Page 37

“Right. Good. Coffee?” Pepper’s voice sounded distracted as she spoke.

Not waiting for an answer from him, she was off to the kitchen and had the kettle on the gas stove heating up in no time.

Deciding to leave her to her distraction, Ace went in search of the two shotguns Nick kept in a safe in his office, knowing they might eventually need the firearms. Punching in the alarm code, he opened the door and grabbed both guns along with the ammunition they would need and brought them out into the kitchen. As he placed them on the table, he knew she would have questions that needed answering.

Lucky for him, after the look of horror crossed her features, she brought him a coffee and sat in one of the chairs watching as he cleaned and loaded each weapon. Never saying a word, she just watched his precise movements as he cocked chambers for each shell to be put into. Once finished, he sat down in the chair opposite her and waited for the inquiry to begin.

Her eyes wouldn’t meet his as she watched her coffee cup with a focused intent.

Taking her silence as a sign he was going to have to break the quiet, he finally asked, “Do you want to talk about your nightmare?”

Her head popped up in confusion at his question. Clearly, she didn’t remember them waking her up. “I,” she stopped to gaze out the window, a look of concentration on her face. “I don’t remember,” she finally confessed.

“Nothing?” She shook her head. “It looked as if you were taking quite the beating,” he told her, hoping to jog something. Her blank stare told him what he needed to know.

They remained quiet for a few minutes when she finally asked, “He was here, wasn’t he?”

Lying to her wasn’t an option, especially without firm answers, so he omitted what he had been thinking and answered with, “Someone was. We don’t know who, though. That’s what Nick’s out there doing now.”

Her head whipped around to Ace’s. “He’s dangerous!” she called, rushing for the door and flinging it open before he could catch her. “He can’t be out there by himself!” she screamed as he grabbed her around the waist before she could leap off the porch.

Hauling Pepper’s shivering body back inside, he carried her to the couch. Sitting down, he tried to calm her visibly fried nerves.

“Ssshhh,” he soothed, “Nick will be fine. This is what he does.”

“No! He can’t be hurt because of me!” Her sobs threatened his control as the temperature seemed to drop and the sun disappeared behind the clouds.

Cupping her face in his hands, he gave her a little shake. “I promise, baby, he’ll be just fine. Trust me,” he implored.

Searching his gaze, her curvy body finally collapsed into his own after exhausting herself with worry and fear.

Looking at the clock, it had been more than two hours since Nick left. He had to admit worry was setting into him, too.

The anxiety and terror that had settled into Pepper’s bones since she awoke felt like it was unwarranted, yet justified all at the same time. She was a ball of nerves, and she knew it.

Running out on Ace was stupid on the epic scale of proportions; nonetheless, she couldn’t have stopped herself even if she wanted to. Her attacker was here, whoever he was, and Nick was out there alone.

A thought occurred to her as her eye caught sight of the guns on the table. “Is Nick armed?” she asked Ace, leaning back to see the truth in his eyes.

He looked away momentarily before meeting her own eyes dead-on. “No, he’s not.” While she was happy he was honest with her, at least, the thought of Nick out there and unarmed scared her to near death.

“Hey,” Ace’s hand ran down her hair soothingly. “Nick’ll be just fine. Roxie has his back.” His smile at any other time would have been disarming, but right now, she could see his own concern about his cousin.

Needing a distraction, she started asking him mundane questions as he continued to play with her long hair. “Are you both from here?”

“More or less,” Ace replied, not expanding on the answer.

“What does that mean?”

Looking down into her eyes, he must have seen something because he explained. “Nick grew up here. I moved here when I was about ten or so. When I turned sixteen, I moved in with him and his parents.” He sounded sad.

“Why?”

A wistful smile preceded his next words. “My parents were killed in a plane crash.”

So much for her “getting to know you” questions.

“Now, now, don’t get that look. Everything happens for a reason, right?” Ace said.