“Nope. I mean Tammy. A funny daughter-in-law is a gift.”
“I have plenty of ropes, chains, and other bindings if you ever want some.”
Stella almost jumped. She’d thought Nabi had gone down the hall but he’d been standing outside the open door.
“Call if you need anything. You’ll probably have to call Aniyah for the fuzzy handcuffs, though.” Nabi turned around and walked away as silently as he’d appeared.
“Go on home, dear. I’ll let you know how Jimmy’s doing in the morning and drop off this book Aniyah has that I think you’ll like. It’s about a vampire and the things he does . . . well, I won’t ruin it for you. See you in the morning.”
Stella hugged the woman and thanked her. “You think we can keep my vanilla sex life private?”
“I wouldn’t want to lie, dear.” Katelyn walked out and Stella turned to see both Luke and Andy on their phones.
“Don’t tell me this was live-streamed or something?”
Andy’s head shot up. “Oh no. Totally confidential. Well, except for what Dr. K just did.”
“What did she do?” Stella was almost panicked. She’d trusted the woman.
“She raised her bet on the app to a hundred dollars. We have to get in on this,” Andy told her.
“What bet?”
“You survived the infamous Davies family dinner and Dr. K’s raised her bet on you and Jace getting married. It has the town in a betting frenzy,” Andy explained as he finally looked up from his phone.
“You okay?” Jace asked a moment later as Stella walked into the lobby in a state of suspended disbelief.
“This is a very strange town.”
Jace’s eyes shot to Luke and Andy. Andy shrugged. “We are. But come on, I had to get in on the bet when I could.”
“I noticed,” Jace said dryly. “My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing with notifications.”
Stella noticed Nabi and Faith were gone as Jace put his arm around her. “Ready to go home?”
Stella nodded and it wasn’t until she was seated in his car and they were driving toward his apartment that she realized the word home didn’t conjure up images of her own house or even Jace’s apartment. They conjured up images of them snuggled up on the couch. Them laughing together. Them . . . oh goodness. All the talk of vampires and handcuffs was invading her subconscious because the image of Jace tying her to the bed and nibbling his way down to her—
“I bet you can’t wait to get into bed.”
“Yes, no. What?” Had she been describing her fantasy out loud?
Jace looked at her curiously before turning back to the road. “It’s been a long day and a very stressful night. I assumed you were tired.”
“Yes. So tired.” Stella faked a yawn. Tired was the last feeling she had after that short sexy daydream. Now, how to act cool when she clearly wasn’t? Plus, how to figure out who wanted to hurt her so she could focus on living out some of these fantasies that were pushing their way to the front of her mind.
18
Stella and Jace walked upstairs in silence. He didn’t know what Stella was thinking, but she looked as if a million things were racing through her mind. Jace knew the same was true for him, too.
The idea of someone wanting to hurt someone Stella loved—and maybe even Stella herself—brought forth an anger he hadn’t felt since the last time he’d been forced to pick up a gun.
“I’m going to take a quick shower,” Stella murmured when he unlocked the door. He nodded, but his mind was still in Africa.
It had been the middle of the night when a small hand had shaken him awake. “Mr. Jace, they’re coming.”
Jace had reached under his pillow and pulled the gun his Uncle Cy had somehow gotten delivered to him. There was no need to ask the five-year-old who was coming. There was a group of rebels invading small, defenseless villages all through the country. They killed the men, raped the women, and stole the children, who went on to become one of three things: a child fighter, a factory slave, or dead.
The small town Jace spent his college summers in had been prepared. They had sentries posted around town with runners to get back to the village before the rebels could sneak up on everyone.
When Jace made his way out of his small room, he saw something that turned his blood to ice. Women and girls were running for the forest. About two hundred yards into the thick trees was a hiding spot Jace had helped them build. It was like a tornado or bomb shelter. The women were to run and hide. The men on the other hand . . .
Jace looked down at the little boy who had woken him and saw he was holding a gun in his hand. It changed Jace’s whole world in that one second.
“Get to your places,” the elders ordered. Men were scaling trees, some hiding behind buildings, and the boys were at the school. Jace saw their young faces at each window and knew they were armed to save themselves, save their friends, and save their families. They would do anything, even kill, to protect their loved ones.
“Mr. Jace, here.”
Jace heard the rebels coming as he ran for the school. Gunfire erupted from the trees about twenty yards from the village as he placed himself at the door to the school. “Stay down. Don’t let them see you unless they kill me. Then don’t let a single man in this school.”
Thirty little heads nodded. They ranged from five years old to ten. By ten, you were considered grown and out with the men holding second- or third-hand rifles, ready to fight.
The shots came in earnest as Jace heard the screaming. The boys huddled in their positions as Jace guarded the door. Then they came. They rushed the village and the snipers in the trees began to take them out. Jace saw the leader stride into town as if he were bulletproof. Their eyes connected and he ordered the men to attack the school.
“You’re too late,” Jace called out, keeping the gun out of sight since most aid workers and doctors weren’t armed. “I sent the children away.”
Shrieks came from the forest as three men came back dragging a woman who was now nude and a child who wasn’t more than two.
“It appears I found some. Tell me where the others are or I’ll kill them slowly,” the rebel leader called out as he grabbed the child.
The rebel leader placed a gun to the head of the child and smiled victoriously. The mother screamed and there was no need to translate the fear and panic she felt. It was a mother’s universal cry as she did everything she could to save her child.
There was no choice to make. No time to think about how he’d feel later. No time to weigh the responsibility of taking a life. Jace raised his arm and fired. The child the rebel leader had been pressing the gun to screamed as the dead leader fell beside him. The mother dropped to the ground and yelled for her baby to run, he took off straight for Jace as the other rebel fighters looked around nervously.
Faces appeared at the windows of the school as his children stared at him in disbelief. The men of the village opened fire. Without their leader and under heavy fire, the rebels were left with no choice but to retreat.
The buzzing sound snapped Jace from his memory. His hands were clenched where they hung by his side. His heart was beating hard and he realized that the thought of Stella in danger had triggered the memory of that terrible scene, but had also given him strength. He’d protected the innocents then and he’d protect her now.