Wanted Dead or In Love: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 3)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  He came back out carrying a case that looked like a lock box. I took a step back, just in case I had no choice but to run. He popped it open and pulled out a handgun and a magazine.

  “Do you know what kind of gun this is?”

  I shook my head slightly.

  “Sig Sauer P226 MK25. The caliber is a 9mm Luger. I used this very same gun when I served in the Navy.” He held it out to me and I looked at him in confusion. He shook his head and grabbed my hand, placing it in my grip. “Relax, I didn’t bring you here to shoot you. I brought you here to teach you to use this the right way.”

  My gaze shot up from the gun to his eyes. “You…what?”

  “You’re on the run. I have no fucking clue why, but you need help. You’re fucking up left and right, and it’s going to catch up with you. You don’t have to tell me what you’re running from, but I can read people pretty well, and I know you’re not a bad guy. Whatever you’re wrapped up in, you don’t have a fucking clue what to do. So, I’m going to teach you to shoot, and then we’re going to get you your own gun. You can come out here whenever you want and use my range.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why would you help me?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I like you.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s just that you’re a good mechanic and I’d like to keep you around. Does it really matter?”

  I stared down at the gun and made the decision right then that I was going to take his help. I had no idea how long I would be on the run or what I would encounter, but he was right. I was fucking up and I had to learn how to protect Hannah and myself.

  “You’re former military?”

  “Navy SEAL,” he clarified.

  I nodded. “My brother is former military.”

  “So, why didn’t you go to him for help?”

  “He’s…he was in another state, and I didn’t exactly have the chance to call anyone.”

  “So, no one knows why you’re gone?”

  I didn’t say anything. I felt like I had already said too much.

  “Alright, let’s get to work,” he said, taking my silence as a signal that it was time to move on. We spent the next hour at his gun range before he drove me back to the garage. From there, I walked back to my rental and flopped down on the couch.

  “Hey,” Hannah said, walking out of the kitchen. “Rough day?”

  “Not too bad.” I glanced over at her, wearing her waitressing uniform. “Did you just get off work?”

  “About twenty minutes ago. I was hungry, but I really need to get this smell off me.”

  I nodded absently and stared at the floor, trying to figure out what I should tell Hannah. She needed to know what happened, but would she be pissed? Would she say we needed to move on? Christ, I wasn’t ready to run right now. But we were in this together and I needed to be honest with her.

  “Um, so something happened at work today,” I said as she walked past me toward the stairs. She stopped and looked back at me.

  “What happened?”

  “My boss sort of knows that I’m on the run.”

  “What did you say?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

  “I didn’t say anything. He just knew. Let’s face it, I’m not the best at being on the run.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “He took me out to his place and taught me to shoot his handgun.”

  Her eyebrows raised in shock. “Really?”

  “He’s former military. He said he wanted to help me out. Apparently, I’m shit at disguising why I’m here.”

  “But you didn’t tell him anything, right?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. He said that he would get me a gun.”

  She sighed, running her hand across her forehead. “This could be a problem.”

  “I don’t think it will be. He’s trying to help me.”

  “And what happens when someone comes looking for us? Is he still going to keep his mouth shut?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that if he’s teaching me to defend myself, he’s not going to give me up.”

  “You know, when you’re on the run, it’s best not to make any attachments. It makes it harder to leave places behind. If you want my advice, don’t become this guy’s friend.”

  She turned and walked upstairs, leaving me alone to think about her advice. No friends. No attachments. When we first ran, I didn’t really think about how lonely this life would be, but now, hearing her tell me that, I realized my life would be drastically different from now on. No matter how much I liked working at the garage, I couldn’t become friends with those guys, because eventually I would have to leave. The only person I had to rely on was Hannah. She was my life now, until one of us ended up dead.

  Hannah

  After my shift, I quickly made my way to the library to do some investigating. I had to find out why after four years, someone was finally coming after me. It didn’t make sense. Why would anyone even care? I scrolled through story after story, scouring for any news of what was going on from my former life, but I was coming up empty. After an hour of searching, I gave up and left the library.

  I went home and called out for Josh, but got no answer. I slung my purse over the banister and headed upstairs. I wanted a different job, one where I wasn’t on my feet all day, smelling like grease. My feet were sore and my back ached from carrying that damn tray. I wasn’t ashamed of working in a restaurant. I worked hard, but when I thought back to where I used to be, it made me sad. There was a time that I wanted such a different life, and I thought that faking my death would give me that. I just hadn’t counted on giving up everything in my life. It had taken me all of a week to realize the consequences of what I had done. But this was my life now. There was no going back.

  I shoved open my bedroom door and stripped off my clothes, tossing them in the laundry basket. Grabbing my robe off the back of the door, I opened the door to the bathroom, freezing when steam poured out. Josh was standing completely naked in front of the sink, brushing his teeth. He glanced over at me, doing a double take when he saw that I was also naked. I quickly covered myself with my robe, but it was too late. He had already seen all of me, and I was still seeing all of him.

  He resumed brushing his teeth as I stared at him, unable to look away from his cock that hung heavy. I could blame it on the fact that he was quite big, or I could blame it on years of celibacy. Either way, I was staring, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away. I licked my lips as I stared at him, and when he bent over to spit and his cock swung forward, I tilted my head and thought about what it would be like to have his cock inside of me.

  “Do you mind?” he asked, snatching a towel off the rack, wrapping it around himself.

  My gaze snapped up to his and I blushed hard. “Sorry. It’s been a while.”

  He walked forward, stopping right in front of me. “Yeah?”

  I nodded. “Like…years.”

  “Years,” he repeated, his eyes heating slightly. He cleared his throat and stepped around me, his eyes watching me as he walked out. I quickly wrapped the robe around my body, realizing that my backside was hanging out. I slammed the door and leaned back against it, taking a deep breath. I hadn’t meant to stare at him. In fact, up until now, I hadn’t even thought of him in any way other than fellow person on the run. We barely saw each other. We didn’t spend a lot of time together or talk. We coexisted in the way that roommates that didn’t like each other did.

  When I wasn’t working, I spent most of my time trying to figure out my next plan. I was always looking ahead, planning out escape routes and looking into new places to stay. I hadn’t bothered to talk to him about my plans because I was so used to doing everything on my own. He didn’t exist other than another person that lived in the house.

  But now that I saw him like that…I couldn’t get that image out of my head. He was big. Either that or I hadn’t had sex in so long that I forgot just how big a dick could be
. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I couldn’t unsee that. I couldn’t pretend that I wasn’t turned on by that. I wasn’t lying. It had been years. I had been so focused on running that I hadn’t really thought about men or sex or getting off. If I needed a release, I provided it myself. I was quick and efficient. But seeing him, it brought back what sex could really be like. And now I wanted to know what it felt like to be stretched by his cock, to feel him inside me. I wanted to feel his arms around me and remember what it was like to not feel so alone. I had just shut off that part of me when I ran, because I knew it wasn’t possible to have it again.

  Grunting my frustration, I hung up my robe and got in the shower. I couldn’t think about him. Mixing roommate with fellow person on the run was not a good idea. I had to keep him as just the man I ran with. Anything other than that would get complicated. Besides, he thought I was married. What were the chances he would even consider sleeping with me? No, sleeping with him would lead to feelings and then I would have to tell him the truth, and then he would really freak out.

  I scrubbed at my hair angrily, pissed that I was letting him get to me. I needed to just forget about him. I would continue to ignore him like he was ignoring me. Hell, I had been avoiding him for weeks. I could do that again, no problem. I finished showering and slipped my robe back on, water still dripping down my body. I was angry at myself for letting feelings get involved in any way, even if they were only sexual feelings.

  I carefully opened the door, making sure that he wasn’t standing out there waiting for me or peeking out of his room at me. Not that he would. I had been standing naked in front of him and he had barely spared me a glance. Huffing, I stormed into my room and slammed the door. This was ridiculous. I would not lust after Josh. He was nothing like me, and if he ever found out who I really was, he wouldn’t want anything to do with me anyway.

  Josh

  I walked out of the bathroom, staring at her ass as I headed for my bedroom. I almost walked right into the doorframe because I was too distracted by her incredible body. Once inside, I shut the door and leaned against it, running a hand through my wet hair with a long-suffering sigh. Holy shit.

  It took everything in me not to grab her and fuck her up against the wall in the bathroom. She was…I shook my head. No, we were just running away together. I didn’t even know anything about her. We were practically strangers that just lived together. She didn’t talk to me about anything. Hell, I didn’t even know where she worked. I knew she came home smelling like a bar or a restaurant, but that was it. We just didn’t talk.

  I thought about what I really knew about her, and I could narrow it down to an abusive husband and that she had been running for four years. Oh, yeah, and she hadn’t had her hair cut this short in a long time. Wow, that’s a wealth of information right there. Sleeping with her would be stupid. It would complicate an already complicated situation.

  Deciding that I couldn’t stick around here tonight, I got dressed and headed out, walking down the sidewalk. I didn’t know where I was going. I just needed to be alone for a while. I laughed internally because I was always alone. I walked around town for the better part of an hour before I stopped in front of the library. They would be closing soon, so I hurried inside and found the bank of computers for public use. Pulling up a local newspaper from my hometown, I was immediately struck by the headline.

  Local man still missing. Search called off after weeks of no new evidence.

  I read the article with rapt attention. They had people searching for me day and night, walking through fields to look for clues and questioning everyone in town about the last place I had been seen. They even talked to my family. Ma was devastated and praying that someone would come forward with information. My dad asked for privacy, and my brothers were all singing my praises, telling everyone what a nice guy I was, how I would do anything for anyone. Nobody understood what could have happened. My truck was still missing, and there was no evidence other than a credit card purchase in a town a few hours away.

  My boss was the only one with any ideas. There had been a car we were going to look at restoring, and it was in Eastern Indiana. We had planned on going to look at it together. He was suggesting that maybe I was on my way there that night. But there had been no evidence beyond that credit card purchase.

  I closed out of the article and wiped the history from the browser, then sat there staring at the screen. My family was suffering because I was gone. The whole town had been looking for me. Pain seared my chest as I thought of my Ma crying over me. My parents must be devastated, to know that I was gone and they had no clue why. I tried to think of a way that I could contact one of them, maybe just to let them know I was okay. Maybe I could get a prepaid cell phone and just make a quick call. But what if someone was watching my family? Could they trace prepaid cells? They had tracked my credit card. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think someone was tracking my family’s accounts and cell phones. Hannah had said cell phones were easiest to track. And if I couldn’t call them, I couldn’t email them either. Even if I was trying to be stealthy and write something with a hidden message, they might not understand my message. Or maybe it would go right to the spam folder because they wouldn’t recognize the address.

  If I could get back to Indiana, maybe I could drop a letter in the mailbox. That way there would be no return address. But again, any contact with them would only put them in danger. No matter how much I thought up solutions, I always found reasons not to try any of them, and they all led back to putting my family in a position that could put them in danger. I just couldn’t risk it.

  On my way home, the loneliness hit hard. I would most likely never see them again. I was on my own from now on, and I had to deal with that. But as I walked up the steps to my house, I realized that I wasn’t alone. I had Hannah, and as long as we were together, we could lean on each other and make things…less lonely.

  I stormed up the stairs to her bedroom and flung the door open. She gasped as she sat up in bed, her face immediately pinching in concern. “What’s-“

  I stormed over to her and pulled her up out of bed, kissing her hard. She was stiff for just a second before she melted against me and ran her fingers through my hair. In just seconds, I was tearing at the nightshirt she was wearing, yanking it over her head. With her arms raised over her head, I stared at her breasts, perky with pretty nipples just begging for my mouth. I leaned forward and pulled one into my mouth just as I felt her fingers fumbling with my pants.

  I ran my hands down her back, squeezing her ass in my hands. She shoved my pants down and then she was tearing at my shirt, yanking it over my head. I kicked my jeans away and then I was pushing her back on the bed, hovering over her as I kissed her hard. She spread her legs for me, and I took her invitation, slipping inside her in one thrust. Her fingers dug into my back and she gasped hard. But then her legs wrapped around me and she pulled me into her again.

  I felt like a rabid dog going after my prey. The only thing I could think of was being inside her, of having her to myself for tonight. I had no one else in the world, but I had her and she wanted me just as much. I thrust in and out, grunting as I fucked her hard. The bed was scratching at the floor from where the metal frame shifted beneath us. Her hot breath was panting hard in my ear and her body shuddered with every thrust.

  God, I was so close. I wasn’t going to last too much longer. I slid my hand under her ass and played with her pussy as I thrust in and out of her. I felt her contract around my cock and then she was shouting out, pulling me in closer. I pumped my hips against her a few more times and then I came hard, collapsing on top of her. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest that it felt like I was about to have a heart attack.

  I felt her tap me on the shoulder and I rolled off her, still panting hard as I tried to regain my senses. I glanced over at her and she looked back at me. Fuck, what had I just done?

  Hannah

  I could see the regret written all over his face as soon as he
looked at me. He thought it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t regret what had just happened. I needed that more than I realized.

  “Stop,” I said, hoping he would relax.

  “That was-“

  “Amazing.”

  “A mistake,” he clarified. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Really?” I asked, pulling my sheet over myself. Now that his body heat was gone, I was cold. “Because I think it was a great idea.”

  “It complicates things.”

  “How do you figure?” I asked, turning on my side and leaning on my elbow. “Because the way I see it, we only have each other. We might as well use each other for our needs.”

  He looked at me strangely. “What about feelings?”

  “Everyone has them,” I shrugged. “But that? That was about release.”

  He eyed me suspiciously before rolling to his side to look at me better. “I don’t even know you. We’ve been together for weeks now and I don’t know anything about you.”

  “Do you need to?”

  “I guess not. I just assumed that if we had sex, it would lead to questions and emotions. I’m not sure in our position that that’s a good idea.”

  “So, why did you come in here tonight?”

  He sighed heavily and flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I went to the library and looked at the paper from my hometown.”

  I knew where this was going, and I felt terrible for him. I had been there before, reading articles about yourself, about how people are sad and missing you. It’s hard to read, and even harder knowing there’s nothing you can do about it.

  “They called off the search for me. They have no leads. The whole town was scouring the fields for me. I guess I should be grateful that they didn’t find my body. That would have killed my Ma.”

  I reached over and placed my hand over his. “It’s a good thing they didn’t have any leads. That means there’s nothing for anyone to find on us.”