Page 136 of Wrapped in Their Arms

The suite was exactly as she’d left it—clean, quiet, and far too large for one person.

Her suitcase was where she’d left it too, and she pulled it onto the bed and started packing.Afew sweaters, her favorite necklace, a pair of boots.Sheadded a small wrapped package for herAbuela—Kindredface cream and tea that glowed faintly pink—and zipped it closed.

But just as she turned to go activate the viewscreen and place the call—Flash-Flash-Flash.Thescreen pulsed green.

Her heart leapt—was itBright?OrhadBurnfinally come to his senses and called her himself?

She crossed the room quickly, her fingers hovering over theAccepticon.Asmall smile curved her lips.

“Please let it be one of them,” she murmured, and tapped the screen.

But the face that appeared was notKindred—it was human.

A man in cammo gear with a gaiter mask pulled up over his mouth and nose stared back at her.Adark baseball cap shadowed his eyes, and mirrored sunglasses reflected the soft lights of her suite back at her.Onlyhis voice was clear.

“Hey, babe,” the man said.“Guesswho.”

His voice was a slow, oily drawl that sent ice water down her spine.

Noelle’s smile vanished and her blood turned to ice.

That voice…it was so horribly familiar.

“No…” she whispered.Herhands trembled.

The man tilted his head slightly and tapped his temple—just once—with a gloved finger.

“You didn’t think you could hide forever, did you?”he asked conversationally.“Tookme a while, butIfound you.”

Noelle couldn’t breathe.

It was him—her ex.Theman who’d sworn he’d hunt her down.Theone who wore a badge and thought it gave him the right to do anything.

The screen crackled.

“MerryChristmas, sweetheart,”Bransonsaid.

74

NOELLE

Noelle stared at the viewscreen as if it were a nightmare made of pixels and static.

It can’t be.Itcan’t be him.Itcan’tbe…

Her mind spun in useless circles, grasping for any explanation.Herpalms felt clammy.Herknees went watery.Herbreath came too shallow and too fast.

The man on the screen shifted, the brim of his baseball cap casting his mirrored eyes into deeper darkness.

“Who—?”she began, though she already knew.

“Don’t play games,”Bransondrawled.“Youknow it’s me, babe.”

Then he reached up with a gloved hand and tugged down the camo-patterned gaiter mask, revealing the face she’d hoped never to see again—her personal nightmare made flesh.

The man she’d spent months trying to escape.

“No…” she breathed, her stomach dropping with dread.