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“Juliette!” I scream, stopping and bringing my hands on my knees as I suck air into my lungs. My chest feels tight and my hands shake as fear runs rampant through me.

Please, baby…

Say something.

I remember she wanted to check out the lake so I turn in that direction and take off again, praying with every ounce of strength that I have that she’s okay but images of her bleeding out on the ground won’t leave me alone.

“Juliette!”

“Sawyer?”

I skid to a stop.

Her voice is a sweet relief and I turn toward the direction it came from before taking off again. Come on, gorgeous. Where are you? She bursts through the brush with tears in her eyes and crashes into me, almost knocking both of us over. As soon as she’s in my arms, a sob tears through her. I step back to look her over as I run my hands down her arms.

“Are you okay?”

Her eyes meet mine, full of fear as her hands shake and she struggles to breathe. “I heard the bullet… it hit a tree right next to me… I could have died…”

“Shh, baby,” I whisper as I pull her into my arms and close my eyes, thanking God that she is okay. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

“The second one…” she continues, speaking quickly in between sobs. “I felt the air from it on my face… It was so close and… it just missed me.”

My stomach rolls thinking about how close I came to losing her. I rub my hands all over her body, wishing I could wrap her up so tight that she’d feel safe again as I scan our surroundings. My nearest neighbor is three miles away and for someone to come that close to hitting her, they had to be on the property.

“Why would someone be shooting a gun out here?” she asks, pulling back to look up at my face and I shake my head.

“I think we should head back to the city.”

Her eyes widen. “You think someone was actually shooting at me?”

“I don’t know but that’s the most likely scenario and I’m not okay with staying here if it’s going to put you in danger.”

“Why?” she whispers, shaking her head. “Why would someone shoot at me?”

“I think it’s time you told me everything, angel.”

She stares up at me for a second before nodding. Relief rushes through me that I’m finally going to get some answers but I won’t rest easy until I know for sure that my girl is safe.

Chapter Twenty

Juliette

My stomach is in knots as Sawyer sets our bags down on the living room floor with a sigh and glances over at me. We spent the drive back from the cabin in silence but he never once took his arm off my shoulder, holding me close to his body. I know we’re still really shook up after what happened at the cabin but he was there for me anyway. It was a relief, to be honest. Who knows how much of a mess I would have been after what happened in the woods if he had been cold and distant to me. Sinking into the couch, I stare at my hands, which haven’t stopped shaking since the shots started. Closing my eyes, I remember hearing that first bang and the way the bark on the tree right next to me exploded as the bullet made impact. I stood there, frozen in fear as my heart thundered in my chest and tears gathered in my eyes, unable to do anything as I cried out for Sawyer. When the second bullet ripped through the air, I felt the force of it against my cheek and my stomach rolls as I think about how close it came to hitting me. I’ve never felt fear like that in my life but I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that someone wants to hurt me.

It doesn’t make any sense.

Sawyer walks into the kitchen and comes back a few seconds later with a beer in his hand before he sits in the chair across from me and nods. “Time to start talking, angel.”

I nod.

“Why don’t we start with who hired that P.I. out front?”

Wincing, I shake my head. “Can we start with something else?”

“Like?” he asks, arching a brow. His gaze is hard and the longer he stares at me, the more I see him shutting down and throwing up walls to block out the pain he thinks I’m going to cause him. God, why didn’t I just tell him the truth from the beginning? Would he really have treated me differently? I suck in a breath as I wring my hands together.

“Do you remember when I told you that my dad just passed away in a car accident?”