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After a couple of seconds, Nathan finally returns to the truck. I’m sitting sideways in my seat, waiting to hear what happened, but my questions are stuck in my throat when I see how hard Nathan’s face is. He looks more than angry, he looks deadly. The air in the truck turns thick as he drives up towards the cabin, neither of us speaking a word.
“Go inside,” he demands through gritted teeth. I have never been afraid of him, but his tone is frightening. I jump out and run up the cabin steps, fumbling to type the code in before shutting the door behind me. I peek through the peephole, still able to see him sitting in the truck, his hands are ringing the steering wheel so hard it looks like it could break. He gets out of his truck, slamming his door, once, then twice. Each slam making me jump. He starts to round the front of his truck, like he’s going to come inside, when he stops, bracing both hands on the hood and hanging his head. My heart breaks, knowing that I’m the cause of this. No matter what he says, it’s my fault he’s in this mess.
He stands up straight and starts walking towards the front door again, so I jump back a few feet, lingering by the couch. I sit down on the arm, not sure what to do with myself, but preparing to be ambushed by a cloud of doom.
This is it. This is the moment that the veil will finally be snatched away, and our perfect reality together will turn into nothing but another painful memory. I can’t blame him, he has every right to be angry with me, for involving him in this.
My ex would have already taken it out on me by this point, screaming at me, telling me I’m worthless. He would have made sure I felt the brunt of his frustration… But, Nathan isn’t Mark. Mark punched holes in walls and tore doors off of their hinges, he lied about everything, never caring about me like he should have. Nathan isn’t like that, he actually cares about me.
Right?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Nathan
That stupid mother fucker. Stupid, fucking snake. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kill a man as much as I want to kill a man right now. I wasn’t sure what I was going to get when I confronted Sheriff Donahue at the bottom of my driveway, I was just hoping it wouldn’t lead to a bullet to my head. Instead, I listened to that slimy son of a bitch threaten Callie right to my face. I’m a reasonable man, and I’ve been in hostile confrontations before, but nothing could prepare me for the level of restraint I had to use today. It didn’t matter that he was a Sheriff, it didn’t matter that we were 10 yards from my property. The only thing that kept me from shooting him between his eyes was Callie sitting right behind me in the truck. She would have seen pure evil in me, the evil that I’ve worked hard to keep tapped down. The darkness that lurks in me would scare her away, but I need her to stay with me, not run from me. It’s not a question anymore, she’s not safe.
Trying to calm down, I sit in the truck for a full minute before getting out. I have to shake my head to stop hearing his sick voice, “Tell that whore of yours to get out of town… If I come back here and she’s not gone, I’ve got a bullet for both of ya.”
He slurred his threats in my face, the alcohol evident on his breath. Thinking he has the upper hand, he has no idea how close he was to dying at that moment. To threaten what’s mine? The man now has a death sentence on his head. My only resolve is that with him alive, he’ll eventually draw out the other two. When the time is right, there will be no stopping me. Callie doesn’t need to know, she’ll never be involved or suspected, and she can continue living her normal life. She’ll finally be free of this nightmare.
I knew she was in danger, I knew shit could get bad, but to hear the words come out of his mouth… I have to grit my teeth to bear it, the thought of Callie lifeless, dead at the hands of these fuckers. I’ll never allow it.
I need to get a grip, I’m still on the edge of losing it, my rage is eating at me. My sweet Callie, she’s okay, she’s inside.
She needs me to be in control, not this feral animal ready to snap necks. I brace my hand on the doorknob of the cabin, hesitating. She needs me, I’m in control, I’m good. She doesn’t need to know how serious the threat to her life is, not right at this moment. I’ll break it to her slowly, and prepare her for what needs to come next.
I run it through my head, needing my plan to calm me down even more, to put the chaos out of my mind. The first thing I’m going to do is fix her tire, that way if she needs to run, she can do it safely. Second thing, she’s keeping a gun on her every time she leaves the house or my side. Third, or actually swap this with number two, make sure she knows how to shoot and shoot well. I need her to be able to defend herself, even if I’m not around. I plan to be by her side every step, but I need to know if I die trying to save her, she still has a chance. Fourth thing, we need to consider getting her back to Tennessee as soon as possible. No, scratch all of that, Tennessee is safer. There’s no way they have the nerve to go after her across state lines. But, I still need to hear back from Trooper Malec, fuck.
Based on my conversation with Sheriff Donahue, he knows I called them. The first thing he said to me during our standoff was, “You called the fuckin’ staties on me boy? And here I thought we would be handlin’ this as men.”
Clearly pissed about it, he most likely lied about his involvement. Now, I’ll have to wait to see whether Trooper Malec believed him or not. God dammit, I hate not being the one calling the shots. I feel powerless as a civilian, at the mercy of these fucking police agencies. I’ll tell Malec that I made her leave for her safety, and he’ll just have to be okay with that. Who knows how long it will take them to do an investigation and work things by the book, she might not have that long.
At least as Special Forces, it was simple; find the bad guys, take them out, repeat. All they asked was that we stay under the radar, not make the news. That made me good at stealth. I could get me and my entire team in and out of a building without ever being seen. We could disarm and kill targets without making a sound, a skill that I can’t wait to use again. My palms twitch thinking about strangling Sheriff Donahue with my bare hands.
I roll my shoulders, take a deep breath, and go through the plan in my head again. Fix her tire, check. Teach her how to shoot and carry a gun, check. Get her the fuck away from here and back to Tennessee, check. Kill the fuckers that want to hurt her, check. Bring her back home to me. Check.
Feeling in control enough to go inside, I push the door open. The first thing I see is Callie, sitting on the arm of the couch, playing with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. Her nervous tick.
Seeing her in front of me brings out my rage at Sheriff Donahue again, all the control I just worked on maintaining outside has flown out the window. How dare he threaten to take her from me, from this world?
I need her. I need to hold her in my arms so I can feel that she’s safe since my mind can’t convince me, but I move too quickly. My need to touch her comes out too aggressively, making her flinch. It halts me in my tracks. The panic that sweeps across her features is instantaneous, but it’s there. It’s like being doused in ice water, making me hate myself for scaring her. I stay rooted in my spot, not in control of myself enough to behave rationally.
I’m terrified to move, not wanting to scare her anymore, but my body is trembling with my need to touch her. Touching her will quiet my brain, confirming that she’s okay, that she’s safe.
“Nathan?” She whispers my name, confusion marring her features, all traces of fear long gone. My eyes squeeze shut, hearing her voice helps me breathe a little easier.
“Are you afraid of me, Callie?” I ask, needing to know. I need to hear her say it.
“No,” she answers right away, chipping more of my rage away. I need her. She’s the only thing that will make me sane again.
“I promise I’ll tell you everything, but right now I can’t think straight. I need… you,” I admit to her, raising my hands slowly so I don’t startle her again.
She jumps up from her seat immediately and throws her arms around my neck, “You have me.”
The air escapes my lungs in relief, finally clutching her body to mine, feeling her heartbeat against mine. Those mother fuckers will never take this girl from this world, she’s too good, for all of this. I bury my face in her hair, inhaling her scent, needing it to clear my head. My thoughts are still racing. I need to keep her safe. I need to eliminate the threats. I need to kill someone.
My hands graze over her bare midriff, her sweatshirt riding up as she hugs me. I tug it the rest of the way off, not wanting it between me and the rest of her body. She lets me remove it, raising her arms in assistance.
