Nick

 

“Are you sure you’re okay? I can cancel the hike,” I told Emmy.

“I’m fine,” she said, waving me out of the bedroom.

“You’ve been sick all night.”

“It’s just stress and nerves. As soon as I get to the spa and can relax, drink some cucumber water, I’ll be as good as new. And I’m looking forward to catching up with Steffie. I’ve missed her. We need some girl time.”

“Cucumber water? That sounds disgusting,” I teased.

“It’s delicious.” She smiled. “Now get out of here. I need to jump in the shower and you can’t be late to pick up my father. Let’s not give him any more ammunition.”

“Fine,” I said. “I’m taking him up the same trail I took you on. The cell coverage is good so if you need anything, just call.”

“Okay. Love you,” she said, climbing out of bed.

I bent to kiss the top of her head as she walked to the bathroom. “Love you too.”

I felt like an asshole for leaving my sick wife. It was this entire visit from her father. She was as tense and anxious as I’d ever seen her. I doubted Trent wanted to go on this hike any more than I did but the bastard would probably hold it against me forever if I canceled.

At least it would give us a chance to talk without Emmy around.

I’d seen it in his eyes last night at dinner. He had some things to tell me. Fine. I had a few choice words for Trent myself. Today we’d both get the chance to speak our minds, and Emmy, hopefully, would be none the wiser.

So it came as no surprise that the minute I picked Trent up, he didn’t beat around the bush.

“I don’t approve of your marriage to my daughter,” Trent said.

“I don’t give a fuck. Neither does Emmy.”

“You’ll never get your hands on our money.”

I scoffed. “This may surprise you, Trent, but not everyone is like you. I don’t give a fuck about your money. Keep it.”

“All people want money.”

“Not me. I’ve got everything I need,” I said.

“Forgive me for not believing you,” Trent said. “I find it much too coincidental that after years of estrangement, you decide to rekindle a relationship with my naïve and stupid daughter just a year after her trust was released into her charge.”

My blood started to boil and I clutched the steering wheel, fighting to keep control over my temper. “I didn’t convince Emmy to move here in some elaborate scheme to get her money. The only coincidence here was that she randomly chose to move to the town where I’d been living for almost a decade.”

“That’s quite a coincidence. Surely, you can understand my skepticism,” Trent said.

“It’s crazy but true. You might as well accept it. I’m not going anywhere so you’re stuck with me.”

“We’ll see.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” I said. “Oh, and if you ever call Emmy naïve or stupid again, or any other insult for that matter, I’ll break your fucking nose. Watch how you talk about my wife.”

“She’s my daughter. I’ll talk about her any way I see fit.”

“Not anymore. Last warning, pal. Don’t fuck with me on this.”

Trent sank back into his seat but wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.

I fucking hated this guy. All of Emmy’s goodness must have come from Collette and her grandparents because her father was a piece of shit.

How could Trent have so little respect for his own daughter? Emmy was smart and funny. She loved completely and forgave easily. Her warmth and beauty drew you in. Five minutes in her presence and you never wanted to be without her again.

It’s why Gigi and Maisy had so quickly added Emmy to their girl squad. Why my friends had never given me shit about spending all my free time with her. They knew how special she was and how lucky I was to have her.

“Why are you even here?” I asked Trent.

“Steffie insisted we visit Emmeline and I give you a chance.”

“You didn’t want to see Emmy?” I asked.

“Why would I? Eventually she’ll come to her senses and move home. I can see her then.”

“She’s not moving back.”

“She will,” Trent insisted.

This guy was fucking delusional. He actually thought Emmy would be back in New York soon.

All of the things I had wanted to tell Trent were pointless, so I kept my mouth shut. He had no clue what kind of person his daughter was and he didn’t seem to care that she had found happiness in her Montana life. All he cared about was making sure I wasn’t after his fortune.

Change of plans. I passed the turnoff for the trailhead I had planned to take.

I wasn’t going to give Trent the easy hike that I’d planned. Instead, I was taking the fuckwad up the steepest trail I had ever hiked. I couldn’t punch Emmy’s dad but I could make his life miserable for the next three hours.

“How much farther?” Trent panted. He had stopped again on the trail and was bracing his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

I checked my GPS watch. “About half a mile. Let’s go.”

Trent groaned but pressed on. The trail was rocky and narrow. The steep inclines were long and the flat spaces between them short.

I had to give the man credit, Trent was in fairly good shape and was doing better than I had expected. And since we were about the same height, he had been able to keep up with my long strides.

If not for Trent’s presence, this would have been an awesome hike. The morning air was still cool and fresh. The sun shone brightly in the light blue sky.

Emmy would love it up here but it would be a tough hike for her short legs. The trail was actually close to the cabin I had rented for our anniversary.

I looked over in its direction. I couldn’t see the building through the trees so I tipped my head up to the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of an eagle or a hawk, but I jolted to a stop when I spotted a thin stream of smoke coming from the direction of the cabin.

In the winter, I wouldn’t have thought twice about the smoke. But this was the middle of summer. Seeing smoke this time of year meant trouble. Why would someone start a fire when it was forecasted to get into the low eighties today?

I stared at the smoke for a minute and took a few deep breaths. There was no smell, which was a good sign.

I looked back to my GPS. We were closer to the cabin than I had originally expected. I’d been pushing Trent up the trailhead hard and fast.

“What?” Trent said. “Are we done? Can we turn back?”

“No.” I took in a few more breaths, searching for the slightest scent of burning wood. But all I got was evergreens.

Then I listened. Forest fires, even small ones, gave off a unique roar as trees sizzled. All I could hear was a light breeze rustling the trees and a woodpecker carving a new home in the distance.

I tipped my head back again and studied the smoke. It wasn’t getting any heavier or darker so I decided to continue hiking and keep an eye on it.

“Let’s go,” I ordered Trent.

Five minutes later, I stopped again and looked to the sky. This time the smoke was thicker and turning gray. “Something’s wrong.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Trent panted.

“See that smoke?” I said, pointing to the sky. “We need to check it out.”

“I’m not moving toward a fire!” Trent said. “Are you insane?”

“Fine. You can find your own way back.”

“Wait!” Trent grabbed my arm before I could run off the trail. “You can’t leave me alone. What if I get lost? What if I get attacked by an animal?”

“You’ve got two choices, Trent,” I said, shaking off his grip. “You can either follow the trail back down or you can come with me. But I’m not fucking around here. You come with me, you keep up. I won’t stop and wait for you to catch your breath. I will leave your ass in the middle of the woods. You’ve got two seconds to decide. What’s it going to be?”

“I’ll keep up.” Trent nodded.

“Hope you’re in shape, old man.”

Jogging through the trees wasn’t easy. The rough ground was covered in pine needles and fallen branches. Occasionally I would stop and look for the smoke, checking to make sure we were running in the right direction, but other than that, I ran with determined silence. Trent crashed around behind me but kept up with my fast pace.

“You okay?” I called over my shoulder.

“Yes!”

I slowed up a bit. I didn’t want to give Emmy’s dad a heart attack by pushing him too hard. And I just might need the extra set of hands, depending on what we found at the end of that smoke plume.

As we got closer, the smell I had searched for earlier filled my nostrils. Something was definitely on fire. I just hoped that it was the cabin and not the forest. The house could be rebuilt quickly but the destruction from a forest fire took years to repair. And there were other homes in the area. A forest fire threatened them too.

The air in the trees became hazy. We were close. Ten yards in front of me was the clearing.

I pushed my tired legs, sprinting the remaining distance, and burst through the tree line.

Fuck.

The cabin where Emmy and I had spent our fantastic anniversary weekend was burning down. Smoke was pouring out of the windows, and flames were visible through the open door.

A coughing noise had my head spinning toward the shed off the driveway.

An elderly man was dragging a hose toward the house. His face was covered in black soot and he was struggling to stay on his feet.

Rushing to his side, I helped him stand. “Is there anyone else inside?”

“My wife!” the man yelled. “I need to get her. She’s trapped upstairs!”

“I’ll get her. Stay here.” I helped the man sit on the ground and spun around to the house. “Here!” I shouted to Trent who had just cleared the trees. “Use this and call 9-1-1. Tell them we’re at the cabin up Old Haggerty Trail. Got it?”

Trent scrambled to catch the phone I had tossed him. “What are you doing? You can’t go in there!” Trent shouted.

I ignored him and took the front steps two at a time. The second I crossed through the door, a wave of heat assaulted my skin. Smoke choked my throat and burned my eyes.

I had just run into a wall of flames.

Emmeline

 

A white stick, two minutes, one word, and my entire life was different.

Pregnant.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, tears falling from my eyes.

I started laughing and crying at the same time. Was this real? It was such a profound moment in my life that I had a hard time believing it was true.

The dread that I’d felt earlier at the prospect of dealing with my father had vanished. He could criticize as much as he wanted for all I cared. It was inconsequential.

I had much more important things to concern myself with.

Like how I was going to share this amazing news with Nick and how I was going to decorate the nursery.

“Good morning,” I told Steffie.

“Hi,” she muttered.

I had just let myself into the house and found her sitting on the living room couch, typing something into her phone.

“Do you want to get some breakfast at the café before we head to the spa?” I asked.

“No. I want to stay here.” She set down her phone and stared out the living room window, refusing to look at me.

“Okay.”

I sat quietly for a few minutes while I waited for Steffie to say something. It wasn’t like her to be so quiet. She was always so outgoing and wonderfully loud. She hated silence. In college, I’d had to study exclusively at the library because our apartment had always been bustling with activity.

“Are you okay?” I finally asked. Maybe her pregnancy was troubling her. I was glad Nick and my father were busy on their hike so I could talk to her about how she was really feeling about becoming a mother.

If it weren’t for Nick not knowing yet, I would have told Steffie about my own exciting news so we could celebrate together.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine,” I said.

She turned to me and snapped, “You’re right. I’m not fine.”

“Let’s talk about it. I want to help.”

She laughed dryly. “You want to help? That’s ironic.”

I held my hands up in surrender and resumed my silence.

“Oh, look, she’s pouting. There’s a surprise.”

“Steffie,” I said, hurt. “Why are you acting like this? What’s wrong?”

She looked down at her phone and a twisted grin spread across her face. What was going on? She had never looked so cruel.

“Steffie?”

“Shut up.” She dismissed me and went back to typing on her phone.

“Okay,” I said, standing from the couch. I didn’t need her attitude on this special day. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, if you’re just hormonal or mad at me for something, but you’re being mean. So unless you want to explain to me what’s going on and start acting like my friend, I think it would be best if we skipped the spa.”

I turned to leave but stopped when she called my name.

“Do you remember that guy that was stalking you at NYU last year?” she asked.

My body jolted as every muscle tensed. “Yes.”

“He’s coming over.”

“Excuse me?” What was she talking about? How did she know my stalker? Why did she know my stalker?

“He’s coming over,” she repeated, “to kill you.”

I blinked a few times and replayed her words then I relaxed and rolled my eyes. “Funny, Steffie,” I deadpanned, “though I’m worried that your sense of humor is becoming a little morbid.”

“No, really. He’s on his way here right now. I hired him to kill you and make it look like a burglary gone wrong.”

The tension immediately returned to my body. Her tone was undeniably serious. Before I could react, Steffie shocked me again by standing from the couch and pulling a small black pistol from the waistband of her jeans. When she aimed it at my chest, my hands instinctively wrapped around my belly.

“Do not move,” she ordered. “You’re going to stay right where you are until your biggest fan gets here.”

My head started whirling. This had to be some kind of prank. I had to be in one of those nightmares where, even after you wake up, it haunts you for hours. This had to be a dream. My friend was pointing a gun at me.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“It’s not complicated, Emmeline. You have what I want.” My blank stare made her sneer. “Money.”

“You want my money?” I asked, still completely confused.

“Well, it’s not like you’re going to use it,” she snapped. “You’re worth over one hundred million dollars, Emmeline. You might be willing to let all that money sit untouched in the bank, but I’m not. Your father isn’t as rich as he likes everyone to think. Did you know he put me on an allowance?”

What the fuck was happening? I stared at her frozen with shock. Did she actually think my death would get her my fortune?

“How is killing me going to get you money?” I couldn’t believe I was even asking that question.

“Simple. You die. Trent inherits your trust fund. I take it from Trent.”

“But Steffie, my money goes to Nick.” Now that I had poked a gaping hole in her logic, I hoped she would stop pointing her gun at me and my unborn child.

“Wrong, Emmy,” she hissed. “Fred Andrews didn’t make your beneficiary change. He’s been stalling. It’s still listed as your father.”

My mind just kept spinning. How could she possibly know that? Had she bribed him with my millions? Or had she used some of her other more personal “assets” to get information from him?

“Do you actually think you’re going to get away with my murder, then marry my father?” I asked, again stunned by this conversation. “This is crazy. You can’t be serious. Tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m dead serious.” Her desperate and insane eyes locked on mine. “I’ve spent too much time planning for this to fail. I’ve sacrificed everything to get here and I’m not stopping now.”

This rushed vacation suddenly made sense. She had to commit my murder before Nick became the beneficiary of my trust.

My mind raced through the last few years, seeing things from a new angle. I had once confessed to her that I had been considering donating my trust to charity. She had adamantly talked me out of it. I had asked her once if she loved my father. She had just smiled and said he was what she’d always planned for. Not loved. Not wanted. Planned for.

And when I’d told her that I was being stalked, she had never once encouraged me to go to the police. Instead, she’d asked me to point him out to her.

“My stalker? Were you behind him all along?” I asked.

“Oh, no. He’s genuinely obsessed with you. And back then, I doubt he would have caused you harm. But after Logan had him tracked down and nearly beaten to death for stalking you, his obsession turned a little . . . uglier. When I approached him with a big fat wad of cash, he was more than willing to cooperate.”

What? I had no idea that Logan had done that. It didn’t matter. Not when Steffie had a gun aimed at my chest. Not when my oldest friend was paying someone to murder me.

Pain lanced through my heart. All of my precious memories with Steffie had just been tainted by her insatiable greed. Now I knew just how much she valued our friendship and my life: less than one hundred million dollars.

“You’re my friend,” I whispered. “Does that mean nothing to you?”

She shrugged. “I’ll buy new friends.”

My sadness was quickly replaced with anger.

Hadn’t I been through enough this year? Personal struggles aside, I’d had a drug dealer press a gun to my forehead and a rogue motorcycle gang attempt to kidnap me. Now my friend, my father’s fiancée, was threatening to kill me?

“You’ll rot in jail,” I hissed.

“I won’t,” she snarled. “The cops will get here and find me tied up and helpless, sobbing over your lifeless body. Your stalker will be on his way to Canada with the money in my purse, never to be seen or heard from again. Just another break-in gone wrong. You’ve had such bad luck with those after all. Only this time I’m here to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up.”

I gaped at her for a moment, letting it all sink in. There would be no pleading for my life, no softening her heart with anecdotes from the past. She would not change course. Determination was etched all over her pretty face. The friend I had always loved was just a phantom. A cloud of lies veiled the brunette stranger in my living room.

She was counting on her gun to keep my feet rooted but I wouldn’t just stand here, waiting for my executioner to arrive. I had too much to live for. I would fight fiercely to save this baby inside me. And I was banking on the fact that Steffie’s gun had been shaking in her hand since she’d pulled it out of her purse.

So I summoned all the courage I could find and took a breath. One. Two. Three.

The second Steffie looked back to the window, I whirled around and sprinted to the door. A loud crack had me ducking my head. It echoed in the room a split-second before one of the large windows next to me shattered.

She missed!

Steffie bellowed a frustrated scream and yelled my name.

Taking one glance over my shoulder, I expected to see her aiming the pistol again. Instead, she was pulling herself up off the floor. She must have tried to follow me but tripped on the wrinkle in the living room carpet. Her falling was likely the reason that the bullet had hit the window instead of me.

That wrinkle, the one I’d cursed a hundred times, had just saved my life.

Now all I had to do was make it outside before she fired again and I could escape into the trees. The adrenaline pumped in my veins and propelled me faster and faster. When I hit the tile in the foyer, I scrambled a bit but was able to stay on my feet and throw open the door.

“Get back here!” Steffie screamed.

Two steps outside and I thought I was home free. But a strong arm banded around my stomach, pulling me backward at the same time a hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my scream.

“No!” I yelled, fighting and clawing at my captor. But despite my hitting and kicking, he was able to drag me around the side of the house.

“Quiet, Emmeline.”

I stopped fighting and the hand at my mouth loosened. I craned my neck and saw a familiar face.

“Dash?”

He pressed a finger to his lips and shushed me. Then he released his hold, grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a large tree near my house.

In the distance, Steffie raved like a lunatic.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered, crouching close to the ground to hide.

He shook his head, signaling for me to remain quiet.

I nodded and turned, peering around the side of the tree. I was so relieved to be out of that house but more confused than ever.

Minutes went by as we hid and listened for any sign of Steffie. She had stopped screaming and I had no clue where she could have gone.

Movement at the corner of my eye made me flinch. I watched with wide eyes as my stalker emerged from behind the house, creeping slowly toward the front with a sizeable pistol in his hand. He looked just like I remembered, ginger hair and a scrawny frame. His eyes were beady and set too close to the bridge of his nose.

A shiver ran down my spine as he slithered past the tree, thankfully unaware of our presence.

Dash nudged my arm, jerking his chin toward the back corner of the house. Another figure emerged from the same place my stalker had just come from.

Draven.

With cat-like steps, he closed the distance to my stalker. The cocking hammer of Draven’s handgun filled the silent air.

“Drop it,” Draven ordered.

My stalker tossed his gun to the dirt without hesitation. Then with one swift but powerful blow, Draven slammed the butt of his gun into the back of my would-be murderer’s skull, sending his body crumpling to the ground.

“Come on out,” Draven called.

“Did you get the skank?” Dash yelled.

“Yeah. She’s tied up inside with Jet.”

Dash hauled me to my feet and tugged me behind him as we walked toward Draven and the unconscious man at his feet.

“Tie up this guy,” Draven said.

While Dash obeyed his president’s command, the shock of the situation hit me. I wrapped my arms around my tummy as my shoulders started to shake, but before I could collapse, Draven wrapped me in a tight embrace.

“You’re okay,” he said.

The shaking turned into sobs and I buried my face in his shirt.

“You’re okay, Emmeline,” he said. “You’re okay. It’s over.”

“Where is he?” I asked for the hundredth time.

I was in the conference room at the sheriff’s station, just like the last time I’d had a gun pointed at me. But this time, Nick wasn’t by my side. Instead, I was surrounded by Draven and men from his motorcycle club.

And no one was telling me where my husband was. Every time I called his cell phone, it went straight to voicemail.

It had been almost four hours since Steffie’s attack. After I’d pulled myself together, Draven had driven me to town. The sheriff’s station, which had been practically deserted when we’d arrived, was now buzzing with activity.

Jess had come in and taken my statement. Shortly thereafter, he had disappeared.

Milo had come in with bottled waters. Then he’d vanished too.

The only other deputy I knew was Sam and he was currently in an interrogation room with my stalker.

Steffie was locked in a jail cell.

“Something happened. Why aren’t they telling me what’s going on?” I asked Draven.

“I don’t know, kid.” Draven’s voice was filled with concern.

I was nauseous and shaking, probably from a combination of pregnancy and anxiety. I needed something to eat before I passed out.

“Would one of you mind finding me some crackers? And maybe some orange juice?” I asked Draven’s men.

“I’ll get it,” Dash said.

“Can you talk to me? The quiet is making things worse,” I asked Draven.

“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

“How did you end up at my house?”

Draven had given his statement to Jess but hadn’t explained how he had come there in the first place.

“When you told me about your other break-ins, something didn’t sit right with me so I started digging. Found out it wasn’t the Warriors like you thought, so we looked into your relatives. This morning, my hacker found a couple suspicious emails between that bitch and that guy I clocked. She buried them deep but my guy dug them out. Then he found out she’s been pulling cash these last few weeks. Close to a half million in the last ten days. We came down to warn you and Nick that something suspicious was going on.”

I let his explanation sink in. What would I have done had they not been there?

“Fucking lucky timing,” Draven said, blowing out a loud breath.

Absolutely. “How did you know where to find me?” I asked.

“Uh, Dash may have swiped your phone the other weekend and put a tracker on it,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I never thought I’d be so happy to have my privacy invaded.

If it weren’t for Draven, I would likely be dead. I would have escaped Steffie but run right outside into my stalker’s arms.

I struggled to believe how fortunate we were. Had Draven chosen to wait until the afternoon to come to Prescott or had the hacker not found Steffie’s emails until later, things would have turned out much worse.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “For not giving up. For saving me.” For saving us.

“Glad we could be there,” he said, taking my hand.

“Where’s Nick?” I asked. My voice cracked and tears flooded my eyes. Something was terribly wrong. I just wanted someone to tell me what it was.

A loud commotion outside the room had Draven and me both shooting out of our chairs and rushing through the door.

My hand flew up to my mouth as Nick jogged across the room. He was covered in ash and soot but he was okay. I lost sight of his face when he folded me into his chest.

“You’re okay,” I cried into his scorched shirt. Its smell made my stomach roll but I didn’t care. All that mattered was he was here and both of us were safe.

“You’re okay,” he said.

Surrounded by deputies and motorcycle gangsters, Nick and I held tight to one another. The world around us disappeared.

Draven had been right earlier. It was over.

I felt it this time. We’d made it through. Now all that was left for Nick and me was a happy life building our family. Enjoying every moment together.

“Let’s go home?” I asked.

“Let’s go home.”

Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, Nick and I took a long shower and then climbed into bed.

I was emotionally exhausted and needed sleep.

There was a mass of people downstairs waiting to see us, but I didn’t care. They’d stay for a couple of hours while we spent some time alone.

Wearing one of Nick’s flannels and my winter socks, my back was curled into his bare chest.

It felt like days, not hours, had passed since I’d woken up in this same position. It was hard to believe that just this morning I had learned I was pregnant.

My desire to surprise Nick with an elaborate announcement was gone. Now all I wanted was for him to know.

“I’m pregnant,” I said with no fanfare or dramatics. We didn’t need it. The news itself was big enough.

His arms pulled me closer and his chest expanded with a deep breath. “Love you, Wife,” Nick whispered into my hair.

“Love you, Husband.”

His hand traveled from my chest to my tummy. Gently, he lifted up the hem of my flannel and splayed his palm across my flat stomach.

“Love you too, baby.”