by Melody Anne
“That’s all that matters,” Chloe assured her.
“Well, I’m sure the plane isn’t cheap,” Dakota said with a wince. Her insurance was going to skyrocket.
“That isn’t something you should even have crossing your mind right now,” Stormy told her as she turned away from the plane. “I can’t look at that anymore. It’s going to give me nightmares for weeks.”
“How did you guys find out?” Dakota asked. She and Ace hadn’t had time to call his family, they’d been so busy with the emergency personnel.
“Sherman heard it and called,” Lindsey said.
“Is there anything that man doesn’t hear?” Dakota asked.
“No, not really,” Stormy said.
“I’m surprised he wasn’t the first one on the scene,” Dakota told them.
“He wanted to be, but Maverick told him to stay by the radio so he could keep us updated. He promised we’d bring you to him right away,” Chloe told her.
“More hugging is in my future,” Dakota said with a laugh that hurt her bruised ribs.
“I think we should go to the hospital,” Chloe said.
“I’m not being stubborn,” Dakota insisted. “The medics poked and prodded. If there was anything alarming, they would have figured it out.”
“What about internal damage?” Lindsey asked.
“You know more than anyone else that there would be signs.”
“I think we need some X-rays, just in case,” Chloe insisted.
With one nurse and one former nurse raising concerns, Dakota knew she was outvoted. She also knew any resistance from Ace would also be vehemently protested—and they were both going to lose. And they did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sunlight streamed in through the guesthouse windows at Cooper’s place. Dakota woke with a smile. She wouldn’t admit aloud how frightened she’d been the day before when she and Ace had dropped from the sky. And though she hadn’t wanted to go to the hospital, she was a little glad his family had insisted.
Though it had taken hours, they’d walked out knowing they were fine. She’d been aching when, with Ace’s assistance, she’d gone to bed once again at the cottage, but the pain was endurable with Ace by her side. She was growing a little dependent on the man, and that worried her. Ace was unlike any other man she’d ever known, though, and she was enjoying her time with him even if she was scared of what that meant.
Though Dakota had always enjoyed her alone time—especially since she’d never had much of it growing up—these days, she felt this invisible string tying her to Ace. She rarely wanted to be away from him for too long. After the newness and exciting adventures they’d already been through wore off, she was sure that string was going to be severed.
But for now, she put on a borrowed pair of shoes and enjoyed the fresh morning air as she made the walk up to Cooper’s main house. She heard voices coming from the dining room as soon as she stepped through the back door. The kids were laughing and the adults talking as Dakota rounded the corner. She stopped in the hallway and observed the family. They appeared not to have a care in the world.
She was mesmerized as she watched Ace laugh at something his brother said to him. The man was beautiful, but when he smiled and laughed he was breathtaking. She felt her heart skip a beat. Yeah, she really was in trouble.
“You’re finally here. I thought you were going to sleep all day,” Chloe said, making everyone in the room turn to look at her, which made Dakota’s cheeks warm. “Must have been busy last night.” The heat in her cheeks tried to confirm what they were all thinking, but in reality, Ace had just held her as she’d fallen asleep in his arms, safe.
“The last few days must have caught up with me, and I just needed the sleep,” she told them.
The intense look Ace sent her reminded her how his hands had traveled all over her body two nights earlier, his mouth taking her to heaven before setting her on the ground again. He’d created a beast within her that it seemed only he could tame. She wasn’t happy at all about it. One night of no lovemaking and she was ready to jump his bones in front of his entire family. What in the heck was wrong with her?
“Come get something to eat, and you will feel back to normal in no time,” Stormy told her, taking her arm and leading her to the buffet, where a ton of food was sitting on warmers.
“We’ve waited for you to start,” Lindsey told her as they began grabbing plates.
“You didn’t have to do that. Now I feel bad,” Dakota told the group.
“Don’t worry. We would have come and gotten you very soon if you hadn’t shown up,” Chloe assured her.
“Good,” Dakota said.
Ace moved through the crowd and came to stand directly next to her, leaning down and running his lips softly across the nape of her neck. A shiver slid down her spine. She realized her knees just might give out on her if she wasn’t careful. She took a step away from him for her own sanity.
“It’s only been a couple hours, and I was already missing you,” he told her.
The glow his words caused inside her made her feel full enough not to need any food. All she seemed to need was him. This was a very dangerous road she was traveling.
“You should get some food,” she told him, finally meeting his eyes. She could have sworn she saw disappointment flash there, but how was that possible? Was he feeling what she was feeling? Why couldn’t she just admit to him that she had missed him too? Maybe because that made her feel too needy.
“Are we getting out of here today?” she asked as the two of them moved to the table with their plates full of food. She didn’t want him to use the plane crash as an excuse to keep her sheltered again.
“Are you still feeling restless even after our harrowing adventure yesterday?” he asked. He began eating, and now she was sure she hadn’t seen in his eyes what she’d thought she had. He was a confident man and didn’t care what she said or how she felt toward him. Maybe she was putting more into this than was actually warranted.
“Yes, I’m used to being out all the time and very active. To be trapped in the house all day isn’t something I can take for long,” she told him, her voice definitely pleading now.
Chloe and Nick joined them.
“I can attest to that. Dakota has been the one to drag me out of the house time and time again when I wanted nothing more than to stay home. But I will admit, we’ve always had fun on our many adventures,” Chloe said.
“We could go to town for lunch today,” Nick said.
“Don’t you think a day of rest would be better?” Ace argued.
“No. My body hurts, and it will be much better to get out and move it so the muscles don’t lock up on me,” Dakota insisted.
“I don’t think that’s what the doc would recommend,” Ace told her.
“I know my body,” Dakota insisted. The slow, measured look he sent her way told her he also knew her body—quite intimately. It was so easy to get lost in his damn eyes.
“I don’t know . . .” He was still hedging. She wanted to smack him, but she needed a compromise.
“If you give me a day out today, then I’ll lay off for a few days and rest,” she told him with her most persuasive smile.
He sent her a stern look, but it didn’t last once she reached over and ran her fingernails across his thigh.
“You’re playing dirty,” he warned.
“I play to win,” she replied, which had the other couples at the table tittering.
“Just give it up, brother. You’ve lost,” Maverick told him. Dakota sent Ace’s brother a beaming smile. It helped to have other people on her side.
“Fine, we can go to town today, but then we are resting,” Ace said.
Dakota threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. She enjoyed getting her way, and she was showing him he would be rewarded in turn.
They finished breakfast, and Dakota was shocked when the men performed the cleanup duty while the women went into the living room with the kids
and visited while playing board games.
It didn’t take long for the guys to join them, and then it was quite the domestic scene as Ace joined her on the couch, his arm thrown around her shoulders as he laughed with his niece and nephews and visited with his family.
If Dakota didn’t know he’d been gone for the past eight years, she would have thought he’d never been away. They’d come back together perfectly, and they all seemed so happy to be around one another. It made her yearn to be a real part of this loving family.
“Are you sure you want to go anywhere? I’m content to sit right here,” Ace told her.
“Don’t tempt me,” she said.
“I like tempting you,” he told her, his hot breath brushing against her neck.
“Obviously,” she said, her heart pounding.
“We could just go back down to the cottage for a while,” he suggested.
She was more than ready to do exactly that. “I think you’ve spent enough time at the cottage. I’ve gotten a babysitter, and I was promised a trip to town,” Stormy said.
Dakota smiled at her friend, not sure if she was happy for the rescue or disappointed.
“Okay, town it is,” Dakota said.
Ace groaned when she pulled away from him and stood up. Then she reached out to take his hand. He slowly stood up and then pulled her into his arms and kissed her in front of his entire family. She was swooning by the time he pulled back.
“You sure you don’t want to scrap this?” he asked with a wiggle of his brows.
“The wait will make tonight so much better,” she promised, making his eyes flare.
“Now you’re thinking,” he said.
It took them a while to get out of the house, with them saying good-bye to the children and having to promise to bring them treats when they returned. They also had to take two vehicles when Nick insisted on driving his old truck, saying she was feeling neglected at having not been driven in a while. Chloe laughed at her husband but willingly joined him in the old thing.
In Seattle, they relaxed and ate a nice meal on the water. After eating, they went to the park to enjoy the sunny, windless day. Dakota realized she could very much get used to doing nothing other than lying in Ace’s arms as she visited with her best friend and her family.
“We’ve had a fun day,” Ace said as he looked around—he was always looking around. She kind of liked how safe she felt with him. “Now it’s time to head back.”
The girls all groaned, but they cleaned up their blankets and started walking toward the parking lot. That’s when things went wrong. Ace stopped walking, his body on immediate alert.
“What is it?” Cooper asked. Nick and Maverick came to stand by them, all of them instinctively shielding the women.
“Something’s wrong,” Ace said.
“I don’t see anything,” Mav told him.
“I don’t know. I just feel off,” Ace told them.
“It’s been a relaxing day. I think you’re just so used to looking out for danger that you don’t know how to relax,” Nick countered.
“Not worth questioning it if the women are in danger,” Ace insisted.
“Come on, brother,” Cooper said with a laugh. “Relax.”
“We need to get out of here. I’ve learned to trust my instincts,” Ace said.
Coop looked at him for a measured moment, then sighed. “Okay, let’s go,” he agreed.
They stepped forward again, and the air seemed to grow denser. Nick was moving toward his truck at a relaxed stroll. They were less than a hundred feet away when an explosion nearby nearly knocked them off their feet. People screamed and ran away from the parking lot.
Nick stood there in shock, not moving as the heat from the blast engulfed them. They were far enough away they were out of danger, but too close for comfort.
Dakota watched as Nick’s truck went up in flames. She turned to see his ashen face and didn’t know what to say. They were all silent as they witnessed the devastation.
“Who would do that to my truck?” Nick asked, his voice revealing how numb he felt.
“What the hell?” Ace said. “I should have been paying more attention.”
“How is this your fault?” Dakota asked.
“Because . . .” Ace trailed off. He didn’t have an answer.
Cooper was the first to pull himself together. He lifted his phone, dialing the police. Someone else must have already, though, because they heard sirens as emergency vehicles were dispatched.
Another car suddenly blew up, and the people in the park who’d been heading for their cars wilted back. The sounds of screams and crying children could clearly be heard.
The fire department showed up and began to put out the flames that had ignited several other vehicles. The bomb squad screeched into the parking lot.
“What in the hell is going on?” Mav asked.
“I don’t like this,” Ace said. They all huddled together as Ace looked around the crowds, searching for faces that appeared out of place. He couldn’t find any—just a hell of a lot of terrified folks.
The cops showed up, and Ace immediately approached them. Several members of the force began speaking to civilians.
“Did you see anything?” Officer Michelson asked.
“Yeah, I saw my truck get blown up,” Nick replied with a growl.
“No, we didn’t see who did it,” Ace said.
“There have been other vehicles getting blown up. We think it’s a group of radicals trying to prove a point,” the officer told them.
“Are you sure about that?” Ace asked.
Dakota was listening to every word spoken. What else could it be? What wasn’t the police officer telling them?
“No, we aren’t sure, but there was another call an hour ago on the east side of the city.”
They finished speaking with the officer and then had to wait as Cooper’s vehicle was checked. It was fine, and they were free to go. It was tense when they got in the car. They all needed to go home and figure this out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Ace paced his brother’s living room as he went through every curse word he could think of. He’d just gotten off the phone with Bill again, and his boss assured him no one was coming after him. He’d yelled, he’d threatened, he’d told the man to dig deeper. His brother’s truck getting blown up couldn’t be a coincidence.
His brothers were sitting there waiting for him to calm down, and it wasn’t happening yet. He didn’t even want to dull his senses with a glass of bourbon, though he was sure he could use it. What if . . . That was all he was thinking.
“You know, things do just happen,” Cooper finally said.
Ace turned to him with an incredulous look. “Not to me they don’t,” he said through clenched teeth. He forced himself to calm down enough so his brothers would truly hear him. “I’ve lived in this evil portion of the world for a very long time. When you let down your defenses and relax, that’s when people strike.”
“I agree you’ve lived in a world that is full of distrust and evil, but you’re back home now,” Nick pointed out.
“And trouble has seemed to follow me,” Ace told him.
“Or maybe shit just happens,” Mav said.
“Yeah, like hoodlums blowing up my truck,” Nick muttered. His shock was gone, and now he was filled with rage.
“Whoever did that will pay,” Ace promised his brother. “And I’ll get you a new truck.”
Nick shook his head. “She can’t be replaced,” he said.
“I’m so sorry,” Ace said. “I feel like it’s my fault.”
Nick was quiet for a minute, and then he smiled at Ace. It didn’t seem to him like there was anything to smile about at this particular moment, but Nick had always been the one to see the rainbow at the end of the storm.
“I don’t think this has anything to do with you, but even if it did, we’re family. If one of us is in trouble, then we all are,” Nick assured him.
“If the evide
nce comes in that someone is after you, we have your back,” Cooper added.
“We’re the four musketeers,” Mav said with a grin.
“I don’t know. I just don’t know,” Ace said. Maybe he was seeing danger where there wasn’t any. But his gut had never steered him wrong before. He wasn’t sure what to think.
“We should check on the ladies,” Cooper told them.
“Lindsey and Stormy are putting the kids to bed, and Chloe and Dakota are talking. I think they’d rather be alone,” Nick said.
“Yeah, it’s been an intense few days,” Mav admitted.
“I’m having a hard time backing off. If something happens to Dakota and it’s my fault, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself,” Ace said.
“If something happens to her, I’m sure you’ll be the one to save her,” Nick pointed out.
“I’m no hero, and certainly not a knight in shining armor,” Ace told them.
“She sure as hell looks at you like you are,” Cooper said.
Ace had never wanted to be a hero, but the thought of Dakota seeing him as one did make him want to change his bad-boy reputation. She had far too much influence over him and over how he felt. He just wasn’t sure how to process that information.
“Let’s relax, maybe have a drink. If something is going on, I’m sure Bill will call you back.”
“He damn well better,” Ace said. He looked over at the liquor cabinet longingly, but he couldn’t let his guard down right now—not yet. He didn’t think the danger had passed, and he had a feeling it was going to get a lot worse before it got better. But seeing as he was the only person who believed that, maybe he did need to chill.
He didn’t know. He felt as if he didn’t know anything anymore.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
It seemed like any other normal day. Well, it would seem like any normal day for a regular family. But the day was odd for Ace. His family wanted him to go on like nothing was happening around him, but it was impossible for him to relax and enjoy himself with his gut tied in knots.
Dakota had insisted on everyone attending a charity event addressing violence against women. The other cheerleaders were all going. His sisters-in-law were thrilled to attend, leaving Ace the only one protesting. He’d been outnumbered. Ace hadn’t been in the loop with his family in a very long time, and he couldn’t say he’d attended any sort of event like this one before, but it would be much better if he wasn’t so damn worried about something bad happening.