Carter Reed

I broke. This wasn’t the stranger anymore. This was Carter, the boy I had grown up with. I flung my arms around him and pulled him down. Instead of fighting, I clung to him now.

He wrapped his arms around me and rolled to his side. He patted my back and tucked his head into the crook of my neck and shoulder. I felt his lips brush there as he repeated, “You have to tell me. I won’t hurt you. I will protect you.”

A shudder went through my body. At last. Those were the words I was desperate for. He moved his hands, one sliding down to my hip and the other cradling the back of my head, he pressed into me. The last of my reserve fled then. A gasp escaped me and I pressed against him. I needed him.

“Emma.”

Shame flooded me. He knew. What kind of person was I? Fighting, running away, and then starting to tremble in his arms?

His hand started to caress my hip. His fingers slid underneath my shirt and moved under my pants’ waistband. He held me there, his hand splayed out. I tried to resist, but I wanted to wind my legs around him. I wanted to pull him on top of me and feel his hand between my legs. But I didn’t do anything. I lay there, still, as my heart pounded inside of me. He could feel the beat against him. The thumping drowned everything else out.

He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead and raised himself up again. He looked down at me. The plea in his eyes was still there. As he brushed some of my hair from my forehead, he asked, “Do you not trust me?”

I nodded. “I’m scared of you.”

A small grin appeared at the corners of his mouth. “You are?”

“I don’t know who you are anymore.” I couldn’t believe I was admitting any of that, but I needed to trust someone. I had to if I was going to survive what I had done. Feeling a little bit brave, I touched his chest. My hand spread out like his was on my back. His heart was steady. I murmured, “I know who you are. I know you’re the Cold Killer. I know what you did for AJ.” A tear slipped from the corner of my eye. It fell unheeded. “I always wanted to thank you for that.”

He tensed. “You need to tell me who you killed.”

I’d been looking at his mouth, wondering distantly what they would feel like pressed to mine, when I heard the cold tone in him again. All the warmth and desire fled from me. I tensed as well and my gaze snapped back to his. My chest surged up in a small gasp as I saw nothing in his eyes. There was no amusement, no softening, nothing.

He was the stranger again.

My hand fell away from his chest. I lay beneath him, but he retracted his touches from me. He scooted to sit on the edge of the bed.

My chest started to ache. He couldn’t leave. I needed him.

“Enough with the games, Emma. Tell me who you killed.” He turned back. His eyes were like ice again. “I would like to help you. You and AJ were my family. I would do anything for you, but you’re wasting my time.”

He was right.

I sat up and moved so my back rested against the headboard. It was time. The new Carter and my old Carter were the same person. I didn’t need to be scared of this new one. He was the ruthless one, the one that I needed help from. “I killed Jeremy Dunvan.”

He clipped out, “Where?”

“In my apartment.”

His head nodded once. “Stay here.” And then he left.

CHAPTER SIX

Carter was gone for a long time. I waited, but after I ate a little bit more, I curled up on the bed. As soon as I pulled the comforter over me and snuggled into the pillow, I was out. I had never fallen asleep so fast. When I woke, the penthouse was still dark. He hadn’t come back. That affected me more than I wanted to admit, even to myself. But, with a stab of disappointment and something more, I looked around for my phone. When I found it along with my purse, I headed out.

I didn’t know what to do. He said to wait, but for how long. I couldn’t sit around for too long. What if he never came back?

I sucked in my breath as pain sliced through me. He said he’d protect me, but if he never came back, did that mean I was on my own? Either way, I’d been away from Mallory for too long. She needed to know that we would need to make our own decisions. We’d have to leave. That was all there was. It was the last resort, but we were out of choices. Carter had been a long shot. I could see that now.

When I stepped out of the penthouse, there was no guard. That only reaffirmed my decision. Carter had changed his mind. We were on our own.