The Heart You Break (Wilde Ways Book 4) Page 14

  “I’m not the target here. You are. This is all about you. So you need to sit back and let Wilde Securities do the job we were hired to do. I can keep you safe. My team can do recon. We can find out exactly who is gunning for you and put a stop to this nightmare.”

  She sounded so confident. So certain. And so cold. It was as if she was talking to a stranger and not to a man who’d been buried so deeply into her that he’d fucking touched paradise.

  Was that how she worked? Had what they’d done together not meant a thing to her?

  “Julia won’t be hurt.” Rick took up a protective position beside her. “I have her six, like always. She’ll stay close to you because that’s where her cover is. She goes where you go, and no one will question that. Not the media. Not your fans. Word will spread that she’s your assistant, and she can get in places with you without causing any kind of drama. But you’ll be safe. You won’t have to worry that your stalker will drive a bullet into your brain or a knife into your heart, not while Julia is close.”

  “Funny,” he said, hating the roughness of his voice. “I kind of already feel like a knife is in my heart.”

  Her lower lip trembled. A faint movement, but he saw it because he was paying such careful attention to her. Julia caught her lower lip between her teeth. Held it. Didn’t speak.

  I am such a dick. Maybe he would let Rick kick his ass. It would be better than seeing pain on Julia’s face.

  Bran whirled away from her and found Gideon staring at him with narrowed eyes.

  “We’re good at our jobs.” Julia’s quiet voice filled the room. “And you’re in way over your head, Bran. You thought you could play a game with this perp? Use yourself as bait? That’s not working out so well. First you get the town grocery store shot up, and now the stalker is taking out Cole. If the stalker comes at you, I need to be there.”

  If the stalker came at him and she was there…you could die, Julia. Then what in the hell would he do?

  “You can check my references.” Again, there was no emotion in her voice. “I’ve saved CEOs, I’ve saved diplomats, and, hell, I even once guarded a prince while I was working at Wilde Securities.”

  A prince? He cast a what-the-hell glance over his shoulder.

  Her lips quirked. “A moody rock star was just my latest assignment.”

  Moody? Moody?

  Julia inclined her head toward him. “I get that you’ve had a lot thrown at you tonight. The basic fact remains, though, that you are in trouble. You need me. You need Rick. We can help you, and you would be a fool to turn away from us now.”

  That horrible throbbing was back in his head again. “Gideon…Rick…get the hell out.”

  Rick immediately glanced at Julia, as if looking for her permission.

  Bran snarled, “I want to talk to Julia alone. Now.”

  “Uh…” Gideon coughed. “Is this the best idea? I mean, I can just escort them all off the property. You don’t need them here, buddy. They can get out of your life right now.”

  But he didn’t want Julia out of his life. He wanted to grab tight to her and never let go. Even if everything she’d said to him had been a lie. Every word. Every moment. Every touch. “Out,” he gritted from between clenched teeth.

  Julia gave a slight inclination of her head.

  At that faint movement, Rick headed for the door. But on his way, he stopped and jabbed a finger at Bran. “Hurt her and know that I will break you one day soon.”

  “I would never put my hands on her like that.” They needed to be very, very clear.

  “You can also hurt with words, dumbass.” Rick sauntered away.

  He’s gonna be a problem.

  Gideon lingered.

  “Go,” Bran growled.

  The sheriff shuffled out. Bran listened intently until the front door opened and then closed with a click.

  For a moment, Bran couldn’t move at all. He could only stand there, Julia too close to him, his body aching for her, and his chest burning with an ache that wouldn’t stop. “Is Rick your lover?”

  She laughed, but the sound held no humor. “After everything that has happened, that is your first question? Bran, I hate to say it, but you’ve got issues.”

  Tell him something he didn’t freaking know. “That’s not an answer.”

  She advanced to stand toe-to-toe with him. Her head tipped back as she stared up at him, and finally, finally, bright emotion lit her eyes. Too bad that emotion was anger. “No. Rick is my friend. He’s been my best friend for a while now. He has my back, and I have his.”

  Bran looked down at his wrist. At the bruised and still bloody skin. “You handcuffed me to the steering wheel.”

  “I was protecting you.”

  “I couldn’t get out. You were running into the fire, and I was screaming for you to stop, and you didn’t. And I couldn’t get out.” That would haunt him. He knew it. He’d be waking up, screaming for her. Imagining her burning in those flames. “Rick ran after you. He left me in that SUV, and he headed toward the burning cabin for you.”

  “It’s not the first time he’s gone into the flames with me.” Now sadness flashed in her eyes right before she looked down at her arm. At the scar there. “But I do hope it’s the last.”

  “Who are you?”

  Her gaze lifted to meet his.

  “I thought I knew you.” Bran could only shake his head. “But I have no idea who you really are.”

  She swallowed. “I’m Julia Slate, and I’m your bodyguard.”

  His eyes narrowed on her. “You really think that’s good enough?”

  “Probably not, but it’s been one hell of a night.” One shoulder moved in a shrug. “So I was hoping it would do.”

  His back teeth ground together. “You lied to me.” Each word pounded from him.

  She kept her chin up and didn’t flinch from his stare. “I did.” A pause. “Would you have ever let me past the threshold if I’d told you the truth?”

  “No. I would have kicked your pretty ass out.”

  “Glad you think it’s pretty,” she returned without missing a beat.

  Glad you think… “This isn’t some game.”

  “You’re right.” She blinked. “It’s not. A good man almost died tonight. A man who has been working helluva hard to turn his life around. He did that because you were holding back intel. Because you weren’t telling us everything that we needed to know. You’re an amateur playing life or death stakes, and that has to end.” Her hands balled into fists at her sides. “The stalker out there wants you dead. He is willing to take out innocent people in order to get the job done. Don’t you see that?”

  “We don’t even know that tonight’s attack was related to the stalker. For all we know, someone just broke into Cole’s cabin. Maybe the intruder wanted to rob him. We have no proof at all that this is related to me. I mean, would my stalker even know about Cole?”

  She seemed to consider that for a moment. A little furrow appeared between her brows. “Why did he attack Cole?” She turned away.

  Bran reached for her. His hand closed around her wrist.

  They both stilled.

  The electric pulse was still there. The surge of awareness. Desire. “Finding out that you’re a liar didn’t change the way I respond to you.”

  She stared at his hand, the tanned fingers curling around her pale skin.

  “Was everything a lie?” The question rasped from Bran.

  ***

  He was in the house. Finally. He’d gone back. Only she was with him. The woman who had been warned to stay away. But she hadn’t listened. She’d had a chance. Had the opportunity to save herself.

  She hadn’t.

  Collateral damage. That was what she’d be. There was no point in feeling guilty about her. She’d brought this on herself. She should’ve left Bran. Realized he was toxic and gotten the hell away from him.

  Now it was too late. Now they were together and that was the way they would have to stay.

  O
thers were near the cabin. Some right outside the front door. Some patrolling around the perimeter. They didn’t get it. They were looking for the danger. Trying to find the threats.

  They didn’t realize…the biggest danger was already inside with Bran. Already right in the cabin. Had they truly thought the new security would do anything to keep him safe? Oh, no.

  It was time for Bran to die.

  ***

  Was that pain in Bran’s voice? Or just more rage? He was pissed. Definitely pissed. No one could miss that, and all of his fury seemed to be directed solely at Julia.

  “Julia,” he growled her name. “Was anything real?”

  Her own anger flickered to life once more. “What do you think? That I was faking my attraction to you? That I was faking what happened when we were in bed together?”

  His eyes were pretty much slits, and he hadn’t responded.

  Screw off, Bran. “You are such a jerk. Is it so crazy to think I might have just wanted you? And that I wanted you so much that I broke my own rules? Because, for the record, I never sleep with clients. Though, technically…” She huffed out a breath. “You aren’t the client. Hathway is.”

  “I’m supposed to believe you?”

  Her shoulders stiffened. “I’m not your assistant. Yes, I lied about that part. But not everything I said or did with you was a lie.”

  “How the hell can I trust you?”

  She…

  Didn’t know.

  Julia pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Even though the sun was finally up, the night wouldn’t end for her. The fire kept replaying in her mind, and something was nagging at her. Digging in her brain but not quite breaking through to her. Something was off. Something was wrong. But she was so caught up in Bran and the wildfire of her emotions that she couldn’t distance herself enough to think clearly.

  Something is wrong.

  Her body was wired too tightly. Her heart racing too quickly. The adrenaline surge should have been passing by now. She should be on her way to the afterburn, but instead, her muscles were still too tight with battle-ready tension. She couldn’t shake the sense that danger was surrounding them.

  Why go after Cole? And…why set the fire in Cole’s cabin? If Bran’s stalker had been the one to attack Cole—and every instinct she possessed said it had been the stalker—then why set the fire? It would have been easy enough to just kill Cole when he was unconscious at the foot of the stairs. The attacker could have slit Cole’s throat. Stabbed him in the heart. Shot him. Killed him in a dozen ways that would not have alerted anyone else.

  But…

  The fire had alerted them. The fire had sent her and the others running to Cole’s cabin.

  Julia sucked in a sharp breath. And maybe that was the whole point. The fire had lit up the sky and been easily seen by her and Bran. The stalker had wanted them to see the fire, and at first, she’d worried it was a trap. That by going to Cole’s place, she’d be exposing Bran to danger…

  Maybe that is exactly what I did.

  She whirled back around. “We need to get out of here.”

  “I’m not going any place. You and I are talking—”

  Julia grabbed his hands. “We’re getting the hell out of here. Right now.”

  “What?” His dark brows snapped together. “No, we aren’t. We just got back!”

  “And we were gone for too long. The place was open while we were gone. Exposed.”

  “There’s an alarm system! One that your friend just installed.”

  The right person could get past an alarm. The right person could temporarily disable a system and slip inside. Julia could do that. So could Rick. And maybe so could Bran’s stalker. “We were lured away for a reason. We are not staying here.”

  He frowned at her. “You think…something’s wrong?”

  “I think something is very wrong. I think the stalker wanted us away, and I don’t know if he’s set some kind of trap at this cabin, maybe planning an arson attack here, too, or—” She didn’t get to say anything else.

  Bran grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder as he hauled ass for the front door.

  ***

  The cabin’s front door burst open.

  No, no, stay inside!

  Because the detonation sequence had already been started. It couldn’t be stopped now. Bran shouldn’t be outside. He should still be in there with the woman. He had to get back inside!

  But Bran was running out of the house. The woman was thrown over his shoulder, and he was holding tight to her.

  No, stop! Stop, you freaking bastard!

  Bran didn’t stop.

  And the cabin exploded behind him, hurtling Bran and Julia into the air.

  Chapter Fourteen

  He didn’t let her go when they hit the ground. They hurtled forward, even as fire poured into the air around them. The collision with the ground was jarring, and Bran had tried to turn, tried to take some of the impact, but Julia had still slammed hard into the earth.

  Fear choked him. “Baby?” He rolled fast, putting her body protectively under his. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move at all.

  She let out a low groan. “Oh, damn, that will bruise. A lot.”

  He kissed her. Acted on absolute instinct and crushed his mouth to hers. She was alive. She was okay.

  If she hadn’t told him to get the hell out of that cabin, they both would have been dead.

  “What the hell?” A snarl from somewhere around him. “Get your asses up! We need to get back!”

  Bran lifted his head.

  Julia’s breath heaved out.

  Before he could say anything else to her, hard hands were yanking at him and hauling him to his feet. Rick. Figured. The guy shoved Bran back and offered his hand to Julia. With extra care, Rick lifted her up.

  “I’m fine,” she assured him, already lifting her chin and squaring her shoulders. “Just some bruises. Trust me, it could’ve been a whole lot worse.”

  Bran whirled to stare at the cabin. Glass littered the ground. Flames poured from the windows. It wasn’t some slow, sputtering fire. It was already a full-on inferno.

  “Bombs,” Rick announced. “Bet my life on at least five strategically placed explosives. Probably set on a timer.”

  “No.” Julia gazed straight at the fire. “Not a timer. He had to be sure Bran was inside. He was waiting.” Her voice lowered as her gaze cut around suspiciously. “He’s close. Get the team searching now. The perp could’ve used his phone as a trigger. He’s here. We need to find him.”

  At her words, Bran’s gaze whipped around the scene. He saw Rick’s men rushing away from the cabin. Gideon was crouched next to one of his deputies. No one appeared seriously hurt, thank Christ. But if he and Julia had been in the cabin when the detonation happened, there would have been no chance for them.

  Gideon looked up. Bran had never seen his friend appear so grim. The sheriff patted his deputy and rose. He marched straight for Bran. Grass crunched under his feet.

  “We have to get Bran out of here,” Julia was saying to Rick. “He can’t be in the open. We need a secure location, now.”

  A long cut ran across Gideon’s forehead. He paused near Bran. “I saw you running out…” He licked his lips. “Then I just saw the fire.” His face had gone ashen. “What in the hell? How did you know to get out?”

  He hadn’t known. He would’ve had his crazy ass in that cabin when it exploded. “Julia knew.” She’d saved his life.

  Suddenly, he remembered the grocery store. The way she’d shoved against him and they’d hit the ground right before the bullet had hit the glass door near them.

  Julia hadn’t saved his life just once. She’d done it twice.

  “I need a safe location for Bran,” Julia snapped. “Right now.”

  Gideon nodded. “Sheriff’s station. You can stay there until we figure out what the hell is happening.”

  Julia took Bran’s hands. Her fingers laced with his as they hu
rried toward the SUV. The same damn one that she’d cuffed him to just hours before. Voices were raised around them, the fire was crackling, but it all seemed distant. Like a scene from a movie. Not something that he was actually living.

  He could only concentrate on Julia. Could only see her.

  He wasn’t even sure if anything else mattered. Only her.

  ***

  Bran hadn’t spoken, and Julia was worried.

  She shut the door in the small sheriff’s station—the door to Gideon’s office. Since he was still at Bran’s cabin, she hoped he didn’t mind that they’d, uh, taken over his office for a little while. Bran had been dead silent during the frantic drive down from the cabin. All she’d wanted to do was get him to a controlled, safe location. Get him out of the open.

  And now that they were secure—for the moment—she wasn’t sure what to say to him. Exhaustion pulled at her. She wanted to collapse into a puddle right then and there, but collapsing wasn’t an option.

  One deputy was outside, in the lobby of the station. He was their guard.

  Bran stood near the desk, his body too tense, his head tilted down as he stared at—well, she wasn’t sure that he was staring at anything in particular.

  Straightening her spine, Julia approached him. “Bran.”

  Nothing.

  She cleared her throat and tried again. “Bran?”

  Still no response. He could be giving her the silent treatment or it could be something else. Shock? He’d nearly died, and getting blown to hell would certainly be enough to send someone spiraling into a shocked state. Her hand lifted, and she touched his shoulder.

  He immediately whirled toward her. His hand flew out and clamped around her wrist, freezing her. For a moment, their gazes held. So many emotions blazed in his eyes.

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “That sonofabitch blew up my cabin.”

  She wet her lips. “Yes.”

  “He would’ve blown both of us up.”

  Both of them…and the people who’d been close to the cabin. She’d been screaming for everyone to get the hell back even as Bran had burst out of the cabin. They’d all been very, very lucky.