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And I didn’t hate the idea.
* * *
BELLE
I wasn’t sure what had my eyes springing open and my ears perking up, but something had woken me up. There was no sunlight streaming through my room, just darkness surrounding me, so I knew it was the middle of the night.
My body was still as I tried to hear what had woken me up, but after several seconds of nothing, I rolled over and closed my eyes. I’d been on high alert since Ford had moved in with me, so it wasn’t unusual for me to wake up thinking I’d heard something when, in reality, it was just my brain working on overdrive.
I sighed as I thought about the last few days. It had been five days since Ford had kissed me. Four since he told me it was a mistake, and things hadn’t been the same between us since. He was distant, but so was I. I wasn’t willing to expose myself, not when he’d shut me down so epically. I told myself over and over again that I was living in a fantasy world. I’d made the entire thing up in my head. I’d imagined the way he looked at me, and the way he touched me.
It was the only way I could get past what he’d said.
I inhaled a deep breath and told myself to stop thinking about it, but as soon as I was starting to fall back asleep, I heard the noise again. I stilled. I hadn’t imagined it that time. I knew I hadn’t. A scraping sound, but I couldn’t place where it was from. It sounded close, but also far away, but maybe that was because my blood was pumping through my body so fast that I could hear it in my ears.
A small thud echoed and then scraping again, and I realized it was coming from my bedroom window. I lifted my head a little, trying to see what it was, and a small light flashed. I gasped and then slammed my hand over my mouth. How the hell had someone gotten that high up? And how did they know this was my window?
My heart beat wildly in my chest, and even though I knew they couldn’t get in through the new safety windows Ford had installed, I was panicking. I had to get out of my room.
I slowly slid to the other side of my bed and kept my gaze latched on to the window. My blind was three-quarters of the way down, so I could only see a sliver, but I could tell someone was out there because of the shadows.
My body slipped off the side of my bed, and I crawled toward my door, then slowly reached up. The door handle squeaked, and I winced, wondering if whoever was out there could hear me. But when the scraping rang out again, I knew they hadn’t.
I opened the door, just enough for me to squeeze through, and once I was out in the hallway, I stood. For a second, I stood there, wondering for the thousandth time if I’d imagined it, but metal banging against metal had my feet sprinting down the hallway and to Ford in the living room.
A small lamp near the kitchen was on, giving just enough light to illuminate his sleeping face. His hand was behind his head, his blanket covering half of his bare chest, but I didn’t have time to take in the tattoos that I’d only ever seen part of. I didn’t have the chance to see if they continued down his back. Not when a click rang out in the apartment.
My head swung to the door, and my heart pounded. Would they try and get in that way too?
“Ford,” I whispered, and when he didn’t answer me, I crouched down and pressed my palm against his bicep, pushing on it. “Ford.” His eyes opened, and his hand whipped out, grabbing my wrist in a vise-tight grip.
“Ford,” I repeated again, and at the sound of my voice, the pressure on my wrist lowered, but he didn’t let go. “Someone is trying to get into my bedroom window.”
I thought it’d take a second for what I’d said to sink in, but it didn’t. He sprang up off the sofa, revealing his bare chest and abs, and reached for something underneath the pillow his head had been resting on. I spotted the blink of metal and knew it was a gun.
He hadn’t let go of my wrist, and he continued to hold it as he pulled me down the hallway and toward my bedroom. “Stay here,” he whispered, and I stared at his back as he flung open my bedroom door and slammed the lights on. He lunged over my bed and yanked on my blind string, causing it to fly up my window, and then he was face to face with someone dressed entirely in black. All I could see were two dark eyes, and then he was gone.
Ford leaped through my bedroom and grabbed ahold of me again as he rushed into the living room and grabbed his cell. “Open my laptop,” he demanded, and I reached for it on the coffee table and did as I was told. He pressed his cell against his ear. “Agent Easton.” He looked over at me, his swirling eyes meeting mine. “Password BB-seven-two-nine.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or the person on the line, but when he pointed at me and then the laptop, I realized it was possible he was telling us both.
I typed in the password, and the computer came to life. I didn’t take in what was on his home screen as I turned it around. He crouched down in front of me, still talking on his cell and clicked the keys. My hands started to shake, my body going into shock. Someone had tried to break into my apartment. And it was then I realized just how real the threat was.
What would they have done if they would have gotten inside? Would they have taken me? Would they have killed me? Was I really that important?
“Belle.” Ford’s voice sounded far away, but his hands gripping my face pulled me into the here and now. “Belle.” I swallowed and blinked, causing a lone tear to slip from the corner of my eye. “Sweetheart,” he croaked out. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
“Why?” I asked, my voice sounding nothing like my own. “Why am I so important that they want to break in?”
Ford moved closer and gripped my face harder. “Because he knows that the way to get to me is through the people I care about most. He’s been running searches on all of us. Your dad called yesterday to tell me. You’re the only way he can get to us—get to me.”
“I…” I pulled in a stuttering breath. “I’m scared, Ford.”
“I know, sweetheart.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “But I won’t let him get you. I promise. I’d die before he got his hands on you.” The way he said it had no doubt in my mind that Ford would do everything in his power to keep me safe, but that didn’t mean I was safe. They’d tried to get into my bedroom window, and the alarm that Ford had installed hadn’t even gone off. If I hadn’t woken up…
I couldn’t even think about what would have happened.
Loud banging on the door had me jumping in my seat, and I grabbed Ford’s arm, my eyes wide. “It’s okay,” Ford said, turning the laptop to face me. “It’s just backup.”
I stared down at the screen and saw four frames. Each was black and white, but one looked out from the front door and toward two guys, waiting on the other side of it. “What…what’s that?”
