A little gleam of hope entered Caleb’s green eyes. “I can’t ask for more than that. Alexei, I sometimes walk in my sleep. I hit the walls. I kick at the furniture. It’s more complicated.”
Alexei had wondered if a lot of Caleb’s problems didn’t stem from this. This was a simple thing to fix. “No, it is simple. When you get out of bed, I will wake you and put you back in. Your body will learn.”
“And if I hurt Holly?” There it was. Alexei could see it now. This was Caleb’s greatest fear.
“I will not allow it. You have to trust me or this will not work. You have to know that I will protect her, even from your demons.”
Caleb finally nodded. “Yes. Yes, I want this. I’m pissed at her right now, though.”
“I am angry myself. She walked away. She is not allowed to do such a thing. I believe a spanking is in order.” His little dushka didn’t know what she’d done. He’d practically begged her not to walk away. He’d been willing to grovel, but it appeared she needed something more.
“I think she does deserve a spanking. And a good one.”
Alexei turned and saw Logan Green staring at him.
“You really believe that shit you just spit?” The deputy’s voice was tight.
“Yes, I believe. And it apply to you, too. Something bad happen to you. You are the one allowing it to change you. You are the one allowing it to beat you. I let this darkness inside beat me for years and years. I let it take my youth. You are on same path. You can hate me all you like, but this I know.”
“You don’t know shit, man.” Logan stalked past him and pulled the door open and slammed into his Bronco, gunning the engine. He backed out without bothering to look behind him, the wheels peeling away.
“You tried.” Caleb’s hand was on his back.
“We’ve all tried.” Nate Wright and the Marshals stood on the steps of the station house. It was obvious they had heard more than Alexei would have liked. The whole town had a curious nose.
“Alexei, I really think you should come with us.” Jessie frowned down at him. “This isn’t about the doctor. This is about you.”
“I cannot leave. This is home.”
“Yes, and you’re endangering everyone in this town,” Jessie pointed out.
The sheriff snorted. “I wouldn’t count us out just yet, Marshal.”
“He needs to be in witness protection.” Jessie’s face was set in mulish lines.
“Jessie, you know why he’s here. He’s in love with the woman.” Michael turned to his partner, his lover, his voice going low. “I thought we talked about this.”
Her head shook. “I changed my mind. He needs to come with us. He’s too valuable to risk.”
“I can’t go. I can’t leave.” If he left, Holly and Caleb would fall apart. He would fall apart. He knew it was selfish, but he couldn’t leave.
Nate stood tall, settling his hat on his head. “Stand down, Marshal. I already put out a call. Every man in town is going to be looking out for Alexei. He’s one of ours now. We protect our own. Now, unless you’re willing to take him into protective custody, I think you should let him go. I just got a call from Callie. The women of Bliss are currently descending on Holly’s cabin.”
Caleb went a little white. “Are you serious?”
“Why are they going to Holly’s?” Alexei asked.
Nate frowned. “It’s called ‘Break Up Patrol.’ Every woman who can will rush to the recent dumpee’s house to offer support. It’s an estrogen fest of the highest order. No man who wants to keep his balls on will go in there, but I think you two are going to have to. Unless you want to end up groveling for the next year or so. And I would appreciate it if you would break that shit up. Callie insisted on going. She needs to be in bed. I have some riot gear if you need it.”
Alexei shook his head. “I can handle these womens.”
Caleb pointed to him. “He can handle the women. I’m going to hide behind him.”
“Good thinking.” Nate tipped his hat. “Alexei, you carrying?”
“I carry much.” He could carry many things. He was very strong.
Caleb’s head shook. “He wants to know about the gun you stuff down your ass.”
“I do not stuff the gun in ass. I have it in small of back. You need to reread anatomy book.” He realized what he’d revealed and winced. “Sheriff, I need gun.”
“You also need a permit to carry concealed. Congratulations, I just certified you as a training instructor for Bliss County’s safe gun program. Cam will get all the paperwork done. Until then, don’t conceal the fucker. And Caleb, it might be a good idea for you to carry that tranq gun. I know you don’t want to kill anyone, but if you don’t have a problem shooting Mel on a regular basis, I don’t see why you can’t tranq an assassin.” Nate tossed Caleb a radio. “And keep this on at all times. You see anything shady, you call.”
“I think I can handle that.” Caleb put the radio in his pocket.
And they could handle Holly. If she thought they would let her walk away, she was in for a surprise.
Chapter Fifteen
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Laura asked, throwing her hands up in the air as she paced across Holly’s living room floor.
If she’d expected sympathy from her BFF, she’d been wrong. Laura had charged in like a lion and started to roar.
“He lied to me,” Holly explained though she’d mentioned this more than once.
“About his name,” Laura shot back.
“Yes.”
Laura pointed at her. “I lied to you about my name.”
“That was different.”
“I lied about mine, too.” Rachel Harper came to stand beside Laura.
Holly turned to Nell, who held Rachel’s baby, Paige, on her lap. Nell looked completely innocent even though she was the one who had started this horror show. “Why would you do this to me?”
“I didn’t lie about my name,” Nell said with those wide eyes of hers.
“That is not what I am talking about, and you know it.” She wasn’t going to let Nell be obtuse about this.
“I did what any friend would do when she sees her friend jumping off a cliff. She calls in her stronger friends to pull you back.” Nell bounced the baby on her knee. “I would just jump off with you. I’m really not the best person to handle this sort of thing. But Laura is really good.”
“So is Rachel,” Callie added with a bright smile. “Rachel is excellent at telling you when you’re doing something silly.”
Callie sat on the recliner with her hand over her huge belly and her feet up.
“Well, why don’t you join in, Callie? You want to let me know how stupid I am?” Holly was getting really frustrated with her houseguests.
She shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m just happy to be out of my house. I thought Zane was going to have to roll me over in a wheelbarrow, though. If I don’t have this baby soon, I think I’m going to pop. But if you’re asking me, then I think you’re making a mistake.”
“He lied to me.” She would say it over and over again until someone understood.
Callie looked at her sympathetically but shook her head. “So did Rachel and Laura.”
“That was different.” Apparently everyone was planning on acting obtuse today.
“How?” Callie asked.
“They were trying to hide from something.”
“So is Caleb.” Laura sighed and sat down. “I’m sorry. I’m coming on way too strong. Holly, I love you, but I think you’re wrong. I changed my name because I was running from my past. I didn’t want Rafe and Cam to find me. I also didn’t want the serial killer to find me, but it was about Rafe and Cam, too.”
“And I was on the run.” Rachel’s mouth became tight as she obviously thought about her life before Max and Rye. “I still don’t go by my old name. I changed it because I’m not that woman anymore. I’m Rachel. I’m the person I found here in Bliss. I think Caleb is the same. He smiled at me yesterday. Do you know
how little that man smiles?”
“Did you ask him why he didn’t tell you about his name?” Laura asked.
“He said he couldn’t be sure I wasn’t a gold digger.” She could still feel the humiliation that had flared.
Rachel snorted. “Idiot.”
Laura’s eyes narrowed. “Is that what he said?”
“No,” Nicky called out from the kitchen where he was making coffee. “He said he’d had a lot of women who were more interested in his family than him.” He walked in carrying mugs of coffee. “And I understand that. I get him, Mom. When you’re a member of an incredibly wealthy family, you have to wonder why people are around you. I don’t think he thought you were a gold digger for a second. I think you scared the crap out of him.”
No one understood. She felt frustrated tears pricking at her eyes. “I seriously doubt that. I know you think you know how he feels, but I want you to think about how I feel. I was married to your father for years. It was a huge mistake. The Langs ripped me apart. I can’t do that again. I don’t even want to try.”
“It’s not like his family is here all the time,” Rachel pointed out. “I didn’t even know he had a family. I knew his wife died, but that’s about it. If Jen weren’t on her honeymoon, I would put her on this. Trust me, Stef Talbot knows something about this. No one comes into his town without a file. I wonder. I bet he has an actual file.”
“Rachel, you can’t break into the Talbot Estate,” Callie said.
Rachel’s strawberry blonde hair shook, and her eyes lit up the way they always did when she was planning something nefarious. “I wasn’t going to break in. I was just going to walk in and then, whoops, I didn’t mean to go into Stef’s office. I just got lost. And I certainly didn’t mean to have that file folder fall open.”
“Or you could just ask me.” Nicky sat down in front of her. “You must be very isolated if you didn’t hear his story. Caleb Sommerville was working with a charity group providing medical attention and surgeries in some of the world’s worst places. He walked away from his wealth. Does that sound like Dad? I bet that his family wasn’t thrilled that he chose to practice in Africa.”
“He went through something very bad, didn’t he?” Laura asked.
Nicky nodded.
“I thought so. I recognize the look on his face from time to time. I see it in the mirror.” Laura’s voice had taken on that far-off quality she used when thinking about her former life.
“I see it on Zane’s face.” Callie’s hand smoothed over her belly. “It’s really hard for him to talk about what happened while he was undercover. Can’t you give Caleb a chance?”
When had she become the bad guy? “I thought you guys were supposed to support me.”
Nell leaned toward her. “We are, sweetie. But we wouldn’t be very supportive if we let you make the biggest mistake of your life.”
Was it a mistake? How could she trust him again? And what else hadn’t he told her?
And did any of it matter? Or was she letting her past ruin her chances for a future?
“I can’t live that life again.” She said it more to herself than anyone else.
“I don’t want you to. I don’t want that life. That’s why I’m here.” Caleb stood in the doorway, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. His face was lined with care as though the last moments had aged him.
Alexei stood beside him.
How much had they both changed for her? What had it cost these possessive men to decide to share her?
“I’d like to know your story.” She said it simply, though it meant the world to her. If he wouldn’t talk to her, she wasn’t sure there was a chance.
He nodded, but no words came out.
“Could we be doing this alone? Ladies, I appreciate your love for Holly, but we need time alone.” Alexei opened the door.
Laura stared him down, never one to let a little thing like a six-foot-five-inch slab of muscle renowned for his former violent tendencies man intimidate her. “You better take care of her.”
“Laura, they will. That’s why they’re here.” Nell stood, looking perfectly happy with the outcome of the afternoon. She settled Paige on her hip. “Come on guys, let’s get Callie home. She’s going to bring another beautiful soul into the world any day now. We should make sure her house is ready. I want to bless the baby’s room and invite the goddess in.”
Rachel held a hand out to Callie. “Ugh, I hope you don’t mind some smelly herbs, Cal.”
She shook her head. “I don’t mind. But I’m pretty sure I’m never having this baby. I know it’s Zane’s because it’s so big. I think this baby weighs thirty pounds. He planted a giant inside me. And I swear this little sucker has more than four limbs.”
“Uhm, I can do another ultrasound.” Caleb put his hands on Callie’s belly. “How about tomorrow morning? You’re not due for another two weeks, but if the baby is big, we might need to schedule a C-section.”
“Oh, no, Callie,” Nell said. “Maybe we should call the shaman back in.”
“Nope,” Callie said. “If the Doc wants to split me open right now, I’m up for it. I’m done with being pregnant. And I will happily let you take another look at my boy.”
Rachel snorted as she lifted her baby from Nell. “Doc is a good man, but he’s not the greatest at reading a sonogram. Is he, baby girl? He thought you had a penis. You don’t have a penis. No, sir. Callie’s baby won’t have a penis, either. She’s going to be your best friend.”
“Now, we need to talk about this,” Nell said, her skirt fluttering around her ankles as she ran after the other women.
Laura gave Holly a long hug. “You just holler if they give you trouble. I think I’m going to have to save Nell. Rachel can get touchy about drugs and childbirth. We’re going to be over at Callie’s making casseroles to freeze so Zane doesn’t have to cook after the baby comes. Why don’t you come with us, Nicky? You can get to know your new aunts, and I think Rafe and Cam are going to be doing some yard work. We can pull up lawn chairs and whistle until they take off their shirts.”
“I think I’m going to love my new uncles,” Nicky said with a smile. He stopped in front of Caleb. “Talk fast, man. I’m pulling for you.”
The door closed behind them, and they were alone.
“Cheap lay?” Caleb asked, obviously ready to get to the fight. His face was tight.
She wasn’t about to let him make her the bad guy by throwing her words back in her face. “You’re the one who lied, Caleb.”
“I didn’t lie.” Caleb’s words were clipped, short, revealing his frustration. “I’ve gone by my mother’s maiden name for years. I didn’t like everything that came along with being a Sommerville, including the money. I like living simply. The only time my money has come in handy is when you needed things, like a roof. Which wasn’t cheap.”
She put a hand on her hip. “Oh, so now you’re owning up to that? I asked you before and you wouldn’t answer.”
Caleb scrubbed a hand through his short hair. “I didn’t want you to feel beholden. You think I didn’t look into your past? I knew who your ex-husband was. I knew what he did to you. I might not have known all the details, but I could make some great guesses. You obviously didn’t want to leave your son behind when you got divorced.”
“Of course I didn’t.”
“Your husband used his money and power to separate you from your son.” It wasn’t a question. Caleb said it with a familiar disgust, as though he’d seen it before.
Holly took a long breath. “Yes, he did. Actually he managed to come up with some damning photographs of me with his head security guard.”
“Bastard,” Caleb cursed. “What did he do? Hire someone who looked like you?”
She stilled. She hadn’t told him she wasn’t guilty. So why did he assume she was innocent? “Maybe he just followed me, Caleb.”
“Bullshit. You wouldn’t cheat. I know you. You wouldn’t cheat on him no matter how big an asshole he was. He was the father
of your son. You took vows. You wouldn’t cheat.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “How can you know that?”
“Dushka, he knows for same reason I know. He sees your soul. Why can you not see his?” Alexei stood by the door, his face grim. He watched the argument with dark eyes and a flat mouth.
It struck Holly that Alexei had as much to lose as either of them. Though he wasn’t a part of this argument, he was involved. He was part of this. She could yell at Caleb all she liked, but it wouldn’t help the three of them.
“Tell me why you wouldn’t tell me your name.”
Now it was Caleb’s turn to calm down. He paced a little. “Because after I found out about your ex-husband, I was afraid you wouldn’t like me. And I really wanted you to like me.”
“Why?” Holly asked.
The words burst from his mouth like a cork popping from a champagne bottle. “Because I loved you from the minute I saw you. I walked into the café and you smiled at me and I felt like the sun had come out after years of rain, and that scared the shit out of me. It still scares the shit out of me. It’s just I’ve figured out that something else scares me more. Losing you.”
She stood there in her tiny cabin—the very place where she’d been exiled—and realized that she could believe him or not. She could pull the mantle of past pain around her and be safe. She could go on as she had before. She could even keep Alexei. She didn’t need Caleb. Caleb would always have ties to a world she hated, a world that could come back to hurt her. Alexei would stay with her.
And they would all be living a half life because this weird thing between them worked. It was beautiful and odd and worth fighting for. And it was far past time to put her fear aside.
She didn’t speak. Words had always failed Caleb, but his actions spoke volumes. He’d taken care of her when she’d needed it. He was damaged, and she didn’t exactly know why. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if he never healed. She would take him damaged and broken. She would try to heal his hurt.