I grit my teeth. He’s got money, power. The city’s slick confidence wrapped up in a designer suit. Everything I’m not.
And now he’s here.
“I can’t believe he’s here,” Bella’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. She’s at the window, watching the plane land in the distance, and there’s something in her expression I can’t quite read. Anger, definitely, but there’s something else there too. Something like fear.
“I won’t get in the middle of this if you don’t want me to, but say the words and I’ll pound that asshole into the tarmac if you’ll let me,” I say, my voice coming out sharper than I intended. I take a step toward her, my chest tight with the question I’ve been avoiding since that plane showed up on the small Copper Countyrunway. “I hate to ask, but I need to know... Are you thinking about leaving with him?”
She turns toward me, her eyes widening. “Leave? With him?” She looks incredulous, like the idea is so absurd it barely registers. “Archer, do you really think?—”
“I don’t know what to think.” I cut her off, stepping closer, feeling the frustration bubbling up. “He’s got everything you left behind. The life you had, the power to pull you back. I need to know if this is something I should be worried about.”
Her lips press together, and I can see the frustration in her eyes now, just beneath the surface. “This is about more than him showing up, isn’t it?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I look back at the jet, my stomach twisting into knots. He’s stepping out now, adjusting his sunglasses, his suit sharp and tailored. He looks like a man who’s never heard the word “no.”
“I can handle this,” Bella says, her voice firmer now. “He doesn’t get to control me.”
I want to believe her. I do. But something in me pulls back, makes me shake my head. “Maybe you don’t want him to, but I don’t know if you’ve really cut ties. Not with the way this keeps coming back.”
Her expression softens, and she reaches out, her fingers brushing against my arm. “You don’t trust me,” she says quietly, and the way she says it hits harder than I expected.
“I want to,” I admit, the words coming out rough. “But this—this is too big to ignore. And I’m not going to stand here and watch him take you.”
For a moment, we just stand there, the silence between us thick with everything we’re not saying. Then the sound of the jet door slamming shut breaks the tension, and we both look up. Her old boss is strutting toward us, that smug smile on his face like he’s already won.
Bella squares her shoulders, her eyes narrowing with a determination I haven’t seen before. “I’ll deal with him,” she says, her voice steely.
I follow her out onto the porch, but I keep my distance, watching as she crosses the road and faces him head-on. Even from here, I can see the air between them crackles with tension, but Bella stands her ground. I step off the porch and cross the road after her, keeping my distance but remaining close enough to hear every word that passes between them.
“Bella,” he calls out as he approaches, that smug smile never faltering. “I knew you couldn’t resist forever.”
She crosses her arms, her posture stiff, her voice cutting. “I didn’t ask you to come here. I blocked your number for a reason.”
He waves her off like it’s nothing, taking a step closer. “Oh, come on. You know you can’t stay in this… backwater town. Look at you.” His eyes rake over her, lingering in a way that makes my blood boil. “You’re meant for more. For the city. For me.”
I see Bella’s jaw tighten, the fire in her eyes burning brighter as she steps forward, not backing down. “What I’m meant for,” she says, her voice cold as ice, “is none of your business anymore.”
He laughs, the sound grating, and takes another step toward her. “You don’t really believe that. I know you, Bella. You can’t survive out here. This little mountain fling? It’s not you.”
That’s it. I take a step forward, but Bella’s hand shoots out, stopping me in my tracks. She doesn’t even look back at me as she faces him down. “No, Archer. I’ve got this.”
She turns back to him, her voice hard. “I survived you, didn’t I?”
His smile falters for the first time, a crack in that arrogant facade. But instead of backing off, he reaches out, grabbing herarm, pulling her closer. “Don’t play hard to get. We both know how this ends.”
Before I can move, Bella’s already in action. In one swift motion, she pulls a small canister from her pocket, aims it at his face, and sprays.
He stumbles back, hands flying to his eyes, cursing. “You crazy bitch!”
Bella doesn’t flinch. Instead, she steps forward, aiming pepper spray in his eyes and then delivering a sharp kick to his knee, sending him crashing to the ground. “Don’t touch me again.”
For a second, I just stand there, watching it all unfold in disbelief. Pride surges through me—she didn’t need me to save her. She handled him, better than I could have.
Her old boss is still writhing on the ground, blinded and swearing, but Bella doesn’t give him another glance. She walks back toward me, her chin high, her eyes fierce.
“I told you,” she says as she steps up to me, her voice steady. “I’m done with him.”
I stare at her, my heart pounding. She really is done. With him. With that life. And she chose me. I step closer, my hand sliding around her waist, pulling her into me, feeling the heat of her body against mine.
