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“This beats everything.” He laughed huskily as he rolled to one side. “Although I have to do two things before I can sleep.”
“You do?”
“The first is...uh, take care of the condom.” He pointed toward the bathroom. “Then I need to call home.”
Bree raised a brow. “Is this where I find out you’re married with three kids?” Although the words were light, he sensed a current of insecurity beneath them.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed. “No. This is where you find out I have a very unique collection of animals. I have to check in with Dinah, who helps me on the ranch, to make sure they’re okay.”
“Rylan—” Bree placed a hand on her heart “—are you...could you be...softhearted?”
“Yeah,” he growled, as he placed a kiss on her forehead. “But don’t you dare tell anyone.”
* * *
Bree was fascinated by the way Rylan slept. She was a light sleeper, tossing and turning, and waking at the slightest sound. Whereas, he lay on his stomach, breathing deeply, so still and peaceful she envied him. She wondered what he was dreaming about, where his subconscious was taking him.
Was it considered creepy to watch someone sleep? Particularly when it was the first time they’d spent the night together? It didn’t look as if he was likely to wake any time soon, so she figured Rylan would never know.
Bree herself was wide-awake, her thoughts flitting back and forth between the show, the stalker and the gorgeous man at her side. Focusing on Rylan made her feel safe. His presence was like a warm, cozy blanket wrapped around her. With him beside her, it would be easy to let the emails and the knowledge that a stranger had been inside her apartment fade into the background.
Unfortunately, even the delicious memory of being in Rylan’s arms couldn’t keep the fears at bay for long. She had to consider the truth of her situation. The person sending those emails wanted to harm her. Even if the attacks remained threats and never became physical, there was someone out there who hated her so much he was relishing causing her pain. And Bree had no idea why.
Her biggest fear, aside from the immediate risk to her personal safety, was the impact on everything she’d worked so hard to achieve. Stepping outside the Colton sphere of influence had not been easy for Bree. But breaking free to pursue her art as a career, making a success of her business, those things belonged to her. They were all Bree and, contrary to what her tormentor claimed in his emails, they owed nothing to her family name.
Whatever this person’s motive was, she couldn’t let him succeed in driving her away. This was her gallery, her home, her life. Having Rylan at her side made her feel more secure, but she needed more than protection. She wanted a resolution. Whoever was behind this had to be stopped.
She had told Rylan that her family had been having a few problems lately, but she hadn’t gone into any detail. As it turned out, it wasn’t a great time to be a Colton. Her cousin Wyatt had been through a tough time when a body was found on his ranch and he was briefly under investigation. He had also been dealing with a rival rancher vandalizing his stock. Another cousin, Sloane, had been the subject of a hit, when the grandparents of her young daughter took drastic steps to try and gain custody. As if that wasn’t enough, Decker’s wife, Kendall—the same person who had been hit in the face by glass when the gallery window was broken—had been the subject of an attempted kidnapping prior to their marriage.
Bree had been over and over it in her mind, and couldn’t see any way that these things were linked to what was happening to her. It was just a family run of awful luck.
There was no doubt that the tone of the emails had changed over time. Initially, the focus had been that she was a Colton, using her wealth to take advantage of local people. Lately, the emails had become more personal. They were about Bree, how she looked, the color of her skin and, more specifically, what the sender would like to do to her.
She shivered and drew closer to Rylan, pulling the bedclothes tighter around them both. From the detail in the messages, it was obvious the author had seen her. Possibly, he was someone she knew. The thought troubled her. How could she have upset another person so much to incite such a powerful grudge?
