Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 39414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
You’re acting like you don’t want me.
I exhale through my nose, jaw clenched. Want isn’t the problem. Want is easy. Want is simple.
Restraint is the problem.
I kill the lantern in the living room and take the smaller one down the hall, stopping outside the bedroom door. I don’t go in. I’m not going to be that man.
I knock once, soft.
Ellie’s voice comes through the door. “What.”
“I’m on the couch,” I say. “If you need anything, you call my name.”
A beat.
Then, quieter, “I don’t need anything.”
I lower my voice. “Ellie.”
Silence.
Then I hear it—her breath, shakier now. “Okay.”
I turn away, take two steps toward the couch, and the sound hits.
Metal against wood.
Not inside the cabin.
Outside.
The back door. The frame. A scrape that shouldn’t exist in a storm.
Every muscle in my body locks.
My hand goes to the gun before I’m fully conscious of moving.
I stand perfectly still, listening.
The wind howls.
And then it comes again.
A careful, deliberate clink—like someone testing the lock.
Chapter 7
Ellie
Wade comes through Wyatt’s front door like he’s been living off trail mix and pure attitude for fourteen days.
His pack hits the floor with a heavy thud, snow dusting off his boots, beard thicker, hair wild, cheeks wind-burned like the mountain chewed on him and spit him back out. He takes one step into the cabin, then freezes like he’s hit an invisible wall.
His eyes sweep the room—me in the kitchen, Wyatt at the table—and his face does something between confusion and betrayal.
“Why are you—” Wade’s gaze drops to my hand.
The ring.
Then it snaps to Wyatt’s hand.
Then back to my face, like he’s hoping I’ll laugh and tell him it’s a prank.
“No,” he says, flat and horrified. “No.”
I set the knife down slowly because the last thing I need is a blade in my hand when my brother looks like he’s about to lose his mind.
“Hi, Wade,” I say.
Wyatt doesn’t flinch. He just lifts his coffee mug like this is a normal Tuesday and Wade didn’t just walk in on a plot twist.
“Welcome back,” Wyatt says.
Wade stares at him like he’s seeing a ghost. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
Wyatt takes a slow sip. “Depends what you think it is.”
Wade’s eyes widen. “Oh my God.”
My brother drops his pack again like he didn’t drop it hard enough the first time. “Absolutely not.”
“Wade,” I warn, but my voice is already tight because I can feel the storm coming off him.
He points at my hand like it personally offended him. “Ellie. What the hell happened?”
“A lot,” I say.
Wade’s gaze flicks around the cabin like he expects an explanation to be taped to the wall. “I’m gone for two weeks and you—” He gestures wildly between me and Wyatt. “You married him?”
Wyatt’s brows lift. “Don’t say it like it’s a tragedy.”
“Shut up,” Wade snaps.
Wyatt doesn’t blink. “No.”
I inhale slowly. “Wade, you were off grid. I couldn’t—”
“I have a satellite—” Wade starts.
Wyatt cuts him off, calm as a guillotine. “You left it at home.”
Wade goes still. “How do you know that?”
I lift my chin. “Because I told him.”
Wade’s eyes snap to me, and for a second something else flashes there—guilt, maybe—before his anger surges back to the surface.
“So you told Wyatt but not me,” he bites out.
“I couldn’t reach you,” I say, forcing my voice steady. “I tried.”
Wade scoffs. “So your solution was to marry my best friend?”
“It was not my ‘solution,’” I snap, heat rising. “It was a decision I made because I needed help and you were not here.”
Wade’s jaw tightens. “And you didn’t think I deserved to know?”
Wyatt’s chair scrapes as he stands, tall and controlled, the room suddenly smaller with him on his feet. “You weren’t available.”
Wade whips toward him. “Don’t you dare—”
Wyatt doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t have to. “Look at her.”
Wade pauses, eyes flicking back to me like he has no choice.
Wyatt’s voice stays low. “You see her ring and you’re mad. You didn’t see her outside her shop with foreclosure papers on the window and nowhere to go.”
The words land hard in my chest.
Wade’s face shifts. “Foreclosure?”
My throat tightens. “Graham.”
Wade’s expression turns ugly instantly. “That asshole.”
“Yeah,” I say, bitter. “That asshole.”
Wyatt steps closer, angling his body slightly between me and Wade like he’s instinctively shielding. He doesn’t touch me—just stands there, solid, a wall I didn’t realize I’d started leaning on.
“He changed the locks,” Wyatt says. “Restricted her accounts. Accelerated the foreclosure. Then he followed her to my cabin.”
Wade’s eyes sharpen, fury building. “He what?”
My stomach twists as the memories flash—orange notice on the glass, the taste of panic, Graham’s text: You’re welcome.
“He’s trying to shut down Devil’s Kiss,” I say quietly.
Wade’s voice goes lethal. “I’m going to kill him.”
Wyatt’s mouth tilts. “Take a number.”
Wade rounds on him. “You don’t get to be casual about this.”
Wyatt’s gaze holds, steady and cold. “I’m not casual. I’m contained.”