“Blaze had Streak investigate all the things that have been happening - the flowers, the reservations, and the guy that showed up yesterday - and he found an online dating profile for you run by someone else.”
Who in the hell would run a fake dating profile on me and for what reason?
“Blaze and Streak both think it is the same guy who is targeting the club…”
A bolt of fear slices through me.
“I was the one leading the charge on these cases but I haven’t been doing as much lately because I’ve been so distracted with everything going on between us. I…” He pulls his hand away from my face and runs one through his hair. “I was tracking you and following you to make sure you didn’t leave me or cheat on me and each time something new happened, it just made me feel crazier.”
“Wyatt,” I breathe, closing my eyes and rubbing my fingers into my forehead. I don’t even know how to process all of this and I know we’ll have to talk about this in more depth later but right now, I don’t want to interrupt him.
“I know, baby…” His voice cracks and he shakes his head. “I don’t know why I was so quick to believe the worst of you because when I look at you now… It’s so crazy to me that I ever believed you could do that to me. I mean, I know you… I’ve known you since we were ten years old and I know you would never do that to me. It’s just… I was going crazy… Fuck, Pip. I’m so fucking sorry that I’ve been such an ass lately. Clearly, I have some issues from our past but I promise you that I’m going to work on that.”
I nod, searching his eyes and for the first time in a long time, I can see the boy I fell in love with staring back at me. “How?”
“How what?”
“How are you going to work on it?” I ask and he shakes his head, blowing out a breath.
“I don’t really know yet. I hadn’t really gotten that far.”
That is what I was afraid of.
I’m happy that he is identifying the problem but it’s not that easy to overcome. For ten years, my betrayal became part of who he was and just because it didn’t actually happen doesn’t mean the trust issues disappeared. Looking down, I take a deep breath and my heart skips a beat as I meet his gaze again. “Will you go see Dr. Brewer with me?”
“What?” he asks, jerking back.
Shit.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.
The look on his face makes it clear that he doesn’t like the idea but I remember sitting on the beach with him the morning we left Charleston and how he told me that he would do whatever it took to make this work. I just hope that still applies now.
“Wyatt, I can’t fix you with my love anymore than you can fix me and if you really want to make this work, I think this is what we need to do. And I know that it’s my fault that you have these trust issues but we have to find a way to move forward.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know, Pip… I don’t want to talk to a shrink.”
“Baby,” I say, reaching forward and grabbing his hand before placing it on my belly. “We have to find a way to get past this, for us and for this baby that we are bringing into the world and these past few weeks have been hell for both of us. I’ve been worried sick that I was losing you and you were feeling the same and it doesn’t really matter who was manipulating you because the point is, you believed it. We have to fix us and you promised me that you would do whatever it took to make this work.”
“I…” he says before sighing and running his hand through his hair again. The silence stretches between us and I can see him working through it in his mind before he looks up at me and nods. “Okay. I hate the idea so much but I’ll do it for you.”
I shake my head as he pulls me into his arms. “No, Wyatt. You’re doing this for you.”
“Let’s compromise and say I’m doing it for us.”
“Fine,” I answer, rolling my eyes and he flashes me a grin as he pulls me closer and his gaze drops to my lips. His tongue darts out, tracing along his full bottom lip and just like that, I want him.
“Do I get to kiss you now?”
I nod. “Yes, please.”
His lips crash down on mine and our bodies meld together as I grip the back of his cut and moan into his kiss. Tears sting my eyes, slipping down my cheeks as his hand slips into my hair and he massages the back of my head. Too quickly, he pulls back and brushes his thumb over my cheek, wiping away my tears.
“I love you, sweetheart, and I’m so sorry for everything I put you through.”
Closing my eyes, I lay my head on his shoulder. “Pretty sure we’re about even now.”
Silence descends over us again but this time, it’s comfortable as he holds me close and we enjoy the quiet moment together, letting go of the past twenty-four hours. When he pulls away again, there is stress lining his face.
“We’ve got to pack and get back to the club, baby.”
I nod, blinking up at him as a chill runs through me. “What’s happening?”
“A woman walked into the clubhouse this morning, saying she had been kidnapped and her abductor brought her to us and told her to pass along a message.”
Sucking in a breath, my heart races as I look up at him. “It’s him?”
“Yeah, baby. It’s him.”
“What was the message?” I ask, not really all that sure I want to know and Wyatt presses his lips into a thin line and sighs.
“I am just getting started.”
My stomach drops and the fear is so overwhelming that I feel rooted to the spot. I stare up at my husband, his eyes flash with the same dread coursing through my body right now and I shake my head, my mouth opening but no words come out. I drop my head and try to breathe through it just like Dr. Brewer taught me but my mind runs wild with the possibilities, making it impossible to calm myself.
What do we do?
No one has any clue who this guy is and he is one hundred steps ahead of us.
“Hey,” he whispers, smoothing his hand over my hair and pulling my gaze back to his. “One step at a time, okay? Let’s go pack.”
I nod and we turn to walk out into the dining room when a loud pop comes from outside followed by the sound of glass breaking. Wyatt’s wide gaze turns to me and as the second pop echoes through the neighborhood, he pulls me to the floor.
“Is someone shooting at us?” I hiss as we flatten our bodies against the dining room floor. Wyatt’s hard gaze flicks to me as he pulls his gun out of his holster.
“You stay here, okay?”
I shake my head, trying to grab for him as he starts crawling away from me but he breaks free of my hold. “Wyatt!”
He disappears behind the table and I gasp for air, my pulse spiking as he pulls the curtains back to peek outside. The window breaks, raining glass down on him and I clamp my hand over my mouth to hold back my scream as tears sting my eyes again and my heart thrashes in my ears. When he appears on the side of the table, crawling toward the front door, I’m able to breathe a little easier until he opens the front door.
“Wyatt!” I hiss but he ignores me as he stands on the side of the door and takes a deep breath before stepping outside. When I don’t hear another gunshot, my mind starts to run wild and I shake my head. “Fuck this.”