“You asked to come here?”
She leveled a look at him. “To you? Did it look like I’d expected you to open the door earlier? I told them I needed a safe place to stay for a bit while I figured out what to do.”
“And what did they say?”
Thunder echoed again.
“Not to worry about it. They had a spot. Which reminds me, where the hell am I, anyway? Colorado? I went to sleep in Colorado, some place called Alamo…Alamotto? Alamosa? I don’t know.”
He grinned. “You’re not in Colorado. Near, though.”
“So? Where?”
“New Mexico. Near Red River, or Taos, if you prefer.”
She sniffed. “We used to ski at Red River when I was kid with a group from our church. I thought maybe that was this canyon, but I woke up late, and it’s dark, and it’s been years, so I wasn’t sure. Near Eagle’s Nest?”
He nodded.
She took a deep breath, reached over, and grabbed her beer, then finished it off. He’d forgotten she could chug a bottle. “So you’re here. Safe.”
She looked around. “Recycles under the sink,” he said.
“Of course it is,” she muttered.
“Don’t you recycle?”
“Yes, I just put the bins by the back door. Easier that way.”
“Messy that way.”
“The horror of mess.”
“Mess is chaos. Chaos is stress. I don’t like stress.”
“Life is messy.”
After she tossed the bottle under the sink, she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. “You got any movies? I just want to shut my brain off for a minute. Just…something. Nothing too suspenseful. I don’t want things blowing up. But nothing too serious. Or lovey-dovey. I’m really not in the mood for happily-ever-after bullshit.”
He let her get comfortable near the fireplace and then found the remotes. “I have cable. And several streaming options.”
“I don’t care. Just pick something.”
He turned the volume down. “So when did you become so cynical? With the name Rainbow, you shouldn’t be so bitter.”
“I’m not bitter. I’m just realistic.”
“So no happily ever after?”
“You found it?”
“Might’ve once,” he said, not looking at her. Instead, he flipped through the channels. “Tell me if something looks good.”
She didn’t say anything, so he decided to go to the streaming options.
“So what happened?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“To Ms. Might’ve?”
“Got pissed at me. And I left.”
“Well, I know what that’s like.”
He grunted. Good thing she didn’t realize he was talking about her. Woman had always been under his skin. It had been three damned years, and here she was, in his house, on his couch, drinking his beer, watching his television. He remembered her moody. And when she was moody, she wouldn’t choose. She’d ask him to.
Fine.
What sounded good?
He grinned. There was an animated show about a spy and his dysfunctional ragtag group of staff and partners. Fine. If she didn’t like it, he’d change it. “Want another beer?”
She nodded. “Yeah, maybe. Or maybe I shouldn’t. Probably should have coffee so I won’t go to sleep. Should probably get my gun too.”
He jerked at the words. “You have a gun?”
“Grew up in Texas. I’ve had guns since I was old enough to hunt. Daddy gave me one when I went to college and wasn’t in the dorm. For the dorm, he gave me bear spray and told me to get wasp spray. Anyway, yeah, got a gun.”
“Where?”
“Doc gave it to me on the road. Asked if I knew how to use it. Told him it was kind of small. Twenty-twos don’t do much unless the bastard’s on top of you. I mean, they’re not BB guns, but still.” She frowned. “He wouldn’t give me a .45, though.”
He hoped not. Muttering a curse, he stood, looked at her, opened his mouth, and then thought better of it. “I’ll get you the beer. If you don’t like the show, we can change it. You’re safe here. And you don’t need your gun.”
“You’ve got them.”
“Yep.”
She grinned at him. “You let me shoot your .45.”
He remembered. He’d forgotten she knew how to shoot various firearms. He’d tried to forget a lot about her. “I’m not giving you one to put under your pillow.”
“Spoilsport.”
He couldn’t help the chuckle as he grabbed her beer and returned to the couch. He didn’t get one for himself. He probably wouldn’t sleep much tonight. At least Baxter would help out there. The dog was currently right at her feet. And he had the alarms.
Her foot tapped on the floor. He stretched out and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. “Relax, RB, and settle in. You’re safe here. I’ll call D. and Harlen later and find out what they know, okay?”
She nodded, then settled back into the opposite corner of the couch. “I like this show.”
“Yeah, me too.”
For several minutes they watched the show, and the night settled around them. The storm continued to rumble down the valley as rain pelted the tin roof.
She’d fallen asleep against the cushions, like she’d always done.
He blew out a breath. Damn if he hadn’t missed this.
Chapter Five
Where the hell was she? Rai had been here that night. Niall knew it. Her jewelry was gone. The ring he’d gotten for her was sitting on the dresser. She’d brought it back at some point.
That night? Or before?
Granted, it could have been someone else in the house that night. And he hadn’t checked the room earlier that evening.
If anyone found out what he’d done, well, most wouldn’t care, but a few would. A few would make sure he hurt before he died. He paced along the glass walls of his living room and wondered what the hell to do. He’d have to find her. How? Where would she go? Home? No. Probably not. Texas was a good ways away, and he could always call.
He checked his watch, a lovely platinum gift from his boss for a job well done on another issue.
Headlights cut up the drive and stopped. Boris climbed from the car. Such a big bastard to fit into that little luxury sports car. He ambled up to the side door. Niall unlocked it and ushered him in. “What did you find out?”
“Not enough.” He shrugged out of his jacket, raindrops leaving black diamonds on the leather.
“We need to find her. I think you know that as much as I do.”
Boris sucked all the air up around him, made Niall nervous, truth be told. Boris had recruited him for the boss. Problem was, Niall never knew if Boris was working with him or simply watching him and reporting back to the boss. He’d like to think it was the former. He poured them both a drink of scotch. After handing one to Boris, he sipped his own.
Boris cleared his throat. “I went to the club where she works.”
Niall snorted.
“She did work there and still works there,” Boris said.
“No, she doesn’t.”
Boris just leveled a look at him with dark, shark eyes. “She works there.”
“She told me she quit.”
It was what their big fight at the end had been about. He’d wanted her to quit and move in here. She had for about three weeks. Then they’d gotten in a fight over…
Hell, he didn’t remember. He’d lost his temper, though. Girl had a mouth on her, and he didn’t put up with that.
Next day, he’d come home and found most of her stuff gone. She’d left. Packed up and left. He’d really liked her and thought maybe she was the one, but no. Frankly, he didn’t really give a shit. The world was full of girls like her. Girls who worked in strip clubs, waited tables, served drinks, mixed drinks. Hell, girls who sold themselves by the hour or for the night.
“She lied, Niall. The owner, Derrick, told me he hadn’t seen her in a couple of days, but that
she asked for time off.”
“And?”
“And she’s not at her old place. Not at Derrick’s. I checked.”
“What about those bikers she used to be friends with?” Niall took another sip and watched the man across from him.
“The bikers aren’t going to tell us where she is if they have her, Niall. And I’m not sure the boss would want a fight with them. They’re bikers, yeah, but they also have a lot of powerful friends.”
Bikers. He offered her the world on a platter, and she got pissed he wanted her to quit working at a strip club. Not that she stripped. She floated. Worked the bar, served drinks, food, whatever. Managed when the owner needed her to.
He didn’t want his woman working. Unless it was working him. “She was here that night. I know she was. We need to find her.”
“We will.”
Had Boris told the boss about this? As if reading his mind, the big Slavic bastard grumbled, “I haven’t mentioned this to Mr. Dvorkaskvi.”
“You haven’t?” He turned from the bank of windows that looked out over the pool and backyard. “Why?”
“I think it is important to clean up messes before the boss finds out about them.”
Niall drained the last of his scotch. True. Very true.
They’d find her sooner or later, and though he’d like to show her the only thing she was good for, show her who she didn’t cross, he knew it would be best just to put one in her skull.
End of problem.
Chapter Six
She hid behind the door. If they turned this way, they’d see her. See her and then she’d be lying on the plastic sheets with a bullet in her brain and chest.
Her hands shook.
Nothing was worth this. But she’d wanted her family jewelry. Why she’d left it in the first place, she didn’t know.
The room grew, changed so that the French doors of the dining room were even farther away. How was she going to get out of this one?
She didn’t know. Didn’t have a clue.
Move.
Move.
Run.
Instead, it was as if she was stuck to the floor.
She looked through the darkness into the dimly lit living room and saw Niall kill another person. There were two people on the plastic now.
Where had the other one come from?
Boris waited to the side, gun down by his thigh, his back to her.
Niall, on the other hand, just smiled and pulled the trigger again. Joy danced in his laughter.
She shivered and swallowed the grease of nausea.
He’d kill her just like them.
She tried to move through the darkness to the doors, tried to ease them open, but as soon as she was through…
“Hey!”
A shot pinged against the doorframe she’d just passed through, shearing off a piece of wood.
She ducked, tripped, and rolled to her feet, already running from one dark spot to the next. Hoping.
Hoping, hoping, hoping…
Another shot sang through the air and chipped off a splinter of pine bark near her head.
She ducked again and ran. Ran through the night, not daring to look behind her.
Sensing…
Feeling…
Knowing he was behind her. And closing fast.
She wasn’t going to make it.
There was a light. A light just ahead, but it grew farther away, and her legs grew heavier.
His footsteps, heavy through the damp, pine-covered ground, thumped closer and closer.
She ducked behind a tree…
Please…
Please….
Please…
“Rai!”
She saw his eyes just as he pulled the trigger. The hot slide of the bullet piercing her chest hurt. She moaned as he stepped closer and raised the gun.
“Damn it, wake up! Rainy, wake up now!”
Someone grabbed her, and she tried to shove them away.
“No. No. No.”
“Rainy, Rainy, it’s me. It’s me, Bear. Wake up. Open your eyes and look at me.”
His voice pulled her more than anything. Deep and rumbling, it pulled her back to the here and now. She blinked and blinked again. Where was she?
The forest behind the house?
House.
What house.
The alley?
No. No.
She shook it off and realized she was sitting up. Sitting up in a living room with Lee.
“Lee?”
He lowered his chin so they were looking eye to eye. “Yeah, babe. It’s me. You were having a hella bad dream.”
A bad dream. One could call it that. All nice and neat. All wrapped up in bows and ribbons. Bad dreams.
“You okay?”
She slowly nodded, still looking around, trying to catch her breath.
“Your chest hurt?”
She frowned and looked at him, noting his brows were drawn.
“Wh—” She licked her lips. “What?”
“Does your chest hurt? You’re holding it.”
“The bullet burned.”
His brows pulled farther down over those green eyes. “What bullet?”
She pulled her hands away and looked at them. No blood. No bullet. She wasn’t shot.
Vivid imaginations led to vivid dreams—which meant her nightmares weren’t black-and-white but high definition with all senses engaged.
Flexing her fingers, Rai shook her head. “Nothing. I’m confused.”
He didn’t say anything else, and she didn’t offer anything either. Chills marched down her spine and prickled over her skin. Lee’s large hands were warm as he rubbed them up and down her arms. “You’re safe here, Rainy, you know that. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She really shouldn’t have… If they tracked her here, somehow, someway, then they’d find them. Find Lee. Find him and kill them both.
“I can leave in the morning.” She laced her fingers together, noting they were cold. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“Why did you?” he asked quietly.
She shrugged.
“Rainy?”
“I didn’t know they were bringing me here. I didn’t know where you’d run off to.”
He took a deep breath, his exhale lightly shifting the hair near her temple.
Rai inhaled, trying to calm her nerves. All she smelled was Lee. Spice, a hint of lemon, and something that was only ever him. God, he smelled good. He’d always smelled good. Real. Not doused in cologne or aftershave. She looked up and cupped his jaw. “I might have missed you,” she admitted.
“Huh.”
She arched a brow and waited, but he didn’t say anything else, and honestly, had she expected him to? “Sorry I crashed your quiet solitude, Lee. I’ll figure out where to go in the morning.”
He settled on the couch at the other end, stretching his legs out. With one hand, he pulled her to him so that she lay between the back of the large leather monstrosity and his chest.
He swiveled and put his long legs on the couch so they tangled with hers. Pajamas. When had he started to wear pajamas? He’d always slept nude. Then again, it was rather cool here. Maybe he got cold. She grinned against his chest.
“What?”
“Thinking of your getting cold and wearing pj’s,” she admitted.
He grunted again. How had she forgotten he often did that? Grunted rather than expressing a word. A single word would work. Drove her freaking nuts. But, she had missed it. Missed him.
She scooted up so that her head was nestled in the crook of his shoulder. Sighing out a breath, she debated on putting her arm over his stomach. At one time, she would have. Now, should she?
“You’re thinking too loud,” he grumbled.
“So?”
“So quit it. I need some sleep.”
“Go back to your room.”
“I’m comfortable.” She sighed. Something must seriously be wrong with her if she missed this.
<
br /> “What did you dream about?”
“The night I got away,” she whispered without thinking.
“From?”
She waited. To hell with it. D. or Harlen would tell him soon enough anyway. “From the guy I was dating. He’s not a nice guy.”
“And?”
“And I went over to his house, where I’d already moved out but forgot a few things.” She shivered. “He wasn’t supposed to be home. His car was gone. But he came home. Parked in the garage. He rarely did that. Liked the neighbors to see his flashy stupid car. Anyway, this way, with the car in the garage, they could move the body into it without anyone seeing anything weird, I guess.”
“Body?”
“Some poor bastard he shot. I was trying to be really, really quiet at that point. I’d really rather them not find me at that point, ya know?”
His muscles tightened under her. His arm lifted from the back of the couch and curled around her, pulling her tighter to him.
“And?” his deep voice coaxed.
“And then I carefully snuck out of the stupid dining room, through the French doors and the backyard and past the pool and ran through the alleys and streets until I called D. Thank God, he answered.”
And that he knew what to do. He’d taken her to the bikers, who had happily put her in a room there at the compound or shop or whatever they called it. The next day, Doc had driven for almost two days to get her here, to Lee’s doorstep.
“I really didn’t know where they were taking me. Doc and Harlen just kept saying some place safe. I trusted them.”
She shivered again, knowing her trust was skewed. Hell, she’d trusted Niall, sort of. Not nearly as much as Lee, but still. She’d trusted he wasn’t some bastard who was going to hit her, let alone kill some poor guy.
So, yeah, her trust might be messed up. “Maybe I shouldn’t trust you either.”
“What?” he snapped.
“I mean, look at me and my track record.”
“You trust me, you trust D. You trust Harlen and Doc.”
“Well, I did trust them until they dumped me on you. What the hell were they thinking?”
“That I’d keep you safe.”
She didn’t say anything.
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