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  As the stranger crept forward, I lifted my hand to the doorknob and turned it. I bolted out onto the front porch, lifting my gun. But in the next moments, I found myself staring into the most gorgeous eyes, the most stunning smile.

  Serena was poised at the base of the steps, her blond hair hanging down to her shoulders and her smile gleaming. She wore a dark cardigan over a gorgeous red dress, and her breasts were busting out over the top of the dress—far bigger than I’d remembered them.

  What the…

  “Are you going to put that down?” Serena whispered, after a long pause. She pointed to the gun in my hand, her voice wavering. “Please?”

  Immediately, I lowered the gun, knowing not to drop it. My muscles relaxed. I felt my lips part, then close again, as I gazed into her stunning face.

  “Serena. I didn’t…”

  “I guess I should have called. I know you’re…finicky about that kind of thing.”

  “Just appearing on my doorstep. Like some kind of…” I said, faltering. “I don’t even mind, baby.”

  The word had fallen from my lips. Baby? But she only grinned up at me.

  “Is Gracie asleep already?” she asked, peering past me, into the darkness of the cabin. “I was hoping to catch her, for Christmas.”

  “She’s out of here,” I told her. I backed up, placing my gun back in the side closet and closing the door tight. I shook my shoulders, feeling apprehensive. Having Serena just appear before me, without rhyme or reason, had brought my life to a standstill.

  “Out of here?” Serena asked, laughing slightly. “What do you mean? Did she move out? Go to college?”

  “Ha.” I walked forward, trying to seem more certain. I felt my voice shift, become stronger. “She’s spending Christmas with my parents, actually. I’m meant to be driving there soon. But I just wanted a few days—”

  “To yourself?” Serena asked, giggling. She allowed for a long pause after that, bringing her shoulders forward. She was still the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. Shifting her weight, she gave me a large smile. “Well, I don’t want you to spend Christmas alone. In fact, that would be the worst possible thing.”

  “Is that why you’ve come all the way here?” I asked her, tilting my head. I felt the sudden urge to reach forward, to wrap my arms around her and kiss her. “To make sure I don’t spend Christmas alone?”

  “No,” she whispered, her voice raspy. “I’ve come because I don’t want to spend Christmas without you. Not without telling you…”

  She paused, as we both heard the shuffle behind her, deep within the woods.

  Serena whirled around, nearly dropping her purse. Her hair shimmered in the light. I gazed out beyond her, into the trees.

  “Did you bring someone with you?” I asked her, incredulous.

  “No, no,” she murmured, sounding worried. “I didn’t bring anyone, Ethan. I don’t…”

  I felt a growing sense of unease. Taking a step down, I stood beside Serena, feeling the fear rise up in her. I could smell it on her skin.

  Taking her hand, I squeezed it, wanting to tell her it was fine, it was all right. But as a dark figure grew closer to us, second by second, I grew less and less sure.

  “Maybe we should go inside,” Serena whispered. “I don’t think it’s safe. Maybe an animal, or…”

  But just as she spoke, someone burst from the bushes. It was a bulky figure, one with muscles upon muscles. He bucked forward, aggressive, with wild eyes. He shot toward me, his mouth forming a sinister smile.

  And as he grinned his horrible grin, as he began that ominous laughter, a million memories returned to my brain.

  This was Shane Merkley, the man I’d put behind bars for fifteen years, ten years before. The man who’d murdered his assistant, all the way down in Austin, Texas. The man who’d pointed his finger at me in that courtroom, and told me—in no uncertain terms—that I was fucked if he ever found me again.

  And here he was, at my doorstep. His finger pointed at me. And his cackle the very same as it had been ten years before—declaring me dead.

  Chapter 16

  Serena

  I screamed as chaos erupted from the forest behind me. My immediate thought—that it must be a bear, some kind of enraged animal—was replaced with confusion. The dark, angry form was that of Shane Merkley, the very man I’d left at a bar in downtown San Francisco only four hours before.

  Shane grunted at us, flashing a demonic smile. His lips stretched thin as he grinned, and his teeth glinted. I remembered, with a jolt, the way he’d spoken to me at the bar. How I’d suddenly sensed the demon in him. But to have him follow me all the way up a mountain and into the woods… It seemed insane. My thoughts raced with the horror of it.

  “Shane. What are you doing here?” I whispered, breathless.

  “How the hell do you know Shane?” Ethan blurted, his voice filled with vitriol. He lifted his fists, seemingly ready to fight. But as he shifted, his eyes growing darker, Shane lifted a gun from his back pocket. He pointed it directly toward Ethan’s heart, no more than six feet away.

  My throat constricted. I gasped for air, and nearly fell to my knees as my head spun.

  “Shane, you can’t do this! Please!” I cried out.

  “Serena, darling, this has nothing to do with you,” Shane said, his voice gruff and animalistic. Beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead and he swiped the back of his free hand across his brow, mopping it. “This has everything to do with our past, doesn’t it, Ethan? The past we share together. It’s so fun to go over old memories.”

  “How the fuck did you find me?” Ethan asked, turning his eyes toward me. “Serena. You didn’t…?”

  I felt the accusation. Ethan assumed I’d led Shane to him on purpose. My head swam with all the excuses in the world. My lips parted, uttering no words.

  “Don’t give her all the credit, idiot,” Shane said. “The girl’s clearly in love with you. Had your photo in her work folder today. How was I supposed to know that the attorney I was set up with was, of all people, old Ethan’s lover? The very man who turned me in. The man who put me away ten years ago.”

  Shane took a step forward, bringing the gun closer to Ethan’s chest. I could see the hollow darkness. I stared at Shane’s finger, which he held on the trigger loosely. It seemed he’d held a gun countless times before.

  “Shane. So it was you…” I murmured, thinking back to the notes in my silly manila folder.

  “Shut up, you idiot,” Shane cried. “Of course I did it. Being the biggest mob boss in the Bay Area means something, you imbecile. It means I have to get my hands dirty for the sake of business sometimes. But this. This Ethan situation, well. This isn’t business. It’s more…shall we call it revenge?”

  “You were going to get caught back then, one way or another,” Ethan said, his shoulders rising. “You were acting a fucking fool down in Texas. Getting cocky.”

  “Well, I learned my lesson, after you ruined my life,” Shane said. “And you know what? I intend to get my revenge in the most painful way possible.”

  With a jolt, Shane moved the gun, directing it toward my stomach. With a shuddering gasp, I placed my hands over my baby, instinctively protecting it. My mouth flew open with panic. “No! Shane! God, no.” Tears glittered in my eyes.

  “Back off, Shane,” Ethan grunted.

  “I don’t know what the hell you think you can do against a gun,” Shane said, his eyebrows wagging. “I can smell the whiskey on you. Caught you at a bad time, Ethan?”

  “Goddammit, I’m pregnant!” I cried out, interrupting them.

  The words echoed across the trees, swarming through the chilly air. The moment I spoke, my eyes locked with Ethan’s, giving him the news. I saw a brief spark of joy in his face. We’d had an entire conversation in the space of seconds. He knew: the baby was his.

  “Well, fuck me,” Shane said.

  The gun remained pointed at me, but I sensed that Shane wasn’t going to shoot. With a sudden mo
tion, he turned the gun back toward Ethan, taunting him.

  “I hate to break up this emotional moment with something as wretched as a murder.”

  Ethan took a small step back, wavering. His eyes blinked away from mine, trying to plead with Shane. He stuttered slightly, hunting for words.

  “That’s right, you idiot,” Shane said, his voice an ominous whisper. “You won’t have to live with the pain of losing Serena and that little bastard in there for long. You know why? Because you’ll be lying on the ground, bleeding right next to them. It’s rough, wiping out a whole family unit like that. Serena can tell you—I’m a family man.”

  He gave a strange, off-kilter shrug. Then, he cocked the gun, swerving it back toward me. My heart throbbed with terror, sensing the end was near.

  “Now, honeymooners. Any last requests?” Shane asked, his eyebrows wagging. “Anything in the world you want to ask of old Shane? I’m not a man who lacks passion, that’s for sure.”

  Ethan’s nostrils flared. I could almost see the gears in his head cranking away, trying to think his way out of our problem. But when he did speak, he did so in such a surprising, almost calm way. My hands fell back down to my sides and I blinked at him, aghast.

  “I’d like a cup of coffee,” Ethan said finally, bowing his head. “Please.”

  Shane tilted his head, letting a guffaw escape his lips. The gun fell to his side, the tension decreasing for a moment.

  “Coffee? A cup of fucking coffee is the last thing you want on this earth?”

  Ethan sighed. “What can I say? I’m a simple man with simple desires. All I’ve ever wanted in this world is a family and a cup of coffee and a porch swing. I wasn’t able to have all that, in the end. But a final cup of coffee will suffice, on this last evening.”

  “Fuck me,” Shane sighed, stomping into the front room of the cabin. “I knew you were an idiot, Ethan, but I really didn’t know it got this bad in that brain of yours. I think you’ve been away from civilization too long. Thank God I came up here to put you out of your misery.”

  I watched Ethan’s face shift as Shane entered the front room. We heard Shane cry out, saying, “And if either of you move from that stoop, you know I’m a good shot.”

  The coffee machine. With a jolt, I remembered that day, months before, when Ethan and I had brewed a mug. Gracie had warned me, saying that Ethan refused to buy a new coffee pot. That it always gave you an electric shock when you hit the switch.

  Pressing my lips together, I waited, praying with as much force as I could. Shane lurked inside, stomping around and pouring coffee grounds into the filter. He whistled softly, a southern tune I hadn’t heard in years. Ethan’s lips remained pressed together. I saw his fingers twitch, preparing.

  “You don’t keep anything in the proper spot,” Shane called out to us, scoffing. “Who designed this kitchen? A fucking bear?”

  Ethan didn’t speak. Instead, he gazed into my eyes, without Shane’s knowledge, and mouthed the words: “A baby?”

  I nodded to him, feeling a tear drip down my cheek. “A baby,” I affirmed silently.

  “I’m so happy,” Ethan murmured, his expression a mix of joy and apprehension.

  “Keep it fucking down out there!” Shane cried, almost as if he could feel the vibrations of our excitement, our fear.

  Suddenly, he howled in pain. The scream echoed against the cabin windows, bounced off the shelves and dove into the valley of the lake before.

  As Shane howled, Ethan dashed into the room, lifting the gun from Shane’s hands and wrapping his arms behind his back. Bolting in after him, I watched as Ethan thrust Shane against the countertop, forcing Shane’s cheek against the edge of the stove. Shane was grunting in pain, with electricity shooting from his fingertips and up and down his spine.

  “What the fuck?!” Shane cried out, glaring up at me, no longer the scrubbed-clean gentleman I’d seen back in the Bay.

  Ethan eyed me, huffing. He gestured his head toward the far corner, whispering, “There’s some rope in that cabinet. Grab it. We’ll tie him up and call the cops.”

  I swept wordlessly across the kitchen, diving into the cabinet. My fingers were nimble as I laced through the various bits of rope to find a piece big enough for his wrists. Ethan positioned Shane in a dining room chair, pulling his hands around the back. When I passed him the rope, he tugged roughly at Shane’s arms.

  “Hey!” Shane cried. “Gentle, you jerk. You already won.”

  “Never,” Ethan whispered, his voice growing dark. “Never think you’ll get away with threatening the woman carrying my goddamn child.” He yanked the rope tight around Shane’s wrists, tying him tighter and tighter. “You thought I ruined your life before? Consider this the last day of your life. You’ll never see the sun again as a free man.”

  Not wanting to be in the room with Shane another moment longer, I stepped out into the evening air and gazed out across the lake, still out of breath. Ethan slotted a handkerchief into Shane’s mouth, causing Shane to wail into it before growing quiet. Then, Ethan walked gently across the cabin and onto the back porch to join me. After a long, silent moment, he placed his hand at the small of my back, bringing me close.

  Far in the distance, a wolf howled out to the twinkling stars above us.

  “I knew you were full of surprises,” Ethan whispered. “But damn if this wasn’t the biggest one of all.”

  “The baby? Or Shane?” I asked, still feeling aghast.

  “I don’t even know where to start,” Ethan sighed.

  “Maybe we could start by calling the cops and getting that asshole out of here,” I whispered, leaning my head against his chest and slipping my arms around his torso. I held him tightly against me, inhaling the smell of him. It was a mix of sweat, sexual desire, and whiskey.

  “That’s a fine idea, baby,” he sighed. “The best I’ve heard all day.”

  “I didn’t know he would follow me up here,” I told Ethan, after a pause. My voice wavered. “I wouldn’t have…”

  “It was a bit of bad luck,” Ethan said. “But now that I have you back, I have a feeling things will turn out all right.”

  “I feel like we earned this one,” I whispered, growing chilly. I brought my body against his, pressing my breasts into him. He gave into me, feeling the curve of my body against him. In his arms I felt safe, like nothing could hurt me.

  In the next quiet moments, with Shane tied up inside, and all of the future before us, Ethan leaned down and pressed his lips against my own. We didn’t need another word.

  Chapter 17

  Ethan

  The police station was located at the base of the mountain, a twenty-minute drive from my cabin. Trying to describe the way up to the cabin was difficult, especially on Christmas Eve. The cops were hesitant, some of them halfway through their first celebration drink and groaning inwardly. “Why tonight?” I could hear them whispering in the background.

  But I was insistent, my voice taking on that gruff professionalism that I’d mastered as a younger man.

  “Yes, Ethan Tiller here,” I boomed. “For the past several years, I’ve been off-duty. But before that, I worked as a bounty hunter in the state of California. You can look me up in your system.”

  “A bounty hunter? All the way up here in the mountains?” the officer said, scoffing. “This ain’t a prank, is it?”

  “I assure you, it’s not,” I said, my nostrils flaring. I stood with my arm around Serena, hearing Shane creak back and forth in his chair inside. The Christmas tree continued to sparkle in the window, adding a kind of morbid Christmas cheer.

  “A perp from the old days tracked me down,” I continued. “I’ve been able to hold him, for now. But he’s going to need a jail cell, and a first-class ticket back to the city. Any chance you fellas can arrange something like that?”

  “What’s the guy’s name?” the officer asked, his voice slow, each word oozing into the next. “Want to look up the record.”

  “Shane Merkley,” I
said, watching as Serena bit her lip. “I think you’ll find a pretty stacked record. The man’s been everywhere. Picked him up for murder last time.”

  “This was a revenge plot, then?” the officer mumbled, aghast. “Nothing like that happens around here. And on Christmas!”

  “Can you just get an officer up here, stat?”

  Serena and I remained on the porch, perched on the edge of the step, waiting for the police to show. We sat in silence, holding hands as the car grumbled up the gravel road. The flashlights swept across the forest floor and between the trees. Flashing my light back, I guided them toward us—allowing them into our little canopy of trees, our cozy corner of the world.

  The three police officers were bumbling and wide-shouldered, with large stomachs. After speaking with Serena and I for only a few minutes more, they burst into the cabin. As they handcuffed him tightly, Shane protested, his voice more boisterous and boy-like than the gruff man who’d threatened to murder both Serena and me.

  “You don’t understand. She invited me up here. She’s my fucking lawyer, and she’s crazy!” he blurted, jostling his shoulder toward Serena.

  “I think we’ve heard enough from you,” I boomed, drawing Serena closer.

  Her chin quivering, Serena said, “Don’t waste another attorney’s time, you asshole.”

  “Admit it,” Shane said, his voice slimy. “You liked when I flirted with you. I can peg a lonely little nobody from a mile away—”

  “That’s enough,” the cop said, thrusting Shane toward the forest, where he fell to his knees. The cop gave Serena and me each a sturdy handshake, wishing us Merry Christmas before guiding Shane back toward the cop car.

  With Shane disappearing through the trees, Serena and I made our way back into the cabin, taking tentative steps. Whisking the chair toward the corner, I tossed the last of the rope into the cabinet, trying to make it seem like the cabin hadn’t been the scene of a crime only moments before. I unplugged the coffee maker, tossed several logs on the dying embers in the fireplace, and slumped on the couch.