Page 16

Chapter

Fourteen

Alice paced her room, unable to settle down as she replayed the horrifying moments of bullets whacking into buildings, pinned beneath Robbie and unable to catch a breath as she prayed he hadn’t been hit, then running for their lives, him carrying her.

The reassurance in his arms had been distinctive, but nothing could take away the fear.

Five thousand miles from home, Robbie was being targeted by Big Buddha.

He would be killed just like Jack, Ruby, Natalie, and Odie.

She could see each of their bodies splayed out in coffins and Odie in a grave she’d dug as she’d sobbed at the back of her mother’s property.

It was too easy to imagine Robbie, strong and mesmerizing Robbie, lifeless, gone, those piercing blue eyes staring vacantly up at her.

Alice let out a cry of despair, dropped to her knees, and prayed desperately. After long minutes begging for help, she was finally able to slide into bed and fall asleep.

She and Robbie ran through the narrow streets of Venice.

Big Buddha pursued them, and he was closing in.

Her heart raced out of control. Her hand was ripped from Robbie’s grasp, and she was tossed into a canal.

The stinky, dirty water closed over her head, encasing her in a sludge that she couldn’t escape.

She screamed, but only a gurgle came out.

Fighting her way through the sludge, she surfaced to see the grotesque Big Buddha swing a sword at Robbie, who was defenseless and unarmed. Robbie focused in on her, and his bright blue eyes pierced her soul in a silent goodbye. He knew it was over.

“No!” she screamed.

The sword sliced through him.

“No! Please, no! Help!”

“Alice?”

Robbie’s voice came from far away.

“Alice.” The voice was sharper now. Robbie’s warm palms were on her shoulders, then slid to her lower back, lifting her up and against his broad chest. His clean mint, bergamot, and ginger scent wafted over her.

“Alice. Wake up.”

Her eyelids fluttered open.

Robbie was right there. He was whole and healthy and holding her.

“You’re alive?” she whispered. “You’re all right? It was a dream?”

“Yes. Just a bad dream.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m here, Alice. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

It was instinct, sheer muscle memory, to slide her arms around his neck, arch up, and press her lips to his.

Robbie cradled her close, and their mouths fused together like they were made to mesh as one. All the fear and anxiety disappeared like a puff of smoke. Positivity and light replaced the bad, and Alice was whole and unafraid in the strength of Robbie’s embrace and the happiness of his kiss.

Warmth and thrills shot through her. Her stomach gave a happy lurch as her body was infused with a joy that only Robbie could bring into her life. She’d missed this, missed him, every part of him.

Finally, they were together. Finally, they were one.

The kiss became more intense and fulfilling.

Their mouths moved together, and Robbie’s strong body surrounded her.

He was here for her. Of course she could trust him.

Only Robbie would be strong enough to stay safe from Big Buddha and bring the monster to justice.

Robbie was all she’d ever want, all she’d ever need.

The most epic reconnection kiss of the century could’ve continued all night except there was a soft rap on the door.

They pulled apart, both out of breath, grinning at each other like lovesick fools. Alice touched her lips. She was a fool … for him.

“Nightmare?” River asked from the open doorway.

“Yes,” Robbie said, his gaze not leaving her face.

“Forgive me. I had to check.”

“We understand. Appreciate it.”

River pulled the door almost closed.

Robbie’s gaze was hungry on her. He eased down close to her lips again.

“Alice.” His whisper was rough, husky. “I’ve longed for you with every heartbeat.

I told you when I shaved that I don’t want a beard or my career or …

” He didn’t say her mother, but she knew he was thinking it.

“… anything to come between us. The near misses tonight made it crystal clear to me. All I want is you in my life.”

Alice’s heart took flight at his words. She loved him and wanted to trust him with her heart, her life, and his own safety. Longed to shout it to the world and stand up to her mother and beg Robbie to never leave her again.

He longed for her. He wanted her in his life.

Yet … the attack tonight. The ‘near misses’.

They’d been too close, and Big Buddha would not give up.

Now he was hiring professional hit men to help him.

Juneteenth was in four days. Then July Fourth.

She’d be terrified of every holiday until Robbie was killed.

All her joy and naivety during the kiss smacked her like an iron beam.

Even Robbie and the mighty Aiden Porter couldn’t prevail against Big Buddha.

The mental image of Robbie in a casket haunted her.

The true love of her life would be killed, and it would be all her fault.

Against every instinct telling her to forget tomorrow’s terrors and kiss him again, she pulled back.

“Robbie, I can’t.” Her own voice was full of all the misery she felt. Everyone had died because of her. Not Robbie. She couldn’t lose him.

“Because of the hits on my life?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “I can’t watch you die. ”

“I won’t die.”

He looked brave and confident, but she knew Big Buddha would kill him. Because of her. “I have to stay away from you and keep you safe from Big Buddha.”

Robbie shook his head and started to protest, but she cut him off.

“Even if Big Buddha somehow didn’t kill you, you’ll keep working for Aiden Porter, leaving me behind and most likely dying in some drug battle.

” Alice stared at him, daring him to disagree.

Daring him to say he’d move to Atlanta. That he would find a nice job as a security officer at the mall and find a way to show her mother he was the perfect man for her.

“Working for Aiden is what I do,” he said simply.

Alice nodded. She didn’t really want him in a safe, easy job that wouldn’t fit his take-charge, kick-butt personality and skill set.

But all his reassurances that he didn’t want a beard or a job to come between them were hard to believe.

She didn’t want to change him or ruin his life’s work, but she did want him alive.

“Can we work through your fears of me dying?” he asked.

“I don’t know how,” she said miserably. She should’ve just held him close, but she kept going. “There are other reasons we’ll never work. We don’t even live in the same state anymore.”

“And your mom hates me?”

“It’s on the list.”

Robbie drew in a breath then pushed it out. His blue eyes were intense. She thought he’d push her harder, but he released her and stood. “You’re all right then?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Goodnight.” He turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

Alice was left alone, without his strong arms around her.

It was for the best. Robbie would live. Not being together was devastating, but the tragedy of him dying would be far harder to face.

The next morning, Alice felt groggy as she awoke. Instantly the fear returned—bullets whizzing, Robbie almost being hit, running for their lives.

She prayed and prayed, but nothing settled her.

After a quiet breakfast, they had to go give statements at the police station.

The police would only tell Robbie that both attackers were professional hit men.

It was horrifying, but Robbie had Aiden’s people check and the hit on the dark web was now gone.

Aiden’s guy, Ollie, apologized for not seeing the hit earlier. It hadn’t been on his radar.

Would Big Buddha stick with his mode of operation and take another hit out on Juneteenth or the Fourth of July, or would he try to kill Robbie in a different way?

Would he change his plan and come after Robbie every day of the week?

Who was Big Buddha? Had her friends, boyfriend, and dog been killed by hired hit men or by Big Buddha himself?

Maybe the murderer realized he needed professional help to kill someone as tough as Robbie.

After the police station, they ate lunch in a quiet restaurant and then went to a late afternoon Sunday service.

Everyone was quiet as they returned to the condo.

Alice went to her room and lay down, but she couldn’t settle enough to take a nap.

Dinner was solemn, and they ate inside, not on the patio.

Robbie kept giving her searching looks, but he didn’t say much.

Finally, after dinner, he asked, “Are you going to stay?”

“What difference does it make?” she asked, drained from the long night and all the stress.

“I could never complain about more time with you,” he said softly.

“To what end, Robbie? It’s blaringly obvious that we’ll never be together.” It was even harder to say the words after that off-the-charts kiss last night. Alice longed for him, and she would love for him to tell her he’d move heaven and earth to be together.

He shrugged. Obviously he had no solutions either, but his blue eyes said he wouldn’t stop trying.

Alice stood from the table. “I’m sorry our situation can’t be different.”

Robbie said nothing, but as she turned to walk away, he caught her around the waist and plucked her off her feet and onto his lap .

“Robbie,” she breathed out.

He bent and captured her mouth with his.

Their lips moved hungrily together, longing for the peace and committed relationship they could never have.

Instantly she was transported to a world of peace and happiness that she hadn’t felt since the murders started a year ago, truly since Robbie had walked away fifteen years ago.

Horrifically, she knew it couldn’t last. She broke away, out of breath and wishing for more.

The only time she felt no fear of him dying was during their kisses.

“I’m sorry as well,” he murmured.

“Sorry that we can’t be together, or sorry for manhandling me?”

He smiled slightly. “Not the latter, that’s for sure.”

Then Robbie kissed her again. He wasn’t physically lifting her as only he could so easily do, but his kiss swept her off her feet and lifted her to great heights. She was soaring and happier than she’d been in fifteen years.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. She realized Curtis was in the living area, probably trying not to watch them kiss or interrupt. She broke from the kiss and saw Price descend the stairs. He beamed at them as if he was happy they were together. Sadly, they weren’t.

Scrambling off Robbie’s lap, she murmured, “Goodnight.”

She fled for her room. Today had been rough, and she still wasn’t certain she should stay. Robbie’s kisses only made her long for him in her life. If he kept kissing her, she’d beg him to find a way for them to be together.

But she couldn’t make him give up his career.

Could she work and take care of her mother and wait for any break he had in security jobs to spend a few days or a week with her now and then?

It didn’t sound like near enough, and until Big Buddha was found, she couldn’t live each day wondering if it would be the day Robbie would be killed because of her.