Chapter 17

How fitting her and Noah's last day together be Valentine's-a holiday they both despised and was the epitome of everything they rejected about romantic love. In the past, no matter who they'd been dating, she and Noah spent Valentine's Day together, usually watching an action movie in her apartment. Except this year, he demanded they do something different.

She glanced down at the dress laid out on her bed. This morning, she'd packed up her things and told Noah she'd return to her apartment after work. Their time was up. Other than a clench of his jaw and a tight nod, he had no response. She'd come home from the gallery to find the dress and a note. She'd tried to sever the physical aspect of their relationship cleanly, just as he'd wanted-as she'd wanted, even though a tiny part of her hoped-

Wear this tonight. I'm taking you out.

How did he even know the right size? And shoes, too. A thin slip of a dress, it was ankle-length and dark red, with the neckline coming to a V between her breasts and a slit going up one thigh. It felt like silk between her fingers. The shoes were black heels and three thousand dollars. Both Nicole and Raven had sighed over the pair on their last shopping trip.

Since when did he buy her expensive gifts?

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she reached into her nightstand for the key to her jewelry box and wrapped her hands around a small leather-bound book instead. Drawing it out, she set it in her lap. Years ago, a psychiatrist had given it to her and told her to write her thoughts inside. Like a diary or journal, it was supposed to help her come to terms with her memories. She'd never written in it, the pages blank.

She glanced at the dress and then the book. What better time to start than now, when her feelings were a kaleidoscope of crazy? Snatching a pen from the drawer, she cleared her mind and just wrote the first thing that popped in her head. She'd written two pages, hardly noticing what she'd penned, when the doorbell rang.

She whipped her glance to the alarm clock. It was almost seven.

"Shit." Running to the door, she carelessly tossed the book on the coffee table before turning the knob. "Max?"

He smiled. "Don't be too disappointed. I've been instructed to deliver you to dinner with Mr. Caldwell."

"Oh. I'm running behind. Give me a few minutes to change. Come in."

"I'll wait here for you."

"You will not. It's freezing." She grabbed the lapels of his coat and pulled him inside, though she suspected he let her. She'd never budge a man his size.

She shut the door and went down the hall. "Be right back."

He cleared his throat. "No rush, ma'am."

"Max," she said in a warning tone, shrugging out of her work suit.

"Sorry, Miss Crowne." His voice was deep and loud as it traveled to her.

Setting the clothes on her bed, she unzipped the dress. "I can hear you smiling." She stepped into the dress and twisted to zip the back.

"I can't help it, Miss Crowne. You're a very likable person."

Aw. Hell. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She rushed into the bathroom, brushed her hair, decided she didn't have time to putz with it, and spritzed her neck with perfume. Her makeup had survived the workday, but she touched up her lipstick and made her way to the living room.

Max gave an appreciative nod, holding out her long, black peacoat. "Very lovely, Miss Crowne."

"Thanks, Max. You're full of sweetness today." She placed her arms in the coat he held and turned to button it. His face was scarlet, but she didn't call him out. Chances were, he didn't get to converse with many people. If he stayed on her detail, she'd like to at least be able to talk to him. "Are you still my bodyguard?"

"Yes, ma'am-Miss Crowne."

"You should call me Raven, then."

Flustered, he opened the door. "After you."

They wove through the dark, icy streets of Tartok Crest in the opposite direction of Anchorage with the Northern Lights as a backdrop against a starry night. The moon was full and clear, illuminating the snow and storefronts. There wasn't much down this way except The Sound, and no restaurants were this far south.

"Where are we going?"

"I've been instructed not to say." He glanced at her in the rearview and then back to the road.

"Do you always do as instructed?"

"Most of the time."

Ha. Humor. "I instruct you to tell me where we're going."

He didn't laugh as she'd hoped, or even crack a smile. His jaw hardened and his gaze kept shifting from the rearview to the road. His entire demeanor changed from jovially reserved to alert and tense. Very calmly, he said, "Miss Crowne, please lie down in the seat and make sure your seatbelt is buckled."

Her heart stopped. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing I can't handle. Please do as I said."

Suddenly shaking, she lay down crossways on the seat and tightened her belt, cold sweat lacing her skin.

He pushed a button on the console to activate Bluetooth and, a second later, someone by the name of Hintz answered. Max shoved an earpiece into his ear. "We have a tail." He gave a handful of one word answers and disconnected.

The car changed lanes and Raven tried to swallow through her fear. What the heck was going on? And why was someone following them? For the entire three weeks Max had been her shadow, nothing even close to worrisome had occurred. The car swerved back again and picked up speed. She bit back a cry and dug her fingernails into her palms. Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing to avoid a panic attack.

In, out. In, out.

"You can sit up now, Miss Crowne."

Blowing out a breath, she straightened in the seat and smoothed her hair. She shifted to look out the back window, but there were no headlights. "Max-"

He tapped his earpiece and said, "It's gone. Yes, I'm sure. No, sir. We're heading to you now. We had to circle around off route." There was a lengthy pause in which Max regarded her in the rearview before answering. "She's quite calm, sir."

She fisted her shaking hands in her lap. Calm, her ass. Fighting back tears, she glared out the window toward Prince William Sound. Ships, docked at the harbor, bobbed and swayed in the frigid wind. Some crab boats dotted the horizon. The Northern Lights reflected off the choppy water. Truly beautiful, a sight she'd never grow tired of-if her heart wasn't stuck in her throat and her limbs blocks of ice.

There was no deluding herself anymore. Though nothing had come of being followed tonight, Max's reaction was a slap of reality. He wouldn't have made her lie down if he hadn't thought bullets were a possibility. He wouldn't have called backup for a simple tail. Noah's security wasn't a precaution or because of his parents' old ghosts. He was living with a very real threat and had been since before they'd met.

The car stopped and she glanced up. They'd parked at a private pier on the edge of The Sound where a large yacht bobbed on the water. Lights illuminated the interior. Max came around and swept his hard gaze across the area before opening her door. On unsteady legs, she rose and hunched against the wind. He took her elbow and walked her to the edge of the pier.

A door snapped and Noah emerged by the railing of the boat. With one smooth, fluid motion, he leapt from the bough to the pier and stalked toward her, his blond hair catching the wind. She halted to watch him eat the distance, her relief so heavy tears blurred her eyes. He strode right to her, palmed her cool cheeks in his warm hands, and kissed her soundly.

"Are you all right?" His gaze swept over her before he crushed her against him. Tension radiated off of him. He shook from it. Cupping the back of her head, he held her to him and spoke in her ear. "I was fucking worried sick."

"She handled it well."

Noah spoke to Max over her head, his hold on her unrelenting. "Details."

"Dark blue or black Ford pickup. Newer model. It tailed us halfway enroute." There was a pause. "It was the same vehicle from two weeks ago. This time he wanted me to know he was there. After a mile, it turned off before Hintz could arrive for backup."

This had happened before? And she hadn't known?

"Fuck. We need to go back to the condo. We're too wide open here."

"Agreed. Hintz is meeting us here. I'll redirect him." Max's shoes crunched as he walked away.

Noah pulled her away from him, his hard, glacial blue eyes scanning her face.

Tears filled her eyes again, falling and freezing on her face. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm so upset. Nothing happened-" Her legs threatened to buckle.

"Ah, baby." He crushed her to him again, as if unable to let her go. "It would scare anyone. Hell, I still can't...Swear to God, I think I died when Max called." Bending, he swept an arm under her legs and carried her to the SUV with long, determined strides.

Her legs were frozen under her dress by the time they were driving again. Or maybe it was the shock because her whole body was ice. Keeping her sideways in his lap, Noah absently ran his hands up and down the length of them, cheek resting on the top of her head. He ordered Max to turn up the heat.

"I want you back at the condo. It has more security and we can protect you better." He paused when she didn't respond. "If you'd like, you can stay in the guestroom. If you don't want-to sleep next to me." His voice was strained and low, on the cusp of snapping like he'd done that day in the shower.

As her gaze transfixed out the window, her chest swelled. He wanted her to stay. Except it was just to keep her safe, not because he wanted to retract the agreement. At least, that was the impression she got from him. But then why bring up sleeping together? Did he-want to continue?

When had she started hoping for more? Between dinner a month before, when he'd blown their friendship out of the water, and right this moment, she'd found a semblance of normal with another person. Not just someone, but Noah. Her best friend, her anchor.

Stupid. People like them weren't capable of picket fences and ever-afters. Both believed fairy tales were full of crap. Marriage, kids, monogamy were fine for those that sought the lifestyle, believed in it. She and Noah weren't those people. At least, they hadn't been. Was she reading too much into his request?

"Raven?" He said her name like a prayer.

"Okay," she said, her voice dull even to her own ears. "I'll-stay. I need to stop by my apartment and get some things." And once they were alone again, he was going to tell her what the hell was going on. No more keeping her in the dark.

He cradled her closer in answer.