Page 30 of Lethal Threat

This situation is a nightmare. The options aren’t good. Truthfully, I don’t want her to ever remember that painful night. Wish it could be erased from my mind too.

What the fuck am I going to do?

There’s a small, sad noise behind me. When I turn back around, I hiss in a breath. Sierra’s crying. She’s holding a tiny glass turtle toward me.

Her voice trembles. “It’s so beautiful. If this was a gift, I can’t remember who gave it to me. Do you know where this is from?”

“It’s hand blown glass.” I step toward her and lift the tiny glass creature. “It’s from Italy.”

She watches me. I don’t tell her I know exactly when she got it. I missed my flight to meet her there. We were supposed to spend the weekend together.

She wipes her tears off with her wrist. “It’s beautiful, so delicate.”

Carefully, she places it back on the shelf. Her inspection of the turtles continues. One by one.

Resolve settles into my bones. Sierra’s not getting rid of me until she’s well enough to stand on her own feet. However long that takes.

I space out and don’t realize she is watching me until she checks on me. “Cole, are you okay?”

“Fine.” I try to sound normal, even though I’m as far from fine as a man can get.

I glance around the apartment.Nope, not telling her now.

I don’t want to be camped out on her sofa in Virginia for god knows how long. The locks on her door suck. The couch is too small. I don’t feel good about what’s happened here in Virginia. I want her out of town. In Utah, I can get some help to look out for her. Besides, I’ve got a job and need to get started training with the team.

I tip my head toward the hallway. “Let’s get you packed. We’re on a schedule.”

Keep it simple. One step at a time. Reducing the stress right now is priority numero uno.

The fewer chances of freak-outs, the better. I’m not going to be able to carry an unwilling woman through the airport, so I’ve got to do preventive damage control.

Something I learned well in the Air Force. The less that gets blown up, the less you have to patch people up afterwards.

“Where are we going?”

Landmine alert. This may not sit well. “North of Salt Lake City in Utah.”

She flinches and steps back like someone that saw a giant spider. “Utah? That’s a long way from Virginia.”

I sense a slew of questions coming my way, so I turn around and walk off. Avoidance tactics at work. My feet carry me toward the bedroom where we made so much noise that we constantly infuriated her neighbor.

“Come on. I see you remember geography just fine.”

I should run the other way when she follows me into that room of temptation. But thankfully Sierra’s prickly, and the mood is anything but sexy right now.

I open the closet. “It’s cold in Utah now. Bring winter clothes.”

She jerks a thin raincoat off the hanger and tosses it in the bag. Next, Sierra throws in some kind of boots that won’t do much good at all in winter weather. After a few more trips to the closet, she groans in frustration and turns to face me. With a shirt clutched in her hand, she mutters, “I have no idea what to take.”

“Well—” I look around. “I’m a guy, so what I’d take would probably be different, but I’d keep it simple.”

Her eyes stay on me as I move to the dresser. A glimmer of light catches my eyes. It’s from a silver bracelet that lies next to the lamp.

God.It can’t be the bracelet I gave her.

It was once her favorite, or so she liked to tell me. I gave it to her on our third date. Totally on impulse.

Something inside of me cracks as I push the tiny silver airplane charm around with my fingertip.