AllFreeNovel
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He didn’t move.
A shiver shook her body. “I’m cold. Let’s go back inside.” She spun on her heel and started for the French doors.
In a flash, his fingers curled around her shoulders. His grip was hard, painful, and she let out a shocked cry just as—
The doors flew open. Brady stepped outside. Brady, wearing a t-shirt and jeans and frowning as he called, “Noelle?”
She opened her mouth to scream and get his attention, but the man behind her—a man who wasnotBrady—shoved his gloved hand over her mouth even as he used his other arm to wrench her back against him…and he hauled her toward the darkness and shadows.
No, no, no.This couldn’t happen! Her hand flew up. She grabbed at the glove over her mouth, and she managed to snag his pinky finger. Noelle yanked that finger as hard as she could and maybe she even heard it snap.
Shedefinitelyheard her attacker growl, “Bitch!” right before he freed her mouth.
“Brady!”Noelle screamed.
His head whipped toward her. Could he even see her in the shadows?
Her attacker’s arm tightened around her stomach.
“Noelle!” Brady’s voice was a roar as he leapt down the steps and hurtled toward her.
Noelle drove her elbow back into her attacker.
“Fuck.” He shoved her forward, and Noelle slipped on the snow-covered ground. She went down, hard, slamming her knees and her palms onto the earth. Behind her, she heard the frantic thud of footsteps rushing away.
“Noelle!”Brady dropped to his knees in front of her. His hands flew over her shoulders. Her arms. “Baby, baby, are you all right?”
Her heart pounded hard enough to shake her chest as she looked at him through a curtain of her tousled hair. Her breath sawed in and out, but Noelle nodded. “Fine…I…” She licked her lips. “I thought he was you,” Noelle managed to rasp.
Brady pulled her to her feet. Her knees wanted to shake, so she locked them.
“Get inside,” Brady ordered. “Now.”
“But—”
“I’m getting the bastard.” He gently pushed her toward the building. “Inside.” Then he ran away, rushing toward the darkness.
Noelle stared after him. A long shiver trembled over her body.
“Noelle?”
Her brother’s voice. Her head angled toward him. He’d just stepped outside. Hesitant, Elliott stood near the open doors with the light spilling behind him. “Is everything all right?”
No, no, nothing was all right. Tears filled her eyes, and she hurriedly blinked them away even as she ran toward her brother.
***
Sonofabitch.Rage poured through Brady’s veins as he gave chase. He could make out a faint trail of footprints in the snow, and he barreled along that path.
I thought he was you.Noelle’s rasping words echoed in his mind and made the rage burn even hotter. When he’d stepped outside, when he’d heard her scream…
Everything inside of him had iced. For one moment, he hadn’t even been able to breathe. Then the fury had kicked in, and he’d flown toward her even as that bastard in the Santa suit—Brady had been able to make out the bulky suit even in the darkness—had heaved her forward and onto the ground.
That the SOB had dared to touch her, had scared her, had…what the fuck was his intention? What had he planned for my Noelle?
Brady kicked something in the snow. Something that tangled around the top of his boot. Frowning, he bent down, and his fingers closed around a beard. A long, white Santa beard. Jaw locking, he headed forward. After a few feet, he found a discarded coat. A hat. The red Santa pants.
And Brady reached the driveway. The long, curving drive that was filled with cars coming and going to the charity event. He looked to the left. To the right. People were everywhere. Men. Women. Laughing. Talking.
