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She places her right foot forward with all the grace one would expect from a world-famous ballerina. Her back foot turns slightly as she goes into a Warrior I position. The long lean lines in her legs show off her inconspicuous strength.
“Whatcha doin’ over there, big guy?” She gives me a side-eyed smirk because I haven’t moved positions. I’ve been too busy watching her.
“Enjoying the view,” I answer, unashamed to admit how much I enjoy watching her ass in those tight yoga pants. I finally stand and move into warrior with her.
“I feel like when we do this together, I end up doing all the yoga and you end up doing all the watching.” She laughs as she moves into a goddess pose.
“You may be right, but I’m just trying to soak it all in. Who would’ve thought we’d be here, right now?”
“The most shocking revelation of the past year hasn’t been where we ended up but that you do yoga, Mr. Johnson.”
A lot has changed in a year. All of it for the better, including our zip code.
After being here for six months, well after I recovered and Nora returned to dancing, we made Sutter Creek our permanent home base. We both fell in love with the town. Her for the first time and me for the second time in my life. It just felt like home, so we bought a cute older house with lots of charm and enough room to grow, right down the street from my parents.
We’re currently in the backyard, our yoga mats spread out on the dewy grass as we go through our yoga routine as the sun comes up.
It’s one of my favorite things to do with my girl. We start every morning together, and we end the evenings wrapped in each other’s arms, then later tangled in the sheets.
If you would’ve asked me where Nora and I would settle down and plant our roots, Sutter Creek wouldn’t have been my first guess. At first, I wasn’t sure it would work.
I worried about her being unable to train like she needed to. I worried she would miss her friends and that small-town life wouldn’t be for her.
Boy, was I wrong.
Nora has taken to Sutter Creek like she was meant to be here. She’s made new friends through a local book club, takes Sam out shopping regularly, and bonded with my mom.
I still go out on assignments here and there, but not nearly as frequently as I used to. I’ve taken on more responsibility at the office to help Liam and the guys when they’re out on assignment. Liam even hired a new guy to help expand our coverage and give me more time off. So far, it’s working out pretty damn well for all of us.
I thought I’d hate it, but I was wrong about that, too.
I don’t hate it because I get to come home to her every night, and that makes it all fucking worth it.
It’s taken a while for Nora to let go of the trauma and stress David Miller caused. Every time she looked at the wound on my thigh, her gaze darkened, and she spun the ring on her finger like she was mad at it. She was transported back to the day of the attack and then the following days when we found out just how depraved Miller was.
My wounds healed, but we were left with the scars. We’ve both worked hard to let go of the past though, and every day it gets a little easier.
I think back to that day in the hospital.
Before I was discharged, a couple of NYPD detectives came by to take my statement about the shooting. There was no question that shooting him was justified. We had evidence of him stalking Nora, and Em and Alex witnessed the entire exchange. Taking my statement was standard procedure. It was the additional information they provided that sticks with me even now.
A small rental car was found two blocks from the theater. It was registered to Miller. Inside the trunk, they found sleeping pills, rope, a blindfold, and cloth they assumed would be used as a gag. There was a notebook containing a carefully mapped out route to an abandoned warehouse in upstate New York. He had towns along the way marked as less populated, and gas stations he had marked as remote.
The truly crazy part was there were also blankets to cushion the trunk, along with pillows, bottles of water, and magazines. Like he wanted to make her as comfortable as he fucking could while he kidnapped her! I can’t even fathom how delusional this man was. In his mind, he and Nora were meant to be together, whether she wanted that or not.
David Miller saw Liam and Colin go into his apartment, so he never went back. We had eyes on it from that day forward, and he never stepped foot in the area again. He got the rental car shortly after and bounced from rest stop to rest stop as he made his way out to Sutter Creek. His plan was to “rescue” Nora from me then, but something stopped him.
I was that something.
When the cops checked out the warehouse, they found even more evidence that Miller had planned to kidnap Nora and hold her hostage. There was a mattress on the floor in the corner. They found chains and handcuffs, along with a pink ballerina outfit, ballet slippers, and enough food rations to last months.
I shudder to even think about what would have happened to her if Miller’s plan had come to fruition, and I think that’s what has haunted Nora for the longest time.
His notebook was full of unhinged rants. Most of it didn’t make much sense, but the last entry in the notebook was loud and clear about what his intentions with Nora were.
Liam told me all the details about being at David’s apartment. He met Chicago PD there. They planned to execute a search warrant. When they arrived, the super was there packing all of David’s things up to be set on the curb. He hadn’t paid rent in three months. I guess that was how he afforded the car rental and supplies.
Liam said the super mentioned he saw a cat there before, but when he opened the apartment, there were no signs of one.
