Chapter 8
Ava
I slip out of bed shaking my dream off and go in search of my jeans from the night before.
The scent of coffee is floating through the cabin and draws me to the kitchen after getting my clothes on, sans panties.
Kade is outside by the woodpile talking on his cell and the snow looks white and puffy giving the outdoors a blanket of fresh winter snow, that hangs off of the pine trees that surround the property.
I pull my shoes on and shrug into my coat, pour us each a cup of coffee and chug mine down, deciding it’s time that I help with these chores.
Chopping a little wood can’t be that hard, and I can stand to burn off some pent-up emotion after everything that’s happened.
I walk out the door and make it down the steps, unable to help overhearing part of his conversation.
“I’ll leave the girl here, find Paulie, that son of a bitch, and we’ll find out what this project is all about if I have to beat it out of him.”
My mouth drops open and my heart begins to beat so fast that it’s hard to breathe.
There’s one car here and the only way I’m going to get to my brother in time to save him from Kade and not be stuck in this cabin with no way out is to get to that car before he knows what I’m doing.
I slip back into the house and race to the table where he dumped all of his keys and wallet last night, but nothing’s there now.
I left this world to get away from all of this and now I’m right in the middle of it all again.
There has to be a way to get the keys to that car.
It doesn’t take long to formulate a plan because I don’t have long.
I grab my purse and place it on the chair next to the exit and open the screen door.
“Fresh coffee? Come inside and warm up?” I ask, hoping the fear and anxiety I’m feeling doesn’t come through in my voice because it sounds shaky as fuck to me.
Kade walks into the cabin and shrugs out of his coat. “Here, let me take that.” I hand him the mug of coffee trying not to focus on the spark of electricity as his fingers touch mine. “How much more wood do we need?” I ask.
“I'm going to get enough for a week chopped up and show you how to run a few things around the cabin. I have to head back to the city for a few things, and then I’ll be back for you.”
My heart almost stops. There’s no way he’s leaving me here. I’ll have no way to get out or to warn Paulie. “I'll come with you.”
He shakes his head. “Sorry, too dangerous.”
I pretend to pout but my whole body feels like it’s trembling with fear. “Shouldn’t I get a say in what’s too dangerous for me?”
“Maybe before last night. Now, I’m not about to let you get in any more danger than you’re already in.”
My chest tightens with torn emotion because after last night things changed for me too. The connection we have already sparking so strong, searing a connection that until hearing his conversation today, I thought would turn into a relationship that could maybe even be more than a passing thing.
I look around the cabin, remorse already hitting my heart hot and heavy for what I’m about to do, but with no other choice if I am to save my brother. There is enough to eat and drink, and he knows how to keep heat in the cabin, and where to go if he needs help with anything.
“I personally suggest we stay snuggled in that big bed of yours for the rest of the day. The wood can wait for a little while, surely?”
Kade takes another drink of his coffee, puts it down, and kisses me with a passion that takes my breath away even while my heart clamors with the enormity of what I’m about to do.
I melt into his arms, letting it sear into my memory to hold me through the nights when I’ll be thinking of him in the future.
He breaks our kiss slowly, his hands cradling my nape.
“I have to get some things done and then go, but I’ll be back for you. I promise.”
I nod, trying to hold back the emotion bubbling into my throat, trying to hold the dam of tears from flooding from my eyes.
He sees my emotion whether I try to hide it or not. “This thing between us, it’s far from over, Ava. I’ll be back for you,” he says, walking to the bathroom.
As soon as the door is closed, I rummage through his jacket like a first-rate thief, grab his keys and the cell, toss my purse over my shoulder and race for the car.
I get in and shut the door as quietly as I can, giving the surroundings one look around, knowing that as soon as I start this engine, I’m going to be in the race of my life to get back to my brother, hours away.
I suck in a deep breath, turn the ignition and put my foot on the gas pedal, reversing out of the clearing, turning and heading down the hill, careening down the makeshift roads as quickly as I can without sliding off and into the aged pines that line the sides of the path, until I make it to the main road and gun it, headed for home and my family.