Detective Manning and Barrett are still talking when I return to the room. His eyes soften as he takes in my tear-stained features. There’s no way he can’t read my emotions because I can read his like a book—and surprisingly, he’s not angry like I’d expected. It’s almost as if he understands.
“How about I come down to the precinct in a few hours and we can talk further?” he says to Marlee.
She nods and moves my way, her arm stretched out in front of her. “It was nice to see you again, Ms. Jacobs. I’m glad we were able to find your mother safe. I’m a sucker for happy endings.”
When I take her hand, she gives me a gentle squeeze with her fingers before letting me go and walking toward the hotel room door that Barrett’s holding open.
Once we’re alone again, he quickly comes close, eliminating the space between us and pulling me into his arms without saying a word. I must look a mess and doing a poor job of hiding my emotional turmoil. Just by holding me, Barrett gives me everything I need.
I don’t know how long we stand there, but I’ve run dry of tears by the time I pull away. “He kissed me.”
Barrett moves fast, crushing his lips to mine and taking me in a long and hard, possessive kiss that has my toes curling and my mind blanking of everything else except him, and I know that he’s trying to erase Aiden’s kiss.
He tears his mouth away and I suck in some much-needed air. “I expected it, doesn’t mean I like it though. But I would’ve done the exact same thing.”
“You’re not mad?” I ask cautiously.
“How can I be mad, Lys? You told me to imagine how I’d feel if I was the man who had to walk away. I did it once and it ripped me apart so I know already. But you’re here with me which I’m taking to mean you’re now mine in the same way I’m always going to be yours. And I’m fucking glad because I wouldn’t be able to live through losing you a second time.” His words surprise me as much as they thrill me. In that one declaration, he’s just proven that fate hasn’t steered me wrong.
“I love you,” I blurt out, I clamp my mouth closed in shock, my eyes bugging out as realization sinks in. I hadn’t planned on saying it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t the truth. I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I know it’s fast and it’s crazy. But I do. I love you. Barrett. I—”
He scoops me up in his arms, leaning his forehead down as his blue eyes stare intensely into mine. “Don’t you dare take it back. I fell in love with you the moment you stepped onto that rooftop. I was a done deal when you told me to fuck you or walk away.”
I didn’t think it was possible but my splintered heart soars, and this time it’s happy tears trailing down my cheeks as my lips curve up into a slow-growing, but no less meaningful smile. “I think you need to kiss me again. Because I can’t stand hearing that you love me and not having you kiss me.”
“With fucking pleasure,” he murmurs roughly before taking my mouth and walking me back toward the bed. I fall onto the mattress with a soft bounce, and he drops down on top of me, and I know there won’t be any holding back this time.
Barrett was never the wrong or right choice—he was chosen for me. The effect he has had on me from the moment we first met can’t be denied.
It wasn't easy, it was never smooth, but it has always been real.
A while later, I’m in a bubble bath Barrett made for me. He kissed my head, put my cellphone in my hand and pushed me into the bathroom, telling me to relax while he went to brief Detective Manning as he’d promised.
Feeling myself turning into a prune, I get out of the water and wrap the complimentary white robe around me before grabbing my phone and bringing up Barrett’s number. Just as I’m about to hit the call button, the screen lights up with an unknown number.
“Hello?”
“Alyssa, it’s Marlee. Detective Manning, I mean. Has Barrett left there yet?”
I look at the clock on the wall and realize it’s been a long time since he left. “He was on his way to you over two hours ago at least.”
“Yeah, he was due to meet me at two but he hasn’t shown. Maybe I’ll try his phone again.”
“Sounds good. I’ll try sending him a text too.”
“Thanks, Alyssa.”
“You’re welcome. Goodbye,” I say before ending the call.
Walking over to the hotel window, I finish the message before looking out over the Strip and wondering what might’ve held him up. Two minutes later, my phone buzzes in my hand, a smile appearing on my face when I see Barrett’s name there.
“You’re in trouble, mister,” I say with a laugh.
“I’m not the one with a gun to his head, Alyssa. So if you know what’s good for you, you’ll come to the house and you’ll do it alone,” Gavin’s eerily calm voice warns in my ear, his tone so angry and spiteful it sends a chill down my spine. “No cops and no fucking FBI. Otherwise Barrett will be the bullseye and I’ll be the one aiming,” he says before I’m left with dead air.
“Gavin?” I shriek before throwing my phone on the bed and rushing to the hotel phone beside the bed, dialing nine one one on autopilot.
“Nine one one, what’s your emergency?” a female voice asks when the call connects. I open my mouth to speak but stop when Gavin’s threat rings loudly through my brain. No cops. No FBI.
I quickly hang up and move to my suitcase, throwing on a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved top then sliding on the first pair of shoes I can find. Grabbing my phone, I stuff it in my purse alone with my room key and race out the door, not stopping to check if it closes behind me.
My finger punches the elevator call button like my life depends on it. Not my life, Barrett’s.
It hits me that now we know why Barrett never turned up to meet Marlee. She would know what to do, but I can’t call her. No cops. No FBI.
When the elevator finally arrived, I pushed my way through the barely open doors, unaware of my surroundings and the fact there four other people in there already.
“Miss, are you alright?” an elderly man asks behind me, gently touching my shoulder.
I jump and whirl around to face him, my eyes wide with terror. “I . . .” I swallow hard and concentrate on steading my breathing. “I’m sorry. I’m . . . just in a hurry.” I give the man and his wife a fake smile to hide how scared I am before turning back to face the doors.
When we reach ground level, I rush out the doors and across the lobby to the sidewalk, my eyes catching sight of a cab with two young guys moving toward it. Without thinking, I jump in front of them and sit down in the back seat, slamming the door closed behind me.
“Hey, you can’t—”
“Sorry, but this is an emergency. I need to get to my mother’s house ASAP,” I tell the driver. His eyes go wide, not missing the urgency in my voice, before he quickly faces the road and pulls out into traffic.
“Is everything okay? Do we need to call an ambulance?” he asks, his gaze meeting mine in the rear-view mirror.
“I just need to get there fast,” I rush out, wringing my hands in my lap and silently praying that Gavin hasn’t hurt Barrett. Then it hits me, Mom is coming home today.
Without another thought, I press redial on Marlee’s number and she answers within two rings. “Alyssa? Did you get hold of him?”
“Marlee . . . Detective . . .” I clear my throat and will myself to keep my emotions in check. “Do you know when my mother is due back?”
“I have it somewhere. Just give me a moment and I’ll be able to find it on my desk.” The line goes quiet bar the distant sound of shuffling papers. “Here it is; her flight was landing at three p.m. at McCarron. Is something wrong? You sound scared.”
“I . . . I can’t tell you but you need to stop her from going home.”
“What do you mean? If something’s wrong, I can help.”
“He said no cops and no FBI,” I whisper. “Shit. Forget it. Forget I said anything. I’ve got to go.” I hang up and quickly turn my phone off.
My only hope is that I can get there before anything happens to Barrett.
Twenty minutes later, the cab pulls into my mother’s street, only to be met by a police car blocking the road.
“No, no, no!” I cry, slamming my hands against the safety glass and scaring the driver. He turns to look at me then gets out, standing beside the car with his hands held up.
“She just told me to drive here. I know nothing!” he shouts at the two police officers approaching him.
I jump out of the cab and run to one of the officers. “I have to get to my mother’s house. It’s an emergency!”
“Ms. Jacobs?”
“Yes. I know Detective Manning sent you, but you need to leave.” I look around the street, the sidewalk, and then down the road where my mother’s house is. “I don’t even know if he’s there, but I have to check. I have to try!” My voice cracks as I wrap my arms around my waist, hugging myself as I stand in the middle of the street. The three men stand there watching me with wide eyes.
“Let me make a call. We’re just first responders to an urgent request for assistance. My only instruction was to block access to the street and wait for back-up.” He gives me a curt nod and walks back to the police car, sitting in the passender seat and lifting the radio to his mouth.
With no other option, I pull out my phone and turn it back on, quickly dialing Marlee’s number again.
“Alyssa, I need you to stay where you are. We’ve tracked Gavin’s phone and we know he’s at your mother’s house.”
“He said no cops! No FBI! He has Barrett!” I’m hysterical now as I desperately wrack my brain for a way to get to Barrett and keep the police away.
“You need to tell me exactly what he said to you, Alyssa. I’ve gotta know what units we need.”
“He has a gun and he has Barrett, and unless I come alone, he’s going to shoot him,” I sob, pacing back and forth like a mad woman. “Marlee, I need to go. He told me to get there.”
“You can’t help Barrett if you go in there and get shot, Alyssa. I need you to take a deep breath and think if there’s anything else you can tell me.”
“I don’t know anything else!”
“If you don’t think you can stay there, I’m going to get an officer to bring you in. Just until we know it’s safe,” she replies.
“No! I can’t leave. I need to get to Barrett.” My heart is racing, my hands so clammy my phone keeps slipping in my hand.
“I’m five minutes away and S.W.A.T. is seven minutes behind me. I just need you to hang tight a little longer.” Her words are reassuring, especially knowing that help is on its way. I try telling myself I just have to wait five more minutes for her to arrive, and she’d be here.
Or else I have five minutes to make a run for it and hope like hell I don’t get shot in the process.
I choose the latter.