Author: Bella Andre

When he turned back to her, her eyes were dancing, thank God.

“Definitely still Hotstuff.” She reached for a pair of scissors from the butcher block on the kitchen island. “How about I go pick some pretty flowers to match your very pretty apron?”

She jumped out of his reach before he could give her beautifully curvaceous rear a smack. Loving the sound of her laughter, he said, “Little Red better go before the wolf shows her he’s hungry for more than pancakes.”

Her lingering laughter, along with the words, “Promises, promises,” followed her out the front door.

Chase stared after her for several beats, so incredibly thankful for all the blessings in his life, the biggest one of all being the woman he loved.

She’d told him this morning that she wasn’t worried about his stepping over the lines—no, she hadn’t just told him with words, she’d showed him with her body what she wanted to give, what she wanted him to take—but he knew there were bound to be times when he made her mad, when he acted on her behalf without thinking. Lord knew he and his brothers had done that enough times with his sisters, all in the name of protection. Not just because they were older and felt they knew best.

But even though Chase knew he and Chloe were bound to butt heads in the future, he also knew their love was strong enough to survive a little conflict.

And boy, oh boy, was the making-up part of their future “discussions” about boundaries going to be fun. He was grinning as he grabbed flour from the pantry, then reached into the fridge for eggs and milk.

First, he was going to blow her mind with the pancakes...and then he was going to blow her mind in an entirely different way that would have her forgetting about breakfast altogether.

Chapter Twenty

Chloe had been dreading making that phone call to the police for so long that she’d assumed her stomach would be in knots for hours, if not days afterward. But she didn’t feel weak or shaky. Just the opposite. She felt so much lighter now, like she could sprint up the mountain and not even be winded when she got to the top.

The lavender planted in front of the guest house was in full bloom and she could smell it as the sun warmed her and the flowers and the grapes growing on the vines all around the stunning Napa Valley property. Smiling, she moved to the plant with her scissors and had just started cutting a thick bunch when she heard a sudden sound behind her.

The instant it took her brain to realize that Chase wouldn’t be sneaking up on her was a moment too long to jump out of the way of the hand that came down over her mouth.

The scissors fell out of her hand as a man yanked her hard against his body. “You little bitch, I saw you in there playing house with that guy.”

Dean.

How had he found her here?

Chloe worked to still the panic inside. If she let fear rule her, she wouldn’t be able to think straight enough to fight back. To fight for the life she deserved.

In place of fear, she let fury fly free.

Because she wasn’t going to run this time.

No, she was never running again.

Her ex-husband’s hand was smooth and sweaty across her face as he hissed in her ear, “Are you begging him to do all those dirty things to you, you filthy slut?”

He was even angrier today than he’d been at her apartment. His pride had to be pretty badly battered at the way she’d knocked him out with the paint can. And after living with him for so many years, Chloe knew how his brain worked: He figured since she hadn’t gone to the cops yet that she must be too scared to tell anyone what he’d tried to do to her.

She knew what he expected her to do. He expected her to take what he gave her. He expected her to cower. Just like she must have all those years they were together. He hadn’t even needed to use force during their marriage to get her to surrender her power to him. All he’d needed to do was look at her like she wasn’t worth a damn thing...and she’d believed him.

Well, she knew a hell of a lot better now what she was worth. And who she was.

Using his underestimation of her to her benefit, Chloe bit down on his palm as hard as she could. She tasted his blood in her mouth as he screamed in pain.

Taking her chance, she kicked behind her, hoping she was nailing his family jewels, and dove for the scissors.

Chloe almost had them when her hair was yanked back, hard enough for tears to spring to her eyes. Somehow she bit back her whimper of pain, knowing now that Dean would get off on that.

“I tracked down your car and bribed the tow truck driver to tell me where he picked it up,” he bragged. “But I didn't think you'd already be in the sack with some guy when I got here.” He yanked her hair again, hard enough that her vision almost went black with pain. “Tell me what he's doing to you. Now!”

She knew what would happen if she told him the truth. He’d hit her again. She could see how much he wanted to do it.

Oh God, it had hurt so much the first time, but Chloe knew all she needed was to get a few inches closer to the scissors. And then she’d make damn sure the tables were turned.

Permanently.

Moving her mouth up into an insolent smirk, she said, “You couldn't handle knowing how good he is. How much better than you.”

Just as she’d expected, his fist came at her. Only this time, she wasn’t afraid, wasn’t simply trying to get away like she had that horrible night when he’d come at her in his apartment. She wasn’t able to move far enough to avoid his punch, but the shock of being hit paled against the victory of grasping the scissors in her fingers a few seconds later.

His fist was halfway to her face again when she ducked, turned, and aimed the sharp tip of the blades at the man she’d once made vows to in front of her family, all because she hadn’t been brave enough to trust her own heart.

She finally trusted it, damn it. And she wasn’t going to let anyone take the love she deserved away from her.

As she nailed him with the tip of the sharp scissors right beside the dark bruise and cut she’d left him with when he’d attacked her in her apartment, Dean’s screech of pain had him stumbling back…straight into Chase’s path.

Chase’s fist landed square in the middle of her ex-husband’s jaw, the crack of bone against bone sounding loud and horrible in the once tranquil vineyard.

Dean’s eyes actually crossed as he stumbled back, but Chase didn’t stop there, just kept slamming his fist into her ex-husband’s face again and again until he looked like a bobble-head doll with his head wobbling around on top of his skinny neck.

A voice in Chloe’s head—a fairly small, quiet voice—told her she should stop Chase before he did permanent damage. But before she could, Dean’s legs fell out from beneath him.

He hit the ground hard and she expected him to be unconscious, given the loud sound his skull made when it landed in the dirt, but he still blinked up at her, groaning as a line of blood trailed from his mouth.

Chase was down on the ground beside him, his hand around Dean's throat, a moment later. “Apologize to Chloe.”

She’d never seen Chase like this, with his control frayed and torn. Yes, she’d known all along just how strong, how powerful her lover was, but it was still amazing to watch him protect her like this.

When her ex didn’t say sorry fast enough, Chase tightened his hand around his throat to the point where he started coughing.

“I’m going to give you one last chance to apologize to her.”

Dean’s eyes started to roll back in his head, but Chase wouldn’t let him pass out, shaking him until he groaned again.

“Apologize right now. Or else.”

The menace in Chase’s low-pitched voice had Dean’s eyes opening and his gaze locking with hers.

“I’m sorry, Chloe.”

She couldn’t speak, could only nod.

Dean started to pass out again, but Chase shook him. “You’re not done yet, asshole.”

She’d never seen her ex-husband look so miserable. His face was bloody and bruised, he was crying, and he had dirt smeared in with the snot running from his nose.

“Are you ever going to come near her again?”

Chase emphasized his question by banging Dean’s skull into the dirt a few times.

“No.” Dean was sniveling now. “Never. I’ll never bother her again.”

His eyes finally rolled all the way back in his head and he went out. Cold.

Chloe was staring down at her ex-husband, lying on the ground, looking smaller to her than he ever had before, when Chase’s fingers brushed warm and gentle across her smarting cheek.

She turned her gaze to him as he pulled her into his arms. “Chloe, sweetheart. He hit you. Again.”

But she didn’t care about her own face, not when she could still hear the shockingly loud crunching of bones smashing together each time Chase had nailed Dean with his fist.

“Please tell me you didn’t hurt your hand.”

“I’m made of steel, not marshmallows, remember?” he said with a small smile. “It’s going to take more than a few punches to hurt my knuckles.” She could feel the anger, the fear for her safety, radiating off him. “Bloody hands are well worth the satisfaction of making sure he never comes near you again.”

She knew Chase wanted to do more damage to Dean to make up for what her ex-husband had done to her—not just the bruise on her cheek, but for years of controlling her...and not loving her right.

Chloe pulled both of Chase’s hands into hers and held them over her heart. “You said you would do anything for me.”

“Anything,” he confirmed.

“He isn’t worth it. He isn’t worth any more of your anger. He isn’t worth hurting your hands on his hard head when you need those fingers and knuckles working perfectly so that you can take your beautiful pictures. I want you to let the police take it from here.”

A loud frustrated breath whooshed out of Chase’s beautiful mouth. “It’s going to kill me to let him walk away, Chloe. To know that he’s hurt you and hasn’t paid for it.”

“But you will, won’t you? You’ll walk away. For me.”

She watched him battle within himself, loving him even more for the way he wanted to take care of her.

Finally, he said what she’d known he would: “Anything, sweetheart. I’d do anything for you.”

She went on her toes so that her mouth was a breath from his. “I know. And I’ll do anything for you.” She pressed her lips to his, then whispered, “Everything.”

A few seconds later, she took the cell phone he handed her and called the police, telling them to come right away. And although she wouldn’t let Chase tear Dean apart the way he clearly wanted to, she had no issues whatsoever with letting him tie her ex up with some heavy-duty rope. Tight enough that Dean came to.

Ignoring his groans, Chloe and Chase moved to the porch, where they kept an eye on him while they waited for the cops to arrive. She knew he didn’t want to leave her for more than a few seconds and he zipped into the kitchen for ice faster than should have been humanly possible.

Pulling her onto his lap, he held the ice to her cheek just as he had that first night she’d met him, and softly said, “I’m so sorry, Chloe. I should have been out there with you.”

“It’s not your fault that he came after me here. Just like you said earlier, neither of us could have known what he was going to do next. But I’m pretty sure he won’t hurt me again.”

“No,” Chase said in a low voice, “he won’t. Do you know why?”

“Because he'd like to keep the teeth you left him with. And once he finds out there are five more sets of fists like yours...”

“You’re right. He’s scared senseless. But not because of what I did, not because of what I said.”

“What do you mean?”