Chapter 18
Reese sighed in contentment as she stretched lazily.
Gus had brought her home after the reception and made love to her for hours.
He’d worshipped every inch of her body. Had brought her to orgasm with his mouth, then his hand, then he’d taken her in half a dozen different ways…
on her knees, with her on top again, with him standing and her face down over the side of the bed, against the wall, and finally—her favorite—missionary style, his gaze boring into hers as they both went over the edge.
He was rough, then tender, then out of control, then loving.
She’d never get enough of him and his lovemaking.
The bed next to her was now empty, but Reese wasn’t concerned.
Gus had left a while ago, but not before kissing her awake and letting her know he was headed out to clean up the main walking trails with Pipe, Stone, and Brick, removing fallen branches and other debris from the storm that had hit two nights ago.
He’d told her once that doing work around The Refuge helped keep him in shape.
That he was glad he didn’t have to run for miles and miles and work out as hard as he had while he was in the Army, but that he still enjoyed being physical and getting his exercise doing something useful at the same time.
Deciding she’d been lazy long enough, Reese rolled out of bed and padded to the bathroom. She was sore again today, but in a delicious way that simply made her remember how amazing Gus had been the night before.
She showered and wandered into the kitchen, smiling when she saw a note on the counter that said Gus had already made her coffee, although it was chilled this morning instead of hot.
Opening the fridge, Reese saw a cup in there with a sticky note with her name on it…
and a cinnamon roll with another note that told her to heat it in the microwave for sixty seconds.
She didn’t know if Gus would always be this sweet and thoughtful in the future, but she had a feeling he would. He was rough around the edges in a lot of ways, but to her, he was perfect.
Reese didn’t have a lot planned for the day, except for meeting her parents, Woody, and Isabella for dinner in town. She ate her breakfast with a smile on her face and was about to wander up to the lodge to find Alaska and talk to her about wedding dates, when a knock sounded at her door.
Furrowing her brow and wondering who the heck was there, she blinked in surprise when she opened the door to find Angelo on the other side.
“Hi. Hola,” she said with a smile.
He said something to her in Spanish that Reese didn’t understand.
She held up a finger, hoping he understood that she wanted him to wait, as she dashed back inside to grab her phone, which was still sitting on the table next to where she’d eaten.
She scrolled to the translation app and went back to the door. She held it up and nodded at him.
He spoke again.
When he was done, Reese hit a button on the app and it translated what he’d said.
“Will you take me to town?”
Reese was surprised yet again. But then, she supposed it wasn’t unusual for him to ask her.
Woody and Isabella were probably still enjoying their first morning as husband and wife, and she’d done her fair share of attempting to befriend and talk to Angelo in the past. Plus, she’d given him a ride to town before.
She had no idea what he needed from Los Alamos, but it had to be hard not to be as independent as he’d been back in Colombia. She nodded, spoke into the app, then played it back in Spanish. “I’d be happy to. Give me a moment to write a note to Gus. Want to meet me at my car?”
With a nod, Angelo thanked her then turned and headed back down the path.
Reese wished she could talk to the young man easier.
She spun and went back inside to write a note to Gus, letting him know where she was in case he got back before she did.
She also decided to change into a pair of cargo pants and her hiking boots.
When she got back, maybe she’d head out on the trails to find Gus and the others and see what she could do to help.
It was a nice day, and she didn’t want to spend it inside, especially since another storm was supposed to move in tonight and last for a few days.
She wanted to get out in the sun as much as she could until winter settled in on the mountain.
When she was ready, she locked the cabin and headed down to her car.
Angelo was standing next to it, looking down at his phone.
She spoke into her phone then played back the words in Spanish.
It was a little slow, speaking to each other through the translation app, but Reese was ultimately pleased with how well it worked.
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know the name of the place, but I have the address.”
“Okay. How long are you going to be? I can run to the grocery store while you’re doing your thing and come back to get you after I’m done.”
“You can just drop me off.”
Reese frowned and wondered if the app had translated his words wrong.
“How will you get back to The Refuge?” she asked.
“I will figure it out. I do not want to be a bother.”
She wanted to protest, tell him that she could wait, that whatever he had to do couldn’t really take that long.
But he was an adult, technically, and she didn’t want to do anything that might annoy Angelo, and make him not want to talk to her anymore.
She felt as if she’d made great strides in their relationship.
They weren’t exactly friends, but he did actually talk to her now and then… through the app, of course.
Deciding she’d track down Isabella when she returned so she could maybe go and find her brother, she simply gave him a nod and opened the driver’s side door.
They both got in the car, and Reese noticed that Angelo had a backpack with him.
He put it on the floor at his feet. She wondered if maybe he was going to do some shopping, and the bag was for carrying his purchases back to The Refuge.
Maybe he was planning on buying his sister a wedding present, which would be a nice thing to do.
Feeling a jolt of relief at her deduction, and feeling happy that Angelo seemed to finally be moving forward with his life here in the States, she started her SUV and headed toward town.
But ten short minutes later, Reese was back to frowning. The address Angelo had given her was for a Western Union. She had no idea why in the world he’d want to go there.
He turned to her when she parked, said, “Gracias,” then climbed out of her car and closed the door behind him, not giving her a chance to reply.
Reese was well aware he wanted her to leave him in town, but she couldn’t do that in good conscience.
She watched through the window of the business as he went up to the counter.
For several minutes, there seemed to be a lot of hand gestures and intense conversation before Angelo finally turned to leave.
She hadn’t moved from her spot in the parking lot while he was inside, and when he pushed open the door, she got out of her car and stood, waiting for him to look her way.
Then two things happened at once.
A man walked up to Angelo—and someone grabbed Reese’s upper arm in a grip so tight, her knees immediately went weak. He said something to her in Spanish, but of course she didn’t understand a word of it.
She tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, but he merely tightened his hold, making tears spring to her eyes.
He propelled her away from the car, and it was then Reese realized there was a third man.
He was on the other side of her SUV, staring at her with eyes so black, so dead, she shivered in fear.
The back door of her car was opened and she was shoved inside. Just as she went to scramble over the seat to the other side and run like hell, the door opened and the man with the dead eyes was getting in beside her.
The man who’d taken hold of her arm snatched her phone right out of her grasp, and Reese’s stomach dropped. Shit! She needed that phone. Needed to call Gus. The Refuge. The police. Someone.
There was movement outside of the car, and Reese saw Angelo open the door of the passenger seat that he’d vacated not even five minutes ago.
“Angelo!” Reese barked. “Run!”
But either he didn’t understand, or he chose to ignore her.
The guy with Angelo reached in, grabbed her purse, took her phone from the other man, then shoved both items at Angelo as he said something.
Angelo backed away from the car—and for a moment, their gazes met.
Reese didn’t understand what was happening.
He didn’t look worried or freaked out in the least. There was some mild confusion in his eyes, but that was it.
He didn’t speak, just turned his head to break their eye contact, taking her purse and phone.
Reese watched as he walked calmly to the far side of the strip mall parking lot, stashed the phone inside her purse, then threw it into a dumpster.
He dropped something else onto the ground and stomped on it several times.
Then he picked up the pieces of whatever it was and tossed them into the trash can as well.
He came back to the car, got in, and stared straight ahead.
She was sandwiched in the backseat between two men, while Angelo and the guy who’d approached him outside the Western Union were in the front. The vehicle started and they pulled out of the parking lot.
Reese suddenly realized how screwed she was. She knew better than to let anyone take her away in a vehicle, because if an abductor got her away from civilization, she was as good as dead.
She began to fight. Fight for her life.
She didn’t want to die. She wanted to marry Gus! Have his babies. Start her new job. Live at The Refuge with Gus and all her other new friends.