Chapter 40
Violet
“We’re almost to the barn, Callie. We’ll get inside and I can figure out what’s next.
You won’t be so cold if I can get you inside.
” Ryan’s hand grasped painfully around my wrist. Thank God he hadn’t wanted to take Connor with us.
The temperature outside was dropping alarmingly fast, wind whipping small droplets of rain against me so harshly it felt like my skin was being sliced open.
Beau needed to be okay. He needed to wake up.
And even if he didn’t wake up—Lord, the thought made my stomach heave—Colt would be rushing back. I’d used the silent alarm code at the house.
The wind kicked up, light rain turning heavier as we walked on the edge of the woods towards the barn.
Ryan clearly didn’t want to be seen, but I was still holding onto hope that someone would be securing something on the ranch.
Maybe Danny or one of the ranch hands would be checking on the horses?
Jessie might be taking in clothes off her clothes line.
Someone, anyone, that I could signal to get help.
My incision pulled tightly as Ryan jerked me closer to him.
“I don’t understand.” My voice wavered, and I wanted to scream. The last thing I wanted was to be weak. Because weakness was just going to slow me down. But the bitter cold from the storm front and the adrenaline dumping into my bloodstream were making my body shake. Physically, I was weak.
And then I saw it. Colt’s truck racing across the far field. The one that led from our house to Lachlan’s. He’d gotten the alert. Connor would be okay.
“Inside. Now.” Ryan shoved me into the barn, tracking Colt’s vehicle over my shoulder. My eyes frantically searched the building, but there was no movement. The rain crashed harder, somehow feeling more harsh hearing its echoes on the roof than it had slamming into my skin outside.
Ryan paced in front of me, looking over the items on the table to our right.
“This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go,” he mumbled to himself, his hands combing through his hair.
“Can you take a minute just to explain what’s happening right now?” I asked.
“We don’t have a minute! I need to get you there.
To the house. Yes, the house. I wasn’t supposed to be in there before, but I couldn’t wait.
I had to be near you. I had to smell you.
I needed that release so badly, Cal. I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry. I should have waited for the right time. That’s now. That’s right now.”
“Ryan, you need to slow down. None of this makes sense?!”
“He was trying to take you from me. And he can’t.
He can’t have you.” Ryan’s hand touched my cheek, and I recoiled back.
He shook his head, little droplets of water spraying down as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“I knew what you were doing from that very first novel. You were writing to me. Hiding messages in your story line that only I could see. I loved it. Our own little game. I was so nervous to reach out to you that first time. But then you were excited to hear from me, and it gave me a whole new purpose. We’d work together to build the life we were meant to have together. ”
“I…I don’t understand. I didn’t write you messages in my books.”
“You DID!” His eyes were wild. I shrank back, wishing like hell the Fords kept their branding irons on the wall behind me.
But there was nothing. Nothing to reach for.
Nothing to grab. No one to call out to for help.
“It was so clear that you were Arianna, and I was always meant to be your Alexander.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Colt was right. This was some delusion spurred on by my stories. Ryan reached out to me after A Thousand Starless Nights was published, and that’s how we connected.
God, I was so stupid. How could I let this happen? He’d been in my life, plotting this for five years? Thinking I was writing love stories for him when they were my soul calling out to Colt…
“Okay, okay,” I replied, holding out my hands. “You’re right. I’m so glad you found those messages.”
I felt repulsed by the words I was saying, but calming Ryan down was my first priority.
“Why do you want to take me to the house?”
“Because, that’s where it all started for us.” I must have looked confused, because he shook his head and sighed. “The house that Arianna inherits after her parents die. We need to get back there before the storm really starts. Otherwise, it won’t be perfect.”
“That cabin is a long way from here, Ryan. I can’t walk that far. I need to be back with Connor. He’s going to be scared. He’s just a baby.”
“I’m fucking sick of hearing about that baby, Callie!
I let you put him up in his crib, safe and sound.
That wasted time! You said goodbye. It was never supposed to be his baby.
It was always supposed to be you and me.
Just the two of us! And then you had to go off and do this.
It was a fucking mistake. That baby is a fucking mistake.
” His pacing became more frantic until his face snapped towards mine.
In two steps, his hands were on my shoulders.
“It’s okay. I’m not mad at you for wanting to know what motherhood could be.
But the baby is his now. Colt’s. We have the chance to start over.
Forget about your mistake. Forget about that baby.
It’s just the two of us from here on out. Come on.”
His fingers traced down my arms as he pressed his face closer to mine. I turned just in time for his lips to press against my cheek.
“Ryan, please.” I squirmed, trying to get out of his hold. Instead of being mad, or backing away, he smiled. His hand cupped my cheek and he nodded.
“You’re right. I need to save our first kiss for when we are surrounded by candles and flower petals, just like you planned.” His eyes went to the rafters of the barn. “The rain is picking up. We’re going to have to make a run for it.”
“I can’t run. The incision from my c-section isn’t fully healed.”
His face darkened as he looked down at me. “Then I’ll just have to carry you.”
The thought of him touching me more made acid churn painfully in my stomach. “No. I-I’ll try. Okay? I’ll try to keep up with you. And if I can’t, then you can carry me. I want to show you how strong I can be.”
He nodded, a smile crossing his face. “I knew you’d see. This is all going to work out, Callie. I promise. We’re going to make it perfect.”
Every cell in my body ached. But I hadn’t complained.
Not when the skies opened up and drenched us.
Not when I stumbled and tripped over fallen branches and roots in the woods between the ranch and my parents’ house.
Not when my insides felt like they might fall out through my incision.
I used to know this area like the back of my hand.
Colt would meet me out here, and we’d sneak off to the springs.
I tried to think of how to use that to my advantage. If I could bring him somewhere that would trap him and give me time to get away. But there was nothing. And more than that, Ryan seemed to know exactly where he was going. Is this how he was watching me? In the woods? Lurking in the shadows?
The thought sent a shiver through my body just as the house came into view through the thick trees.
“You’ll have to clear the security alarm when we go in,” he said. His hand slipped up to my elbow as my knees started to buckle. God! My belly ached from all the movement. “Careful. We’re almost there. We’ll get nice and dry, and I’ll warm you up in front of the fireplace.”
I wracked my mind for what significance the fireplace had in my story. And then I remembered. The fight. The storm.
Ari had run out of Alex’s place in the middle of a snow storm. He’d found her collapsed, covered in snow…and taken her back to her house because it was closer.
He peeled off her clothes, warmed her by the fireplace…and it was the first time they were intimate together.
Oh no. Oh fuck, no.
A key appeared in Ryan’s hand, and he quickly unlocked the door.
The door open alert started chirping, and I knew we had twenty seconds before the alarm would sound.
I thought about it. For a second. Just letting the alarm sound and praying that he would run.
As if he could sense what I was thinking, Ryan stepped closer to me, running his hand along the small of my back.
No. There was no way he would run. I knew what I needed to do.
I move towards the panel. 0525. The day Colt and I were married.
The alert stopped chirping, and Ryan smiled.
“Good girl.”
Ew. There was only one man in the world that could say that to me without me wanting to gouge his eyes out. And Ryan was not him. “I need to use the bathroom.”
“I’ll come with you.” He started to walk towards the stairs, but I reached out, setting my hand on his arm.
“No! Please, Ryan. I need some privacy. I need…I need to dry myself off and I’d like to make myself presentable.
I must look like an absolute mess right now.
Why don’t you…” My eyes drifted to the kitchen.
“Boil some water? I have tea or hot cocoa in the cabinets. That would be perfect if you want to start a fire in the fireplace.”
He nodded. “That does sound cozy. Don’t take too long, or I’ll have to come looking for you.”
“I promise, I’ll be quick.”
God, my legs were trembling, but I forced myself to stay upright as I climbed the stairs. Whatever he’d put in that tea was still making me feel so weak. But I wouldn’t let it win. I had to get back to Connor. To Colt.
I made it into my bedroom and marched straight through the door leading to the bathroom. I closed the door, trying my hardest not to make a sound as I slid the lock in place.
Colt was coming. I could feel it in my bones. The code would work. He’d get here. He’d stop this.
He’d save me.