Chapter 8
8
W alking out of the house, Reeves watched as the bodyguards approached them. “Gentlemen.” He handed over the suitcases they had packed. Anything else he’d grab and bring with him.
“Mr. Salvador?”
“Marco, I’d like you and Dale to take Miss Knight to the ranch. Do not stop anywhere.” Reeves’ voice was steady, authoritative, but there was an edge to it—something that spoke to urgency. He didn’t look at his men when he spoke, his attention was fixed solely on her. Stormy.
She stiffened in his arms, the tension in her shoulders making the already charged atmosphere more palpable. She’d been through enough. And now it seemed like her ex had tracked her to Texas.
The reality of the situation hit Reeves. It was clear enough: whoever had been after Stormy had found her. They wouldn’t stop until they had her, and if Reeves was going to make sure she made it out of this, it meant keeping her away safe.
Rubbing a hand over her back in slow, deliberate motions, Reeves tried to soothe the woman he loved—though he had no right. Even with years stretching out between them, he was ready to protect her once more.
“I need you to go with Marco and Dale.” When Stormy shook her head no, he tilted her face up, forcing her eyes to meet his. “Marco and Dale will protect you with their lives.”
She hated she sounded like a whiny woman. She didn’t know Marco and Dale, for all she knew they could be creeps. “Why can’t I ride with you?” Stormy murmured, voice raw with the weight of memories.
Reeves gave her a wink trying to make light of the situation. “Because I’m going to look around and I don’t want you here while I do it.”
“Why can’t I be here?” she asked.
“Because I’m hoping your ex shows his face.” He was going to find everything this guy had done in the house. Then he would call the cops to come process the scene. After that, he’d call a cleaning company they used for sensitive situations.
Once he had Stormy settled down and ready to leave with Marco and Dale, Reeves informed his men, “Have Dale drive Stormy’s rental.” Reeves’ entire body trembled with anger. If he was honest with himself, it was fear. Fear that whoever this sick fuck was would get to Stormy and kill her before he could find him.
“Take the back roads,” Reeves added sharply, locking eyes with Marco. “No matter what, you don’t let her out of the truck.”
“Not a problem, Mr. Salvador.” The two men nodded and fell into line.
“Reeves?”
Hearing Stormy’s voice crack, Reeves grabbed her hand, walked her to the vehicle, and helped her inside. Kissing her quickly, Reeves closed the door and told Marco one more time to not stop until they were at the ranch.
Reeves glanced up and down the street before watching the SUV disappear. Turning back for the house, he felt as if he was being watched. “Come on, asshole, show yourself.” Walking back inside, he closed the door and got to work searching for more evidence of how often this person had been in the house.
Standing in the rental house he looked around, searching for any spot a hidden camera could be concealed. He checked everything from the fake plants to the air vents. But he found nothing.
He did a once over, making sure Stormy, in her haste, hadn’t forgotten anything. He spotted her laptop on the table. Reeves’s brow furrowed as he studied it. Stormy was meticulous when it came to her things, especially her work. The idea she’d leave it out seemed out of character. It told him her level of stress was enormous. He moved toward the table and, with a glance around, opened the laptop.
The screen lit up, casting a faint glow in the dim room. It was unlocked—another strange detail. Stormy was usually so cautious, especially about security. Reeves ran his finger over the laptop’s cursor and watched as a slideshow appeared on the screen. The pictures were of Stormy—Stormy and Whiskey?—
he and Stormy.
Reeves scrolled through the desktop quickly, his eyes scanning for anything unusual. Nothing in the files looked out of place at first, but his instincts were already tingling.
He clicked on the most recent file—something Stormy had been working on for weeks—and found only a handful of unmarked documents. But then, in the screen’s corner, an unfamiliar folder caught his attention. It was buried deep in her system, almost like someone had intentionally tried to hide it. The folder’s name was cryptic— X-2.
His fingers hovered over the mouse, but something in the back of his mind made him hesitate. Screw it. If it was something she didn’t want anyone to see, she should have locked the laptop. Clicking on the file, Reeves realized what he was looking at. It was a backdoor into her laptop. It was the same thing technicians used to remotely access clients’ computers. Her ex was watching her every move through the laptop. Closing it, Reeves knew he’d have to take it to a friend to have the program wiped before Stormy could use it again.
How did this happen to her? Reeves had made sure he stayed out of her life where she’d be safe. Still, trouble had found her, and it had nothing to do with him. Finding the welcome folder, he called the homeowners explaining the situation. They were more concerned for Stormy than anything else. Reeves told them the house would be paid in full, and he would call a cleaning company once he was finished at the house.
After finding nothing else in the house that implied Stormy’s ex had been there other than putting the cardboard cutout in the closet. And with the paint still dripping he’d probably been in the house while she was preoccupied. How close had she been to being harmed again? The question had his stomach tight. With nothing else to do, he walked out of the house and locked the door. Doing a once around the house, he headed for the car.
Slipping behind the wheel of the Lexus, Reeves knew once he got back to the ranch, he’d get all the information on this asshole. And then things would get fun.
Stormy busied herself with unpacking instead of facing the woman who’d always been there for her. She told her about the bruises, the attacks, the gifts both nice and creepy. Touching the scar on her face, Stormy didn’t go into the details of that night. She left it at Paul broke in and attacked her. There hadn’t been enough makeup and concealer to cover any of it.
Whiskey was freaking out as she stood listening to Stormy. The woman seemed in complete control of her emotions. All Whiskey could do was watch as Stormy unpacked her things.
When the door opened, Whiskey and Stormy both spun around startled. Sighing, Whiskey moved across the room to take her daughter from Maria. “Thank you, Maria.” Whiskey kissed her daughter’s head, breathing in the smell of baby lotion. “Has she been good?”
“She’s perfect. I hate to hand her over, but I need to get dinner started.”
“I appreciate you so much, Maria.”
“It’s my pleasure to take care of my great niece.” Maria gave Whiskey a smile, then stared at Stormy who she raked a disappointing look over. “Problema.”
Whiskey felt a twinge in her chest at the disapproving tone in Maria’s voice. She’d hoped Jackson’s aunt would like her best friend. Shifting her weight, Whiskey looked at Stormy, trying to catch her eye.
Whiskey could see the concern on Maria’s face, hidden beneath the surface of her words was something else. Something disapproving. Stormy did always give moms that feeling. Whiskey fought to keep the smile from spreading across her face. If Stormy didn’t contain her shock, she’s burst out laughing.
When the door shut, Stormy huffed loudly, “Did she just call me a problem?”
“No.” Whiskey giggled. “She called you trouble.” Which was a lie, but funny all the same.
Stormy dropped onto the bed, almost bursting into tears as she struggled to gain control of the emotions she’d been shoving down. What was she going to do? She couldn’t live at the ranch forever. At some point, she would have to go back to Colorado and figure things out. The problem was, she didn’t have a clue. She trembled from trying to keep from crying.
Visibly struggling to rein the tears in, she gave up, letting them fall. She scolded herself as she wiped the tears away. The last thing she would do was sit there and wallow. It wouldn’t change a damn thing. She was safe at the ranch. Hadn’t she seen all the ranch hands and bodyguards on the place when she arrived? But there had been many or more when Whiskey had been kidnapped. Not wanting to go there, Stormy shoved off the bed and went back to unpacking when she heard Whiskey ask a question. “
“Stormy, are you okay?” Whiskey’s voice was tentative but concerned.
The question— Are you okay? —felt like the simplest thing, yet in that moment it seemed to echo the vastness of her confusion. How could she answer that? Could she even answer it honestly? Stormy continued to swipe at the tears.
Whiskey stood there holding her infant daughter, concerned for Stormy, a soft frown pulling at her lips. She was watching her closely, her expression a mix of worry and sympathy, like she understood there was more going on than what Stormy was showing.
“I’m fine,” Stormy said, the words coming out too quickly, too stiff. She tried to force a smile, but it didn’t take. She was still reeling from the swirl of emotions inside her. There was so much she didn’t know, so much she hadn’t figured out yet, and a constant ache of uncertainty that made her want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over her head. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t fall apart. Not here, not now. She needed to be the strong, confident woman Whiskey, the Salvadors, and Reeves knew. Not the weak, emotional shell she’d become.
Whiskey didn’t buy it. She stepped closer, her gaze unwavering. “You know you don’t have to pretend around me, right?” she said softly. “I’ve seen that look before.”
Stormy’s chest tightened. She took a shaky breath, but she wasn’t sure if it was to steady herself or to hold back the sob that was threatening to break free. “I just… I don’t know what to do,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. Her hands clasped tightly in her lap, almost like she was holding herself together.
Whiskey didn’t speak right away. She just sat down beside her, close enough for their shoulders to brush, but not too close. It felt like Whiskey knew she needed space, but also needed someone nearby.
“You don’t have to have it all figured out right now,” Whiskey said quietly, her voice calm, steady. “You’ve been through a lot, Stormy. And sometimes... sometimes you need time to breathe and let the pieces fall into place.”
Stormy shook her head, a bitter laugh slipping past her lips. “It’s not just that. It’s everything. I don’t even know what my next step is. Everything is just…” She searched for the right word, but nothing seemed to capture the weight of it all. “I don’t know how to be the person I’m supposed to be. Or... maybe I don’t even know who that is anymore.” Whiskey’s hand rested gently on her shoulder, a small gesture, but it felt grounding.
“Maybe that’s okay,” she said. “Maybe you don’t have to know who you’re supposed to be right now. Maybe you just need to focus on who you are right now. Take it one step at a time.”
Stormy exhaled, the tightness in her chest loosening slightly, but the sense of overwhelming uncertainty still lingered. Whiskey was right, of course. But it was hard to feel right in the middle of all this chaos. It was hard to see a way out when everything was so tangled.
“You’ve got time,” Whiskey added, her voice warm. “And you’ve got people here who care about you. You’re not alone, Stormy. You don’t have to carry this all by yourself.”
Stormy nodded slowly, the tears still threatening but no longer rushing toward the surface. For now, at least, she could let herself breathe.
“Stormy. Why are you unpacking in Reeves’s room?”
Stormy looked at her best friend, curious why she was asking the question. “Why wouldn’t I be staying in here?” Stormy answered. She assumed this was where she would stay while at the ranch.
“Because it’s Reeves’ room.”
“Shit, he said…”
“What did he say?”
“He said he intended to be spending lots of time together here at the ranch.” Shit, he never said she would stay with him, per se. Mad at herself, Stormy stood and started shoving her clothes back in the suitcases when the door popped open a second time. This time, it was Parker Lane, Monroe’s girlfriend, darting into the room.
Parker bounded across the room, her soft sable brown hair swinging from side to side. “How are you doing, sweetheart?” she asked, grabbing Stormy in a big Texas hug.
Being with the two women, she blurted out the truth. “Scared.”
Parker stepped back, keeping her hands on Stormy’s shoulder. “Just make sure you’re always aware of your surroundings.” She looked pointedly at Stormy, making sure was listening to her. “I’ve been taking self-defense classes, and it’s the first thing they teach.”
“That’s just it, Parker. I thought I was safe in Texas Creek.”
“You’re safer with the Salvadors than without them,” Parker reminded her as she looked back at Whiskey for backup. “And you might have been in Texas Creek, but you weren’t at Devil’s Perch, babe.”
Whiskey stood and moved to one of the leather chairs in the bedroom where she could sit more comfortably while her daughter, listening as the girls talked about what had happened at the house. She was thankful Reeves had gone to pick Stormy up. Although he hadn’t done the picking up, he had done the rescue, she supposed. What ifthe ex had been there waiting to hurt Stormy? The thought had her adjusting her position on the chair.
For a moment, her mind went back to the events of two years ago and tears rose. Instead of giving in to them, Whiskey shored up her emotions. She refused to add to Stormy’s already emotional state.
When Effie started whimpering, Whiskey got up. “I’m going to make the baby a bottle. Don’t the two of you get into trouble while I’m gone.”
“Should I move to the guest suite?” Stormy asked before Whiskey left the room.
“Hell no. Make him deal with his feelings,” Whiskey said as she whisked out of the room. “And you need to deal with yours.”
When Stormy looked to Parker for her input, all the young woman did was smile wickedly. “You’re no help, Parker.”
“I came for moral support. I never said I was here to help.” Parker laughed.
Stormy rolled her eyes and went back to unpacking while worried about her ex and Reeves. One was determined to hurt her physically and the other could rip her apart from the inside out, starting with her heart.