Finally, that pleasure began to fade, and Matthew opened his eyes, meeting hers and holding her gaze captive. “My sweet, beautiful, strong survivor,” he whispered, and she felt the love in his voice even if he didn't say the word.
“Yours,” she agreed.
“Mine,” he echoed. “Always mine.”
In belonging to a man she cared so much for, who she was already falling in love with, Grace found a safety and a peace she had longed for for so many years. “Mine,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him and drawing him close. He was hers and she wasn’t ever letting go.
July14th
4:07 A.M.
This morning he knew exactly what had woken him, and he didn't like it.
Matthew shifted to reach for the cell phone on the nightstand. Unlike yesterday morning when the smell of smoke had come wafting through the open window, taunting him that something might not be right, this morning’s wakeup call was like a siren.
“Matt?” Grace asked sleepily as the shrill beep of his phone woke her too.
As he picked up his phone his worst fears were confirmed.
Emmanuel was back.
Only once again he wasn’t playing things as they had suspected. Not knowing anything about the man other than what Grace had told them put them at a massive disadvantage. For all they knew Emmanuel was a cop, or in the military, or had some other sort of training. Something that continued to give him the edge while the rest of them played catch up.
“Matt, you’re scaring me.” Grace had sat up, bringing the sheet with her, holding it clutched around her breasts, and again he wished that this morning he could have woken her up properly. But there would be no making love, no teasing each other over breakfast, no lazy afternoon by the pool.
“Get dressed, sweetheart.”
“Again?” Her blue eyes were wide with fear, but she didn't hesitate to do as he’d ordered.
They both got out of bed, threw on the clothes they had discarded last night when he’d carried her upstairs and made sweet love to her before they’d gone to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms. It had been the perfect end to perhaps the most perfect day of his life, but then again, he thought that about every day he spent with Grace. Somehow, it just kept getting better and better. After napping, they’d spent the day hanging out inside. Although this safehouse also had a pool, Matthew hadn't wanted her in any danger, so they’d hung out indoors, playing boardgames, watching movies, and talking. For a while they’d both been able to pretend they weren’t sitting ducks waiting for danger to come knocking on the door.
But reality was back, and it sucked.
Once they were dressed, he grabbed Grace’s purse and once again, just as he had yesterday morning, he thrust it into her arms.
“What's going on? What’s he doing this time?” she demanded as he hustled her down the stairs. There was an edge of panic to her voice. This time it wasn’t nameless cops out there watching their backs, this time for Grace it was her family, the people she loved the most in the world.
“He’s shooting up the street,” he told her.
She froze. “I don’t hear any gunfire.”
“Sniper,” he replied, knowing she would know what that meant. She was from a cop family, she would know exactly the danger a sniper presented.
“Is anyone hit?”
“No one’s dead,” he replied. That was all he was willing to tell her at the moment, but it wasn’t much less than what he knew. All the text alert had told him was that a sniper was hitting the street and that there were injuries but no casualties.
At least not yet.
“But at least one person has been hit.”
Damn. She was so much more perceptive than he gave her credit for, and he already thought everything about her was pretty amazing.
Hardening his gaze, he resisted the urge to drag her into his arms and reassure her that Emmanuel still wasn’t getting to her. That he would stand between her and danger as many times as it took to ensure her safety. “We need to go, Grace. Now.”
Although he could tell she wanted to argue, press for details, she didn't. Instead, she allowed him to hurry her the rest of the way down the stairs. Obviously, the plan to have Grace play bait wasn’t going to work. Emmanuel wasn’t going to do anything unless he was sure he was going to get what he wanted.
What he wanted was Grace, but Emmanuel was going to have to accept that Matthew wanted her more.