by Siera London
He’d promised her he would stick with her, but he’d left her unprotected.
“I know you are…” Symphony said. Her eyes closed. Nathan could hear a lot of voices and activity surrounding him. Fire and Rescue were on the scene.
“We’re going to be together, baby… you and me.”
Emotion clogged his throat.
“I love you,” she said.
Symphony’s head lulled, her body going limp. Nathan panicked.
“Blue! Wake up, baby. Come on, open your eyes… please… please, baby.”
Jostling her garnered no response. Scrambling, Nathan moved to place the SCBA mask over her face. Focused on helping Symphony, he didn’t notice a figure approach from the middle of the plumes of smoke.
“Give my sister to me.”
Nathan looked up to see Penelope standing over them. “I don’t think so.”
Quick as a flash, Nathan discharged his Taser. The probes hit her in the chest. Her eyes widened, before she bellowed in pain.
Penelope stiffened and fell to the ground, convulsing.
“Cutler, Trace,” he yelled, “Blue needs help.”
God, what was taking them so long?
“Nate, man!” Nathan was too scared to look away, afraid Symphony would leave him.
All of a sudden, Cutler appeared at her side. “Nathan,” he heard his friend say, “you have to let her go.”
“Never.” He rocked her in his arms, “never letting her go.”
Chapter Twelve
“Blue! Open the door.” Nathan made no concessions for the time of morning. It was another lazy Saturday in the Keys. The campground was still as a chessboard and he seemed to be the only soul with the soft warmth of the sun at his back. Half the town had turned against him, except for Cutler and Trace, so it didn’t bother Nathan one bit to piss off the other half. Nathan had arrived at the hospital to find Symphony had been released. Max was at his side—pacing. He’d brought him along for support, but the decision had only increased his anxiety as Max couldn’t be still now that they had arrived.
Nathan expected the side door to open; instead, Symphony jumped down from the passenger door of the cab.
She regarded him with wary eyes, like an abused mare with an unpredictable stallion. He’d seen her open and responsive to him, now everything from her eyes, her tight lips, her posture was guarded. Her shoulders were lifted close to her ears with her right hand crossed her body like a shield, gripping her left elbow.
Symphony looked him in the eye, but he couldn’t read the direction of her thoughts.
“I didn’t think you would open the door.”
“Yeah, well, you learn something new about yourself every day. What do you want, investigator?”
“Blue, I—”
“My name is Symphony Porter.”
He hoped for a passionate response; what he got was matter of fact, like the water was wet.
“I’m so damn sorry for not believing you.”
His palms were sweating buckets.
“Yeah, me too, but I’m sorry is a poor substitute for distrust.”
“Give me another chance, Symphony… please.”
She gave him a cruel smirk. “I gave you the only chance I had. I have nothing left.”
“I talked with Mr. Wilfred, he told me your father’s estate had taken care of…”
She interrupted, both palms up.
“Thank you for contacting the lawyer. The RV is mine now, but I’m not staying, so there’s nothing left to say between us.”
He grabbed her up in his arms.
“I can’t stand by and watch you walk away.” Nathan, with his heart heaving in his chest, waited for an outward sign that Symphony agreed. Their eyes locked. Her unreadable gaze remained steady and focused on his face. The dark orbs were sharp and unrepentant as she looked up.
“Blue?” he whispered. She was so close. He felt the warmth of her skin fanning over his, yet an invisible wall of frigid energy surrounded them. “We can work this out.” Nathan’s whole body was charged with a high voltage, ready to spark. She had to give him another chance, right?
“Say something… anything.”
Silence as dangerous as a wildfire and just as dangerous to navigate.
“Lots of couples have setbacks.” Nathan presented a rational argument. “Our first time together, you asked me to stay. Now, it’s me begging you to stay.”
“Let’s not do this to each other. I thought I was a misfit but I realize now there’s nothing empty or missing inside of me. You did your job. The Hargroves are behind bars thanks to you, but it’s time for me to move on.”
“Tell me you don’t love me,” he blurted out. “I’ll walk away, Symphony.”
He watched as a series of expressions crossed her face. She narrowed the distance between them and his pulse sped up.
“You speak to me about love?” She jabbed a delicate finger at his chest. “What about trust? What about promises made and broken?”
The words were a physical blow. Nathan’s insides quivered at the hurt in her eyes, in her voice. The condemnation smashed into his vital organs, shredding him inside.
“Don’t make me watch you walk away, Blue.”
Symphony tucked her bottom lip behind her teeth for a brief moment. At the slow release of her full lip, the mouth Nathan had savored with his own, called to him. He swallowed in succession, pushing down the urge to take what was his.
“You should close your eyes, investigator, cause I’m out of here.”
Every fiber in his body snapped. She stepped out of his arms.
Nathan stumbled backwards at the lethal calm in her statement. He wasn’t her Nathan anymore, just an investigator. She’d reduced him to a title. In his heart, he knew he’d always belong to her.
“Blue, you owe me—”
Symphony’s fingers digging into his jaw brought him to an abrupt halt. “I. Owe. You. Nothing,” she hissed.
Dropping her hand, she took one step back. Turning, she walked away from him.
“If I could obliterate one day from my life, Thursday would’ve never happened. You’d still be naked beneath me, looking at me with absolute trust in your eyes.”
“Take care.”
“Symphony, stop.”
His command fell on deaf ears. She climbed into the RV’s cab and closed the door behind her. Max whimpered as he rubbed Nathan’s leg with his head. Symphony had ignored Nathan and his canine accomplice.
When the engine came to life, Nathan banged his fist on the glass window, “Don’t leave.” His heart hammered in his chest, take me with you.
The vehicle rolled forward, and then came to a stop. She’d changed her mind, thank God. He was about to step up on the side rail, when Symphony pulled the RV onto the road, leaving the campground.
The breath left Nathan’s body. No.
Icy walls that surrounded his lungs shattered. The sound, the deafening crunch of freight cars colliding with steel beams. Every negative emotion flooded his system—grief, loss, fear, disbelief, disillusionment, anger, and devastation. Nathan’s knees buckled under the weight of regret. Symphony’s RV disappeared from view. Only a cloud of dust remained. He stood there. When the dust cleared and nothing remained, Nathan’s mind, his heart, his very soul—collapsed.
Symphony was gone.
His phone signaled an incoming text message. The message read, Need any help? Cutler. Nathan needed a miracle.
***
Symphony’s heart was fractured, the beating half left back at the campground. Breathing in hurt, but she was incapable of stopping. She was an hour north of Key West when the flashing blue lights appeared in her rearview mirror. Thank goodness, the tears had stopped, or she would be arrested for driving impaired.
Rolling down her window, she glanced at her appearance in the rearview mirror. Luckily, puffy, red eyes weren’t illegal.
A tanned officer with blond hair approached.
“Hello, officer.” Her smile felt strained at best
.
The police officer’s eyes were hidden behind mirrored Ray-Bans. His tan and hunter green uniform starched to perfection.
“You’re under arrest,” he blurted out.
Symphony slammed her hands on the steering wheel. “What is it with the state of Florida and arrests? I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s not the way I understand it, ma’am. Key West reported a theft. A recreational vehicle, license tag, HPY CMPR, contains items of a personal nature that belong to one Nathan Zachary.”
“He’s lying,” the disbelief apparent in her tone. How much more did Nathan want her to suffer? Walking away from him had taken every ounce of her courage, her strength.
“We’ll get it all straightened out when Nathan arrives.”
“No… wait. I can’t be here when he arrives.” Symphony started to tug at her seat belt.
“I think it’s too late for that. I hear sirens approaching.” She stuck her head out the window. Sure enough, a red and white Fire and Rescue vehicle approached at high speed.
“You have to let me go.”
Oh great pumpkin, she wouldn’t survive another confrontation with Nathan. With her inheritance, she could start over someplace new, but first she had to get out of the Keys.
“Just sit tight, Ms. Porter.”
Symphony opened the door to get out of the cab. “If he thinks I have something that belongs to him, fine. You can search the RV, but I’m out of here.”
“Hold on there, ma’am. You can’t leave a potential crime scene.”
Symphony placed her hands on her hips. “You said there’s property that belongs to Nathan in my RV. You can keep it. I’ll walk out of the Keys if I have to.”
“Stop. You can’t leave.”
“Watch me,” she said, turning on her heel. She started walking north on U.S. Highway 1.
Symphony heard booted footfalls behind her. She increased her pace, but Deputy Fife caught her in two strides.
“Sorry, Symphony.” For the second time in forty-eight hours, she felt cold steel encircling her wrists.
“Wait, how do you know my name? Who are you?”
“Cutler said to keep you here by any means necessary.”
The officer removed his shades and recognition was instant. The cop who’d brought her the food tray that night in jail. The Officer Friendly that sat outside her cell until she’d fallen asleep.
She zeroed in on the officer’s nametag. It read STEVENS, in black bold print. “He sent you that night, didn’t he?”
He nodded his head.
“You’re Cutler’s brother.”
“I’m Lance,” he said, shaking her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Symphony.”
A cloud of dust kicked up behind the RV and Symphony knew without looking it was Nathan.
When he came into view, his eyes fired on all cylinders. He saw determination, frustration, regret, and the most unexpected… love craved in the handsome plains of his face. No way did she want to hear what he had to say.
“Take me to jail, Lance. Right now.” She stomped her foot.
“What?” Lance recoiled.
“You heard me. Impound the RV and put me in a cell. I refuse to talk with anyone until I see a lawyer.”
“Hey, Blue,” came Nathan’s rhythm and blues baritone.
His hair was mussed. The lines around his eyes were more pronounced and his clenched fists belied the calm in his voice. In the hour since she’d left him, his shirt looked like he’d stopped, dropped, and rolled in it. Oh three blind mice, her heart started galloping toward him and those stupidus cupidus butterflies were back in her stomach, again.
Symphony didn’t respond. During her trip to the hospital, she figured out Nathan had been the one to rescue her. Once she was settled in her room, she’d known it was Nathan holding her hand while she slept. Her heart had swelled beyond its capacity. She thought it would rupture if she loved him any more than she already did. When he’d left, no doubt to make sure the Hargroves and her inheritance were secure, she’d been relieved. She was terrified the next time he left, he’d destroy her, so she made the choice to leave him.
“What’s going on, Lance?”
“Ms. Porter has requested to be transferred to the local detention center until such time that a lawyer is available.”
When Nathan regarded her with a wide-eyed expression, she smiled. She took jail over being alone with him.
“Thanks, Lance. Since the alleged crime happened in my jurisdiction, I’ll take the detainee into custody.”
“No!” She started to back away. “I want to go with Lance.”
She saw Nathan’s jaw tighten. “Too bad. You’re stuck with me.”
“Suck it, cowboy.” She turned around and took off in a dead run.
“Damn it, Blue.”
Strong arms snagged her around the waist. Her feet left the ground. Her world turned upside down. Nathan had tossed her up in a fireman’s carry.
“Put me down.”
A smack landed on her backside. “What the heck are you thinking, running down the highway? You could’ve fallen and hurt yourself.”
“Don’t you dare spank me, Nathan Zachary.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes for you to hear me out.”
“Like you listened to me?”
“I was a fool. You’ve proven you are the brainiac in our relationship. I love you, Blue. And I want another chance.”
She stilled. Nathan loved her.
“Yeah… well,” she stuttered over her words. “Too bad for you.”
He put her on her feet, and then captured her face in his hands.
She closed her eyes, relishing the contact.
“No, darling,” he said, his voice deadly serious.
Slowly, she opened her lids. Those gray eyes of his worked their magic; she felt helpless against their lure.
“It’s too bad for the both of us, if you walk away. I know you love me, but do you love me enough to forgive me, Blue?”
Her breath caught. Nathan offered her the love she’d always wanted. Could she overlook his mistakes and trust him with her heart?
***
Symphony raked the steel cuffs binding her wrists along the bars. “You had me thrown in jail, again!” And this time, instead of seeing the pale yellow walls, she saw red. Eyes trained on the gray tile outside the bars, she had to focus on something other than the man at her back…or she’d surrender to his demands.
“I’m not letting you go until you give me the right answer. I mean it, Blue.”
She ignored Nathan, instead choosing to play the chain gang song on the bars. “Lance Stevens, you let me out of this cell this instant. I’ve got money coming to me, and I’ll sue you and the entire Monroe County Sheriff’s Department,” she bellowed.
At the feel of Nathan’s hands coming to rest on her hips, she froze. He stepped closer to her, the heat of his body, warming her backside.
“Will you listen to me now?”
Laughter spilled from her lips. “I heard you before. You’re sorry for having me arrested. And to make it up to me… you had me… arrested. Did I miss something?”
“Yeah, you did,” he said, spinning her around in his arms, so they faced one another.
“Enlighten me, Nathan.”
“You know I love the sound of my name on your lips.”
To stress his point, he pressed his erection into her hip, and Symphony bit her lip to stop the moan.
“You missed the part about me loving you. That I’m in this cell with you.”
“Contrary to popular belief, orange isn’t the new black. I’m not fond of lovers that like to see me behind bars. You… in this cell is not a game changer,” she said, jabbing him in the chest.
“How about a lover, that’ll put a ring on your finger? Spend the rest of his life thinking of ways to make you forget his mistakes?”
With his eyes on her, Nathan took her finger and sucked it between his lips. It sounded perfect. Do not moan, she
told herself.
“I’d be a sucker to fall for a guy like that,” she stammered.
“Just the opposite, Blue.” Nathan extended his hands, pushing them through the bars, trapping her with his hard body. “I’ll love and cherish you, till the day I leave this life.”
“Truth is, you’re making it difficult for me to say no.”
“Let’s talk truth, Blue. Like who really set that fire fourteen years ago.”
“Don’t,” Symphony pleaded. “You have no right.”
“I know, but I want to, Blue. You told me you never set a fire, ever.”
“What does that matter now?”
“It matters because you were a little girl who should’ve been protected. I believe the woman I love never set a fire, back then or now,” he whispered. “I believe you, Symphony, and I love you.”
“Don’t say that, Nathan.”
“How would you have me say, I love you?”
The red that clouded her vision had taken on a pink hue. And her heart, well…it lapped up every sappy drop Nathan laid down. “You don’t… you can’t love,” she heard herself say.
“I do and I can. You told me once that you didn’t deserve me.”
“I remember,” she whispered, recalling the worse day of her life. The day she knew Nathan was lost to her…forever.
“You were right.”
Her eyes stretched wide in shock. Deep furrows bracketed his mouth like it pained him to admit the words.
“You deserve so much more than what I gave you, but I’m praying you love me enough to hang around until I can be worthy of your love.”
“Nathan…” Her brain tripped over all the neurons firing at once. She wanted to counter his statement with the impossibility of them being together, but how could she when the love he felt for her irradiated her from the inside out like a furnace.
“Do you love me?” Dark gray eyes held the same pleading as his voice.
“Yes, I love you so much it hurts.” Symphony lifted her shoulders, as if the weight that held them down had disappeared.
“Then, come home. Build a life with me.” He ran his thumb over her mouth, the calloused skin along the pad of his thumb had a shiver of desire charging down her spine. She loved the rough feel of his hands against her skin.