Dangerous Embrace (Embrace #1) (14 page)

“Shut up.” Sarah shook her head, her eyes trailing Mark as he disappeared. She couldn’t help but agree with Ava’s perception.

Ava snickered. “He’s like a real-life superhero.”

Sarah leaned over to embrace Ava. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Why didn’t you call me sooner? You look like hell.”

“I’m fine...but I shot someone last night, can you believe it?” It still didn’t seem real to her. She’d owned that gun a long time, but she’d never imagined ever pointing it at another person and shooting them.

“Yeah,” Ava scoffed. “I can.” She pulled back and gave Sarah a good look. “I wouldn’t want to meet you down a dark alley.”

When Sarah didn’t respond, Ava said, “So, you shot an intruder. You protected yourself, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Well I can no longer protect myself. The police took my gun.”

“They took the Colt that Charlie gave you?”

“Yeah...needed it for evidence.”

“I’m sorry, hon. I know that was important to you.”

“God...I’ll never forget the day Charlie gave me that gun.”

“Wasn’t that right before your mom divorced him?”

Sarah closed her eyes, wishing like hell she could forget that day. “Charlie took me and Devon to the shooting range...when we got home Mama was ‘entertaining’ some friends.”

“What?” Ava raised her eyebrows in question.

“She had two men in our house and they were all drinking...two weeks later we moved to Flagstaff with one of them.”

“Is that why she left Nashville?”

“Some guy, just like always. Charlie was heartbroken. I can still see the look on his face when we walked into that house.” She dropped her head on her shoulders. “What is wrong with her?”

“You could waste your whole life trying to figure her out. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, Sarah. She is who she is and nothing you do or say will change that.”

“I guess you’re right, but still...”

Ava rolled her eyes. “Oh, whatever. You try so hard to prove you’re nothing like her, but who are you trying to prove it to?”

Sarah jerked her head up to look at Ava. “Ah! I do not.” She shifted in her seat. “I don’t have anything to prove, and I’m nothing like her.”

Ava reached over for her coffee and then leaned back against the sofa cushions. “Yeah...so how many times have you starting packing since you were attacked?”

“That’s not a fair question. You don’t know what it feels like knowing some madman is stalking me.”

Ava blew out a breath. “I’m sorry, you’re right, I have no idea what you’re going through right now.” She leaned forward and placed her hand on Sarah’s. “Why don’t you stay with me? I’ll take the week off. We’ll hang out and come up with some cool revenge.”

“You can’t take a week off.” Sarah considered the idea, but Ava was notorious for using every hour of sick leave and vacation as she earned it. “You don’t have any vacation time.”

“I’ll work it out. I’m more concerned for you than that stupid airline.”

It wouldn’t hurt...maybe for a few days. At least that was better than calling Devon again. “Where do you go next week?”

“Guam.”

“No,” she shook her head, “that’s good money for you. I can’t ask you to give that up. Besides, what if it ends up being longer than a week?”

“Why don’t you call Lily or Devon? I’m sure either would be here in a minute to help you.”

“Are you mad at me? Geez. Forget that. I’m not calling Mama.”

“What about Devon?”

“No, I feel bad asking him to rescue me again.”

“That’s what big brothers are for.”

“No, it’s not.” Sarah dropped her head back in exasperation. “Do you know that it has taken every ounce of strength I have to keep from packing my bags and leaving the country? This is my home. I love it here. What kind of message am I sending if I leave? God! Why does everything in my life have to be so hard? I just want to live without the drama.”

“If you don’t want to leave, then ask Mark to stay.”

“Ava! You know I can’t ask him to do that.” Sarah thought about what he’d said before Ava knocked and realized he might not take no for an answer.

“Not everything has to be hard. Maybe if you let people into your life once in a while, things might be easier. I think you should stop trying to prove something and be smart about this.”

“I’m not trying to make a statement here. Do you really think I would put myself in danger to prove I’m not like Mama?”

Ava’s eyes widened. “Ah...yes I do.” She shrugged and said, “He seems to really care about you and you can use a man like that around.”

“Having a man around isn’t the solution to everything.” And with her luck, having a man around was likely to cause her more trouble than solve anything, especially a man like Mark. He was just too perfect, too...soft. She thought about lying in bed with him last night. Yeah, he provided a little too much security.

“Sarah,” Ava said in a low voice. “I’ve known his family for a long time. They’re good people.
He
is a nice guy. Gawd, and the way he looks at you.”

Sarah dropped her head to her hands. There was no use in asking her to stop—she didn’t listen. “This isn’t helping.”

“What are you going to do? Stay here like a sitting duck? Wait for this fucker to come after you again?”

“That’s a good question,” Mark said.

They both jumped when they heard Mark’s voice behind them.

“Excuse me?” Sarah said, trying to steady her racing heart. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to eavesdrop?”

“I wasn’t listening. I just walked in on the conversation. Although, I’m curious to see how you answer that question.”

Sarah threw her hands in the air, wishing like hell she had an answer. “I don’t freaking know what to do now.”

She almost shouted it, but when the phone rang, she started at the sound. Then she sighed, feeling stupid for being so damned jumpy. She stood and walked over to answer, relieved to get away from the prying eyes and questions. “Hello.”

“Hello, sweet Sarah. Did you think a bullet in the arm would stop me?”

Her blood went ice cold.

“Who is this?” she whispered as the room tilted. She braced herself against the table to regain her balance as the phone was ripped from her hand.

“Who is this?” Mark’s face went red as he listened with a white-knuckled grip. “Ah! The coward hung up.”

Sarah clutched her throat, rapidly breathing in and out.

Mark sat her down. “Take a deep breath, Sarah, before you hyperventilate.”

She leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. What kind of sick person is this?

“Dammit!” she said after a few minutes of silence.

Now it was her turn to be the coward. She didn’t want to let that monster chase her away, but he left her with little choice. She would not be his sitting duck.

She got up and went into her bedroom, pulling a large suitcase out of the closet. She started grabbing clothes from the hangers. He’d won, and that was okay with her. She’d happily admit defeat if it meant never having to look at that man ever again. If she’d learned anything in her life, it was how to retreat.

“Sarah?” Ava called softly.

She turned to look over and found Ava and Mark watching her with hesitant eyes. They wore the same expression. She almost wanted to laugh at it.

“What?”

“What are you doing?” Mark asked.

“I’m packing. I can’t stay here with the son of a bitch taunting me.”

“Good, you’ll have fun at my house,” Ava said.

“I’m not going to your house.” She dropped some folded clothes into the suitcase. “I’m not letting you risk your job to babysit me.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“No.” Sarah shook her head. “I’m leaving town.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Mark said.

“You can’t put your life on hold for me either.”

“I’ll call Lily and see if she can take care of you,” Ava said.

Sarah spun around, seething. “Don’t you dare call my mother.”

“Sarah, you shouldn’t travel in this condition.” His eyes rested on hers and he stepped closer. “I meant what I said. I want to be here for you.”

Looking into his eyes, Sarah knew he meant it. He wanted to help her and protect her, but why? And what would it cost her?

Sarah felt the hours of sleep she’d lost clear to her bones. Mark was tired too, but he still took over the responsibility of making dinner. She tried to do it on her own. Of course she couldn’t, which infuriated her. She had limited range of motion in her left arm, and the sling was driving her crazy. More than anything, she hated not being physically able to do everything herself. She wanted her life to get back to normal. Remembering the night before, she wondered if things would ever be normal again.

They ate dinner in the living room in front of the TV after agreeing on a movie. She took one side of the sofa and Mark took the other.

Halfway through the movie, Mark fell asleep. She watched him for a while, wishing she could sleep as peacefully. He was attractive. She nearly snorted out a laugh—attractive didn’t begin to describe him. No, more like absolutely beautiful. Too bad he was a control freak, she shook her head. Maybe that was unfair. Mark wasn’t controlling, she knew that. He was protective and that made him seem possessive. After the care he’d taken with her over the last several days, she was hesitant to group him in with other men. He deserved her respect if nothing else.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let a man stay overnight. In the past, she didn’t want anyone getting too comfortable in her house. She didn’t like how men always managed to assume ownership over things—over her, her free time, her life. No, she didn’t need a relationship like Ava seemed to think, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be friends with him. She wasn’t relationship material anyway. Kevin had ruined love for her and proved she was better off alone.

Sarah had spent the last eight years trying to keep history from repeating itself. She didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin until she bought this house. It had been at least a year since she had thought much about Kevin. She rubbed a hand across the underside of her chin, near her left ear where the three-inch scar used to sit. Having that nasty reminder removed helped her forget, but these head-to-toe bruises brought it all up again.

She closed her eyes at the shame she felt having to sneak into Kevin’s house to get her stuff after fleeing the hospital. His last words ringing in her head,
You killed our baby, Sarah
.
She’s dead because of you.

Her body had buzzed with adrenalin the entire time, knowing he’d catch her...yet knowing it was impossible because he was in jail. How did a person shake the fear of someone you knew couldn’t reach you? Still she felt fearful when she thought about him.

That’s what made the last year seem like such a huge accomplishment. Maybe she had actually recovered from the awful things she’d been through. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked over at Mark again, trying to clear her head of the heavy memories. He looked peaceful, but chilled. She gently placed a blanket over him, hoping not to wake him up, and went to her bedroom to watch TV in bed.

Within minutes of turning the TV on, she found a good movie to watch and snuggled in with the remote control.

Before the first commercial break, Sarah felt herself dozing off.

Her throat was too restricted to breathe. She fought to inhale, but as his grip tightened, her fear became palpable.

“
You want to leave, I’ll kill you first. Don’t ever think you can leave me.”

He slammed her against the wall with his hand still clamped around her neck, holding her there while he screamed at her. His spit hit her face and his mouth contorted in a way she’d never seen before. He was insane. He had completely lost his mind and he was going to kill her. This was her only condolence, knowing that when it was over, she’d be dead.

“
Let this be a reminder the next time you think about leaving me.”

She stood on tiptoes, hoping to relieve the pressure of his grasp on her airway. When his massive fist came at her face, a quiet gasp left her lips and her wide eyes slammed shut...

Sarah woke up screaming, with a disheveled Mark standing over her. Her eyes darted from him, to the fuzzy TV, and around the room, trying to focus on something familiar.

“You scared the hell out of me,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She blinked her eyes at the flickering lights from the TV.

“I need to...” She rolled out of bed and with trembling hands, pulled open the drawer of her nightstand. No gun. She stared into the open drawer until she could focus her thoughts and remember where the gun was.

“Sarah, you okay?”

“Yeah.” She closed the drawer and stumbled into the bathroom.

With a cool washcloth, she dabbed her face and stared at her pale reflection, trying to steady her breathing. She dropped the washcloth and laid her hands on her flat stomach, the ache from her loss and the feeling of emptiness as fresh as if it had happened yesterday.