she didn’t know if that was something she could even manage, after the two days she’d just spent with him, but she couldn’t worry about that now. That would be a decision she made later, when she was thinking more clearly.
And if she decided that space was what she needed, she wouldn’t let fear hold her back. She might try someplace like San Francisco or Seattle, just for a change of scenery. Someplace where she wouldn’t have to worry about running into him every time she got together with her friends or was out in town. Someplace she could put this all behind her, and try to find a way to start over. Start new.
Without a word, she moved past him and climbed the stairs, heading back up to her room. She wasn’t even aware that he’d followed her until she went to grab her bag off the bed and he touched her arm.
“I’ve got the bag,” he muttered, picking it up.
Brit shrugged to let him know she didn’t care who carried the bag, grabbing her purse before she headed out of the room and back down the stairs again. She grabbed her keys from the small table in the entryway, and was about to turn away, when she caught the blinking light on her phone cradle from the corner of her eye. When she had a message, a tiny red light blinked on the unit, letting her know.
With a sick feeling in her stomach, she pushed the play button, and Clay’s troubled voice began playing through the small speaker.
“Will you get this?” he asked, the quiet words shaking with emotion. “I know you’re not at home. You’re hiding from me, but you have to come back eventually. And when you do, I’ll make you understand. He’s poisoning you—that asshole you’re hiding with—but I can help you see the truth. That you are perfect for me. That we can be perfect together. I’ll find out who he is. And when I do, you’ll be mine.”
He broke down at that point, his sobbing making her insides twist and knot. Then he cursed, clearly trying to catch his breath, and went on. “I can make this happen, Dr. Cramer. Do you know how easy it would be to set a fire? Or to poison his food in a restaurant? You can’t hide forever. All I need is to get him out of the picture. Then you’ll fall right into my hands. I don’t understand why you keep fighting it, when it makes so much sense. When it’s so perfect. So—”
The phone beeped, cutting off the message because he’d run out of time. Pressing a hand to her churning stomach, she turned and looked at Alex, who had been standing beside her while the message played. “This came through on my actual home number,” she told him. “He must have found it when he searched my office.”
He jerked his chin toward the door, his expression grim. “Come on. I want you out of here.”
With her emotions in chaos, Brit set the alarm and locked the front door behind them. Then she followed Alex over to her driveway, where the Rover was parked, and climbed inside. It seemed like a lifetime ago since they had pulled into the driveway so that she could run inside and grab some clean clothes. Tugging on her seat belt, she tried to blank her mind and find a measure of calm, silently wondering if Alex was doing the same. Or maybe he was simply being quiet because he was pissed that she’d put him on the spot with her questions. Which was hardly fair. After what he’d done, she was the one with the right to be pissed. Not him.
They’d been driving in silence for a few minutes when he glanced in his rearview mirror and growled, “Motherfucker!”
“What’s wrong?” She twisted in her seat, but couldn’t see anything to warrant his reaction. Just a few cars behind them.
He hit the gas, barreling them down the wide two-lane road. Luckily, the traffic was light. “Get down as far as you can,” he snapped, still accelerating, his narrow gaze switching between the road and his rearview mirror. “We have company.”
His words gave her chills. “Is it Clay?”
He turned his head and pinned her with a hard look. “Get your fucking head down, Brit! Now!”
“Is it Clay?” she asked again, sinking lower in her seat. She sent up a fervent prayer that he would say no, but wasn’t so lucky.
Grinding his jaw, he said, “Yeah. It’s the son of a bitch.” His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror again, and she knew the other car must be close when he growled, “I recognize him from the photographs that were in his file.”
“Ohmygod,” she whispered, unable to believe this was happening.
“Here we go,” he said, his voice gruff, and she braced herself for whatever was coming. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, but knew that was a cowardly move. Instead, she forced herself to look through Alex’s side window, her eyes shooting wide when she saw a haggard, disheveled-looking Clay behind the wheel of an old, beat-up silver Suburban. For a split second, time seemed to stand still, and then the silver SUV slammed into Alex’s side of the Range Rover in a horrific, deafening crunch of metal against metal. Terrified they were going to crash, Brit braced herself against the dashboard as Alex rammed back against the Suburban. “What are you doing?” she screamed. “Stop the car!”
“If I do, this bastard will either ram us or get away.” She could hear the deadly rage in his voice, and knew it had more to do with the fact that Clay was trying to harm her than it did with his own life being in danger. “Just hold on, Brit. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Don’t let anything happen to you, either!” she shouted, raising her voice to be heard over the screeching of metal as the two vehicles scraped against each other again. The Range Rover was the more powerful car, and Alex was clearly well trained in dealing with this kind of situation, having already managed to push Clay’s vehicle across the center divide. Brit was just thankful there wasn’t any oncoming traffic on the road. “What’s your plan?” she asked, wondering how much longer this was going to last.
“Either force him into hitting something, or if I can get him in the right position, slam into his rear bumper, spinning him out.”
Oh, God, both of those options sounded dangerous. She was sending up a breathless stream of prayers that Alex didn’t get hurt, when their luck ran out and a yellow truck came speeding around the upcoming bend, heading straight at them, since both vehicles were now in the wrong lane. Alex cursed as he was forced to swerve, just as the truck did the same, and he ended up having to take the Range Rover up onto the sidewalk, which was thankfully empty. But he had to slam his brakes on before driving straight into one of the town’s covered bus stops, while Clay accelerated down the road, the Suburban’s tires screeching as he swerved to miss another car, before disappearing out of view around the bend.
“Fuck!” Alex snarled, whipping his head in her direction. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
She blinked back at him, filled with a cold, burning rage. In that moment, she knew she would have killed Clay herself if she’d been able to get her hands on him. He’d tried to hurt not only
her, but Alex as well, and that was something she simply couldn’t forgive.
“Brit, answer me. Are you all right?”
“Y-yes,” she stammered, her throat shaking. “Are you?”
“I’m fine,” he grunted, checking the road before steering the Rover across the lanes and pulling onto the verge. He flicked on his hazards, then pulled his phone from his pocket. “I need to call Ben.”
He punched in the number, and it was so quiet in the cab that she could hear Ben’s voice when he answered the call. “Hey. You back from Miami yet?”
“Yeah, and we’ve had some trouble,” Alex said, his deep voice hard with anger. “We stopped by Brit’s house to pick up some things and once we were back on the road, Shepherd tagged us before I could spot him. We made contact a few times, and I tried to drive him off the road, but another car got in the way and he took off.”
“Shit! Are you both okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine.” His fingers tightened on the phone until his knuckles turned white, and she could all but feel the frustration rolling off him. “But you need to find this fucker. Now.”
“We’re on it, Alex. We’re doing everything we can. You know that.”
Blowing out a tired sigh, he dropped his head back and pulled his free hand down his face. “I know you are, Ben. Let everyone know he was driving an old, silver Suburban, but I couldn’t see the license plates. They were smeared with mud.”
“Mud is good,” Ben muttered. “With all this rain we’ve been having, it could well be from one of the campsites. I’ll check to see if any vehicles matching that description have been seen in the Sunset Shores area, as well as the others.”
“What about the meeting I asked you to set up with the detectives in Westville?”
“I should be hearing back from them first thing in the morning.”
“Okay, let me know what you hear. I need to go now and get Brit out of here.”
Ben told him to be careful, and Alex ended the call.
Clearing her throat, Brit forced herself to say what she knew needed to be said. “I think I’d like for you to take me to the sheriff’s station now.”
He turned his head, his dark brows pulled into a scowl. “What? Why?”
She kept her gaze locked on his hostile one, and tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Because I can wait there until Ben can get one of his private security friends over.”
His nostrils flared as he sucked in a sharp breath. “No. In fact, fuck no.”
“I’m serious, Alex. I’m done,” she snapped, her fear manifesting itself in a hot surge of emotion that felt remarkably similar to rage. “This isn’t a risk you need to be taking. I won’t let you. End of story!”
13
HE DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING AS HE STUDIED HER WITH THAT PIERCING gaze, and Brit could actually see the moment when he figured out what had her so upset. “I don’t need you worrying about me,” he told her, his calm tone setting her teeth on edge. “That’s the last thing you need to waste your time worrying about, Doc.”
“Don’t you get it?” she shouted. “You could have been killed! I can’t stand by and watch that happen. I won’t.”
Shaking his head, he said, “He’s not gonna get either one of us.”
“I’m serious, Alex. I should go. Stay with friends.”
He pinned her with a knowing look. “And put Ben and Reese in danger? Or Lily and Ryder? Is that what you want?”
“No! I can’t go to either of them. Obviously,” she said as she pressed her fingertips to her pounding temples, knowing damn well she was rambling. “I need to go . . . somewhere else. I don’t know.”
“Well, I do know,” he grunted, flicking off the hazard lights and checking his mirrors, before turning his head and locking his hooded gaze hard on hers. “I know you’re staying with me, and if you do something stupid and try to leave, I’ll just track your little ass down. So don’t waste our time. The safest thing you can do for both of us is to stay put and just do as you’re told.”
“God, you’re infuriating.”
He made a rude sound in the back of his throat. “Yeah. Just another alpha asshole, huh?”
“You’ve got the asshole part right,” she muttered, then felt like a jerk. Turning toward him, she reached out and grasped his hand, holding it in both of hers as she said, “Alex, please don’t joke about this. You’re putting yourself in danger for no reason.”
“You’re one hell of a reason, Doc. And as for the danger, I don’t care.”
“Of course you don’t,” she choked out, letting go of his hand. She was so frustrated she wanted to scream. “You don’t care about a lot of things.”
He cursed under his breath as he flicked the hazard lights back on, then twisted in his seat and leaned forward, getting right in her face, his eyes burning with a hot, angry glow. “You’re right,” he snapped, his voice little more than a snarl. “I don’t care that you’re probably smarter than me. Or that you’re way classier. I don’t care that you make more money than I do, either. What I do care about is that you’re safe, and happy, and very sexually satisfied. And I can and will make those things happen. So come home with me, Brit.” He paused, the grim look in his eyes softening as he said, “Please. You’re safe there, and I need you close, where I can keep an eye on you.”
It was so hard to say no when every part of her heart wanted to say yes. But she was still so scared for him. Searching his beautiful eyes for the reassurance she needed, she said, “What if he finds out where you live? You just pissed McNamara off royally. Who knows what he might let slip to the wrong person?”
“He wouldn’t risk your safety that way. He’s an asshole, not a psychotic bastard. And not even McNamara would be able to learn my home address. I keep myself covered, Doc. It’s all good.”
“Tell that to your poor car,” she grumbled, knowing the damage on his side of the Range Rover had to be extensive. The thought made her cringe, and she decided that one way or another, she would trick him into letting her pay for the repairs.
Staring back at him in the thickening twilight, cool air still blowing softly over her body from the vents, Brit thought that it was simply mad, how much things had changed in just a matter of days. How feelings she’d tried to keep from growing for so long now refused to be ignored or denied.
Their time in Miami had been a beautiful dreamland, but they were back to reality now. And at this moment, that meant a danger that she couldn’t just ignore, no matter how badly she wanted to. To just pretend it didn’t exist. All she had to do was get out and look at the side of his car, and she could see just how real it was.
As if he could read her troubled thoughts, he said, “Brit, listen to me. Cars can get fixed. It’s no big deal.” Before she could argue, he pulled her close, cupping her face in his hands, and went on. “Don’t worry about me, babe. I mean it. I’m hard to kill.”
“Before, I thought it was just me. That I was the only one in danger,” she whispered through trembling lips, her throat burning with emotion. “But this changes it, Alex. It changes everything. I just want you to be safe.”
“And I just want to keep you safe. Don’t you see that? If you try to go, I’m just gonna follow you and protect you from the outside, where it’s even more dangerous.”
A wry smile twisted her lips. “We’re a pair, aren’t we?”
“Stubborn to the core,” he drawled, stroking his thumb across her lower lip before muttering something under his breath about “time and place” and letting go of her. Putting the Rover into drive, he flicked off the hazard lights again as he pulled back onto the road, and she didn’t say anything more, knowing his attention was focused on making sure they weren’t being followed.
They grabbed fast food, eating it at the dining room table when they got in, while a ball game played in the background on the TV. She was no longer angry at h
im, because . . . well, it just wasn’t important, after what had happened. There was so much that didn’t seem important now. His silence about her office. His silence about so many things. How could she hold a grudge about any of it when he was risking his life for her? What could be more telling than that?
“About McNamara,” he murmured, shoving their empty wrappers into the trash can in the kitchen.
She’d followed behind him with their empty soda glasses, setting them in the sink as she asked, “What about him?”
“I don’t like you working for that prick. You should find another job.”
Ohmygod. Was he serious? Had he lost his mind? Or . . . or was this just his way of taking his mind off what had happened? “He’s never acted like this before,” she said, hoping he would just let it go. “It’s not his usual behavior.”
He leaned back against the counter and crossed his powerful arms over his chest as she turned to face him. “Maybe he’s never seen you give another man the time of day. And now that he has, he doesn’t like it.”
She blinked at him in surprise. “I’ve dated. You know that.”
Shrugging that off, he said, “Now and again you have. But you’ve never gone out with any particular guy often enough to catch McNamara’s notice. They bore you too quickly.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “And what exactly do you know about the men that I’ve dated?”
He looked as if he was trying hard not to laugh at her, which made her suddenly want to kick him. “We’ve known each other for a few years now, Doc, and I have ears. I might not talk a lot around the group, but I know how to listen.”
“Are you saying that you’ve eavesdropped on me talking to Reese and Lily?”
Closing the distance between them, he put his face right over hers. “I’m saying that I know more about you than you seem to think.”
“Including what’s right for me?”
“I want to be right for you,” he said in a quiet rasp, shocking the hell out of her. “I’m not trying to fuck you over, Brit. I swear that’s not why I didn’t tell you about your office, or why I was a dick to McNamara. I just . . . I’m just trying to protect you.”
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