Chapter 39
Pierce
I’m lying in bed, but I’m not asleep. I’m not sure I can sleep with Thea across the hall.
She thought it was more romantic to be near each other and not be able to touch…
But being far enough apart I can’t hear her breathe, can’t hear her snore or anxiously wait for her hand to find my chest? It’s killing me.
I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation, my first meal across the hall but I can’t devour it. This is ridiculous. I’ve slept on my own for years; I prioritized those hours. Now less than a week with this woman by my side, and I can’t sleep without her.
I roll my anxious body out of bed. I’ll check the perimeter again. Do a deep dive on Gavin Johnson. Anything but sit here in agony while the woman I lo—
My heart stops, seizing in my chest. I like her. I’ll admit it. But that’s as far as this goes. As far as I’ll allow it to go.
I open the door quietly and slip out. I can’t stop myself from listening outside Thea’s room.
There’s her beautiful bellowing snore.
She’s safe.
I could leave, but I can’t muster up the strength to move. I’m a statue. My feet will forever be indented in the carpet here.
I want to open this door and cradle her in my arms. I want to lay kisses along her bare shoulders while she sleeps. Not in a creepy way, but in a tender, lovin—
I fall back a step. What is happening to me?
I need to go… check downstairs. I take a step in that direction.
Crasshhh.
I turn and kick down the door to Thea’s room. Thea is sitting upright in bed, dazed and confused, clothes and objects strewn about the room. A large man in a black mask hauls himself in through her window.
I leap over a pile of purses, grabbing the man by his neck and forcing him backward. He spins, throwing his fist at me. It whiffs off my face. I take advantage of his momentum and hit him from the opposite direction. My knuckles crack against his cheekbone.
He howls. I’ve made him mad and he kicks my side, a stab of pain burning through my ribcage.
“Pierce!” Thea screams.
“Stay over there,” I say There’s no point asking her to leave; it’s best to make sure she doesn’t involve herself in another fight.
“You idiot,” the man in the mask mutters as he throws another punch I thankfully dodge.
It’s the way he says those words. Like he knows me.
I’m about to get him in a headlock so I can rip off the mask when the door to the room bursts open, and someone screams.
Megan.
I jump back, putting my body between the intruder and the women, but when I turn around, he’s gone.
“He left,” Thea says, relief sagging her shoulders.
Megan looks wildly between me and Thea. “Who was that?”
Thea turns toward me, arching a brow in a way meant to convey something to me. Does she want me to answer or stay quiet? I’m not a mind reader.
“Do you have a home security system?” I ask Thea, focusing on what I can do—protect the people in this house.
“We did, but it doesn’t work. I couldn’t make the payments,” she finishes softly.
“I’m going to work on that,” I say. “I need you two to go downstairs.”
Megan nods weakly, and Thea gently guides her shaking aunt out of the room and to the family room.
I move a large dresser in front of the window; if someone else breaks in, they’ll have to push it over. That will wake me… if I happen to fall asleep. I lock Thea’s door, wedging a belt through it to keep it closed.
I catch bits of Thea’s conversation with Megan as I search the house and deadbolt every lock and window.
“A murder… you were shot at… a cruise ship?”
This is surely not what Megan imagined when her niece went to Mexico. And she will one hundred percent accuse me of something ridiculous again.
But I trust Thea to tell her aunt what she needs to know.
Once I’m content the house is clear, I call Noah. He promises to get a squad car on the street, which is the extent of what he can do without more evidence. I’ll have to be content with that.
I locate the panel for the security system and dial the listed number. No way am I leaving Thea in an unprotected house.
I retrieve a credit card I never use from the back of my wallet. After an hour of raised voices and minor threats, I’m able to get them to restore the system remotely. I check all the cameras with my phone, ensuring they still work, and examine the exterior.
“Is that the house?”
I jump, nearly flinging the phone in the process.
“I don’t think spies should be so jumpy.” Thea leans against the wall.
“Good thing I’m not a spy then.” My eyes slip over silk pajamas. “I fixed your security issue.” Mine is still at risk, though.
“The intruder or the cameras?”
I clear my throat, ripping my gaze from her lean legs. “Hopefully both.” I lock my phone and stick it in my pocket. “How did Megan take it?” I fold my arms across my chest instead of wrapping her up like I want to.
She studies her feet. “From what I told her… bad.”
“She wants me to leave, right?”
Thea shakes her head. “She knows we are safer with you here.”
I take a step closer. “Are you?”
She meets my challenge, not blinking as she says, “Yes.”
“Then you should get some rest.” I exhale, rubbing the back of my neck. “It’s late.”
She hugs her arms around herself. “It’s kind of hard to do when someone has to keep risking their life to save mine.”
My lips twitch. “About that… Would you get it under control? It’s affecting my sleep.”
“Heaven forbid Pierce loses his precious sleep.” She smirks right back.
I grab her shoulders and spin her around, forcing her up the stairs. And straight into my room.
“What are you doing?” she hisses as I lock the door behind us. “I can’t sleep in your room with my dad and aunt downstairs.”
“But it’s so romantic,” I say sardonically. “Your room is compromised, and I’m not letting you out of my sight. You have a tendency to get into trouble.”
She tucks her hair behind her ear. “Do you think he’ll come back?” She doesn’t give me time to answer. “Of course he will. He’s not the first and not the last, right?”
I can’t deny that.
She looks away before meeting my eyes, a decision made within hers. “Can you teach me something?”
I frown. This isn’t time for a lesson of any sort, and what could I possibly teach her? “Like what?”
“Like how to protect myself so I’m not useless next time.”
I don’t like the idea of a “next time” any more than she does.
“Please, Pierce.” She presses her bottom lip out as she grabs my forearm, and it’s my undoing.
“I’ll teach you how to get out of a hold if someone manages to get by me.”
“Thank you,” she says eagerly. I should have taught her sooner.
Much sooner.
“Turn around.”
She does so immediately, and for a moment I marvel at her trust in me.
I suck in a breath, preparing to touch her, mentally fortifying the wall around my heart.
I step forward, wrapping one arm around her neck and shoulders. I drag her into me, and all I can think about is the softness of her body against mine. How well she fits. The smell of her shampoo: coconut.
This is supposed to be a learning exercise, not an indulgence. I clear my throat.
“If someone grabs you from behind, they will most likely drag you backward. So first, you’re going to grab the arm with both hands.”
She grips my arm but then loosens her hold, sliding her thumb over my pulse point which practically jumps to meet her.
“You’re not supposed to stroke your attacker.” The words come out gruffer than intended.
“Maybe my attacker shouldn’t be so hot.”
“Thea…” I can’t do this if she’s going to tempt me. I’m barely holding it together as it is.
“Fine. Sorry. My attacker is a big bad dude, who does not deserve stroking.”
“Yes. If someone has you like this, then you’re going to duck your chin and pull on the arm, creating some space for yourself. When they move backward, you’re going to use that space you just created to spin out.”
I step back, then indicate the direction she should spin to break my hold. She twists beneath my arm and turns around with a smile.
I nod. “Again.”
This time I make it harder.
“This is kind of fun,” she says, breaking free of the second hold.
“It won’t be fun if it becomes real.” I take her off guard and hold on tighter. It takes her a little too long to respond—fear always slows response time. That’s why we practice. I’ll practice with her all night if I get to hold her like this.
She breaks free, and pops up, her face a little more harried than previous times. “What if they go to the side instead or grab me in a different hold?”
A very likely scenario. “You could also stomp on their foot.”
“What if I’m barefoot?”
“It will hurt you a little more but still start there.”
She readies herself to stomp, but I stop her just in time to avoid a broken toe.
“Whoa there, killer.” I laugh into her neck. “I’m not the enemy.”
Gooseflesh appears on her skin, and she swallows. “W-what else should I do?”
I want to tell her to turn around and kiss me. “Elbow to the stomach, chin, or groin.”
“Tell me the truth, did you learn this move from Miss Congeniality?”
The Sandra Bullock movie? “I’m extremely offended.”
She laughs and tries to stomp on my toes again. “Do you think I could flip you?”
“No.”
“Challenge accepted.”
“I don’t think—” My words are taken from me when she stomps on my foot, then perfectly executes her escape by spinning underneath my arm—the arm she’s still holding.
She throws her body around like a madwoman.
One of her hands hits my nose, then jabs my stomach.
Instead of reacting the way I would in a fight, I dodge to avoid hurting her.
Unfortunately, she’s still got a hold on me, and her knee connects with my leg, giving me a dead thigh. She grabs my hand, spins, and tries to haul me over her back.
As suspected, it doesn’t work.
Also as suspected… I lose my balance. Our bodies collide, my knee taking the brunt of the force to avoid smashing her completely and my arm beneath her protecting her head.
“Ow,” she whines. I push up, hovering in a plank above her.
“Thea, did I hurt you?” I brush the hair off her face with my right hand.