“Where’s my sister, Luke?” I planted my hands on my hips.
“She’s safe.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He steepled his fingers under his chin, leaning deeper into his chair with nothing else to say.
“You’re wasting my lunch hour,” I muttered. Luke had wasted my lunch hour every day this week.
Through the glass window behind him, snow was falling, dusting the bare tree limbs with another white layer. The riverbanks were frozen, and the water flowed black through an icy channel. There wasn’t a breath of wind in the air to disrupt the snowfall. The fat flakes floated down in perfect lines to rest on the ground.
It was peaceful. It didn’t seem right that the world was so tranquil when there was so much turmoil stirring inside my chest. “Is she okay?”
“Yes.” Luke nodded. “She’s safe.”
Safe was not the same as okay. There was a big difference between the two words after what we’d seen.
I hadn’t seen Scarlett in ten days, not since the night Dash had carried her out of my house, his hand over her eyes as she’d screamed and stretched for Jeremiah’s lifeless body. Shaw had pinned me to his side, shielding my eyes as we’d followed closely behind.
The moment the gun went off, chaos erupted.
As we hurried outside, a stream of police officers, Luke at the front, raced in. Somewhere between the questioning and the flashing lights and the gurney carrying a black body bag, Scarlett found her way into Luke’s truck. She sat slumped in the passenger seat, her head pressed to the glass of the window, her eyes blank.
Shaw and I stood in the snow, clinging to one another though neither of us was cold. We were numb. He wrapped me in his arms, holding me close. I burrowed into his chest, wanting to disappear inside forever.
Then he was ripped away. Arrested. Dash too. Both of them were hauled away in police cruisers while Emmett and Leo stood as my sentries.
In the midst of my panic, my pleas for answers and Shaw’s release, I lost Scarlett.
I looked over to Luke’s truck and she was gone.
I screamed her name, over and over, until Luke appeared. With his hands on my shoulders, he promised she was safe. That she was giving her statement. Then he drove me to the police station—it wasn’t like I could go home—and settled me in this office, draping a wool blanket over my shoulders. Then he’d sat me in the same chair I was in now, across from the same chair he was in now, and we’d talked about what had happened.
When I was finally free to go, I found Shaw waiting for me in the lobby. Bryce had posted bail to rescue him and Dash from their jail cells.
Shaw took me to his place. Sleep had been fitful at best, but he’d held me close, and when the tears had started the next morning, he’d tightened his embrace and promised it would be okay.
Ten days later, the fog was clearing.
I’d returned to work two days after that awful night. Everyone had protested when I’d walked into the office that morning with Shaw by my side, but I’d needed normal. I’d needed the garage’s noise, smell and peace.
The day after that, Shaw and Dash had been charged with obstruction of justice. Both had been fined but thankfully, there’d been no jail time. By some miracle, the arrest had been kept out of the tabloids so far. Shaw’s manager, agent, assistant and publicist were on high alert. It would happen, we’d deal with the fallout, and life would move on. Though I suspected that when the details emerged, Shaw’s image as a hero would only be reinforced.
He’d broken the law to save the life of the woman he loved.
My house had been cleaned. The evidence of Jeremiah’s death was gone but his shadow remained. I’d stepped inside once after the cleaners had gone and immediately stepped out. I wouldn’t go into that house again. Shaw had spent two days hauling my belongings into his home while I’d been at work.
As he’d promised, we would be okay.
I just needed to find my sister.
“Will you have her call me?” I asked Luke. “Wherever she is?”
“No.” He sighed. “She’s in protective custody. That means no outside contact. You keep asking but my answer isn’t going to change. She’s safe. She’s where she needs to be. Leave it at that and know that I have her and your best interests at heart.”
“Fine.” I stood, knowing I’d get no more information. I picked up my purse and turned for the door.
“Pres?” Luke stopped me. “How are you holding up?”
“I’ll survive.”
“Anything I can do?”
“Besides tell me where my sister is? No. Just take care of her.”
“I will,” he promised. “And Shaw? Is he taking care of you?”
“Yeah.” I gave him a sad smile. “He is.”
“How’s he doing?”
“He feels guilty. At the moment, he’s burying that by fretting over me.”
Yesterday, I’d woken up alone. Shaw had been in the living room, sitting on the couch in total darkness, staring at a wall. It had taken some time to coax out the truth, but he’d eventually confessed.
He felt responsible for Jeremiah’s suicide.
Luke had listened to Shaw’s advice about how best to get Scarlett and me out safely from that house. They’d all agreed that their first step had to be gathering intel. They’d suspected Jeremiah was inside but hadn’t been sure. Someone had to approach.
Luke had insisted on taking the risk and ringing the doorbell himself. Meanwhile, one of his officers would attempt to survey the situation from my deck in the backyard.
Shaw and Dash had assured Luke they’d stand down, stay away and watch. Instead, Shaw had snuck through my bedroom window while Dash had snuck through Scarlett’s. The officer at the deck hadn’t been able to pick the lock on my sliding glass door.
While Luke had been debriefing his officers on the plan and pulling on a bulletproof vest, Shaw and Dash had crept inside, lurking in the dark, listening as Jeremiah had confessed to stealing from his club.
Maybe if they’d waited, maybe if they’d stayed outside, we would have been able to get Jeremiah out and into police custody.
Or maybe he would have killed us all.
We’d never know.
The guilt of Jeremiah’s death weighed on Shaw.
It wasn’t in his nature to disobey orders, and because of it, a man had taken his life.
“I get why he did it,” Luke said. “If I’d been in his shoes, I wouldn’t have stayed out of that house either.”
“He thought once he had me and Scarlett safe, it would be over.”
Luke shook his head. “I don’t think it would have ended any other way.”
“Me neither,” I whispered.
During the sleepless nights of the past ten days, I’d thought a lot about what had led to the blast of Jeremiah’s gun. He’d been so desperate, so manic. He’d known what fate awaited him, and rather than leave his death to the Warriors, he’d taken it upon himself.
We’d lost Jeremiah long before he’d burst into my home.
“Bye, Luke.”
He nodded once. “Take care, Presley.”
“I’ll be back on Monday.”
“I assumed you would.” He chuckled as I walked out the door.
Until I knew where Scarlett was, I’d hound Luke for answers. He wouldn’t be at the station this weekend so I couldn’t swing by to pepper him with questions, but I’d be texting often. There were advantages to having the chief of police’s personal cell phone number.
I made my way through the bullpen to the exit. Luke had stopped escorting me out yesterday—I knew where I was going. The short dash from the station to my Jeep chased away any warmth I’d found inside. I brushed the heavy snowflakes from my jeans and hair, then cranked the heat as I drove to the garage.
When I arrived, Shaw was in the chair across from my desk, waiting.
“I brought you soup.” He stood and kissed my cheek as I shrugged off my coat and dumped it beside my desk.
“Thank you.” I warmed my hands on the bowl before taking off the lid and stirring it with my spoon.
“What did Luke say?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I muttered. “He won’t tell me where she’s at.”
“Let’s just hope he hasn’t called in the DEA.”
None of us knew what Scarlett had seen in her time at the Arrowhead Warrior clubhouse. Worst-case scenario: federal investigators got involved, hoping to use Scarlett as a tool against the Warriors to take down the gang. She’d be a pawn.
She’d become more of a target than she already was.
I was holding out faith that my sister was smart enough to keep her mouth shut. If Luke had no reason to use her as an informant, eventually he’d let her go.
Especially if we could get some assurances that the Warriors no longer thought she was a thief.
Dash had been forced to make another call to Tucker Talbot and explain that Scarlett had not stolen drugs from the Warriors. Tucker had listened but made no assurances he believed Dash.
Too much money had been stolen.
Which meant we were at a standstill. Either the DEA would show up in Clifton Forge or the Warriors would start hunting for my sister.
“I hate this.” I sighed. “I hate that she’s missing.”
“I know, baby, but it’s better this way.” Shaw gave me a sad smile. “Until things settle down, it’s safer for both of you if she’s gone.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled into my soup.
“I called my dad this morning.”
The spoon fell from my hand, splattering tomato basil on my desk. “You did?”
He nodded. “I actually talked to him once earlier. Just didn’t get a chance to tell you. But I called him today too. I needed to talk it through.”
“What did he say?”
“He thinks I made the right call. Dad said it probably would have ended that way, no matter what happened.”
“Luke said the same.” I stretched my hand across the desk.
His large grip enveloped mine. “You talking about me?”
“You’re my favorite topic.” I squeezed his fingers. “I know you feel guilty, but this is not your fault. Jeremiah made his choice.”
Shaw hummed, rubbed his thumb over my knuckles, then let me go. It would take time, but I had faith he’d eventually come to terms with his guilt.
The door to the shop opened and Emmett stepped inside. Isaiah was right behind him.
“Hey, guys.” Emmett came over and shook Shaw’s hand.
Isaiah clapped Shaw on the shoulder before sitting down.
If there’d been any worry that Shaw wouldn’t fit right in here, those fears were long forgotten. A hostage situation had a way of proving loyalty and sincerity.
“What are you doing today?” Emmett asked Shaw as he took his lunch out of the fridge.
“Not much. I had some work to do this morning but it’s pretty well wrapped. Why?”
“Leo is finishing up with some pinstripes on a hood in the booth, then he’s convinced me to leave early for a beer at The Betsy. Want to come?”
“I can’t.” He grinned at me. “I have a date tonight.”
“A date?” I raised an eyebrow. Since when did we have a date? “Who’s the lucky woman?”
“I’m picking you up at four. Can you leave early? We need to make a stop before dinner.”
“I’ll cover the office until closing,” Isaiah offered.
“Thank you.” I smiled and ate a spoonful of soup, listening to the guys spend their lunch break telling Shaw about the car they were working on. When they’d nearly convinced him to buy it for my next birthday, they’d returned to the shop to finish up for the day, leaving the two of us alone once more.
“Did you talk to your landlord today?” Shaw asked.
“Yes. I feel so bad for her. How’s she going to rent out the house where a man held two women hostage, then committed suicide?”
“Want me to buy it from her and bulldoze it to the ground?”
“Yes, please.” I was joking. Sort of.
I’d loved that house. It had been the springboard for my life in Clifton Forge. It had been my sanctuary. Seeing it now, dark and haunted, was destroying the beautiful memories.
“Done.” Shaw nodded. “Consider it gone.”
“I was joking.”
“I’m not. If flattening that house makes your life easier, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“How about instead, we cover the mortgage until my landlord can rent it out? Then I won’t feel guilty about leaving.”
“Okay. But if you change your mind . . .” He crashed his fists together, making the sound of an explosion.
“Deal.” I giggled.
“There’s something else I wanted to run past you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why do I get the feeling I won’t like this?”
“Keep an open mind.” He winked. “I have a movie premiere in two weeks. Will you come with me?”
“This movie? Our movie?” I gulped. It wasn’t really my movie, but he got the point.
“No.” He shook his head. “That won’t be out for another year or so.”
Good. I’d need time to think about that one. Maybe in a year, I’d be more willing to see the film. Even then, I wouldn’t go to support the movie. I’d only go to stand beside Shaw, to show him I was proud of his accomplishment and that he’d taken a risk beyond his typical role.
“What movie?” I asked.
“It’s an action film I shot about a year ago.”
“I like action films.” I tapped my chin. “Define movie premiere.”
“Red carpet. Tuxedo. Gown.”
I groaned. “I’m going to have to smile a lot, aren’t I?”
Shaw laughed and stood, rounding my desk to drop a kiss on my forehead. “But it’s such a beautiful smile.”
My heart fluttered. “Always the sweet talker.”
“I’m taking that as a yes and leaving before you change your mind.” Shaw gathered up the trash from our lunch and dumped it in the trash can, then put on his coat. “Four o’clock.”
“I’ll be ready.” I stood and escorted him to the door, waiting in the threshold as he brushed off the snowflakes from his truck’s windshield.
I was going to a Hollywood movie premiere. I was in love with a bona fide movie star.
Shaw Valance.
Shaw Valance
Shaw Valance.
There were only so many ways to interpret two words. Only so many ways to alter their meaning with inflection.
But no matter how many times I said his name in my head, Shaw Valance would always be mine.
Shaw Valance was the man who’d brought me soup at lunch because he knew how cold I got in the office. He was the man who knew how much I loved my job and would support me working here for as long as it made me happy, no matter how many dollars he could charge on his credit card. He was the man who’d opened my heart. Who’d become my other half.
Shaw tossed his snow brush into the backseat. “Go inside before you freeze.”
“Okay.” I smiled but didn’t move. “Shaw?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I love you.” The words drifted through the snow, causing a wide smile to spread across his face.
“See you at four.” He winked, then got into his truck and disappeared.
My feet floated to my desk. My fingers were lighter than they’d been in days as they flew across the keyboard, wrapping things up for the week.
Shaw loved me, but he’d never said I love you—three words, in that order.
He was always the one to make the move first. He’d ask, I’d answer. He gave me that control. There was something freeing about making the statement first—putting myself out there so he knew it wasn’t always about me responding to him.
I was nearly done with work for the day, anxious for Shaw to pick me up, when my phone dinged. I opened it to a text from Bryce.
At the grocery store.
That was the caption to a picture of Luke Rosen carrying a woman in a fireman’s hold out the front doors.
Except it wasn’t just a woman.
It was Scarlett.
Was that his idea of protective custody? Of being safe? Clearly, he’d underestimated Scarlett.
“You better know what you’re doing, Rosen,” I muttered to the screen.
Then I texted him the same, getting a reply ten minutes later.
She’s safe.
She’d better be.
“Where are we?” My boots crunched as I followed Shaw into a field.
The snow had stopped falling an hour ago and the sun was about to set. The air was frigid and the breeze bit through my red parka.
Shaw had mentioned taking a long vacation to California to meet his family and with the weather like it was, that sounded better every second.
“Close your eyes.” Shaw took my hand.
“Okay.” I obeyed as he stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my chest.
The chill from the wind was gone, chased away as he shrouded me with his tall frame.
“Straight ahead of you will be the barn.”
“The bar—”
“Don’t open your eyes.”
I frowned, closing them again. “Closed.”
“You can pick the color, but I vote for red.”
“A red barn.” My heart skipped. “Okay.”
Maybe he was planning on building Clifton Forge’s first petting zoo, but my mind jumped to a much better use for this property, hoping the land ten miles out of town, nestled beside the river and surrounded by trees, was for something more personal.
He spun us to the right ninety degrees, our feet shuffling as we swayed. “This will be the guest house.”
A smile cracked my face. “What kind of guests?”
“My parents. My sisters. Your sister.”
“I like those guests.”
“And this”—he spun us again, this time only forty-five degrees—“this is where we’ll have our house.”
“What kind of house?” I asked.
“A happy one.”
Shaw always had the right answer.
My entire life, all I’d wanted was a happy home.
His arms disappeared but I kept my eyes closed, ignoring the emotion overload prickling my throat. As his boots moved on the snow, I listened, following as he moved in front of me.
“Presley Marks. I love you.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“Good. Now look at me.”
My eyes popped open, dropping to where Shaw knelt before me. In his hand was a black box, the diamond ring inside catching the last glimmer of the setting sun.
“Will you marry me?”
I giggled. “No.”
He threw his head back, laughing to the winter sky before shooting to his feet and wrapping me in his arms. “I knew you’d say that.”
“Haven’t you figured it out?” I whispered against his lips. “Sometimes when I say no to you, it really means yes.”