Protecting Melissa (Holiday Cove 4)

Apparently that was not the case—because I didn’t.

It didn’t bother me so much that Melissa was married. Sure, from a moral standpoint, not the best of scenarios. But she wasn’t married in the way people would normally think of a marriage. From everything she’d told me, the past two years she’d just been hanging around waiting for her chance to cut and run. She’d been very upfront and honest about her marriage and had gone so far as to tell me she hadn’t been intimate with her husband and lived in a separate room of their house.

So, why did it matter?

The answer resided with a small, towheaded boy who had captured my heart. I adored the little guy and I hated to think I was making his life more difficult or confusing. He had placed his trust in me and what had I done with it? Thrown it aside and gone off to bang his mother. Who, in his young mind, was still with his father.

I scrubbed a hand over my face and groaned into my palm. “Stupid, Chase. Stupid.”

And yet…

Being with Melissa was one of the best nights of my life. She was like a caged animal, set free. Wild, uninhibited, and raw. When she came for me the first time, the look in her eyes…dark and delirious.

I’d never be able to forget it.

My ringtone interrupted my musings. I rolled over and pulled the silver device from the bedside table. I didn’t recognize the number, but it was a California area code. “Hello?”

“Chase? It’s Matt.”

“Oh, hey!” I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Sorry, I meant to call last night and things just…well, they got away from me.”

I winced. If Matt found out I’d slept with Melissa…he’d murder me.

Matt continued, his tone short and clipped. “I can’t talk long. But I wanted to fill you in. I’m calling from a burner phone.”

“Yeah, I saw that. What’s going on?”

“I’m being followed. Henry has a pair of goons in a black SUV chasing me all over the city. Everywhere I go, they’re there with me. So far, they haven’t threatened me since the first day after Melissa and Jackson went missing, but I think they’re waiting for me to meet with her or something.”

“Shit.” I shook my head. This was so fucked up. Why couldn’t this guy just let it go? It’s not like Melissa was threatening to spill all his dirty little secrets. She just wanted a divorce so she could have her own life. Why couldn’t he give that to her? Just some peace and quiet.

“I’m fine, well, unnerved obviously, but I don’t think they’re going to try and hurt me. Eventually, they’ll see that I don’t know where she is and leave me alone. As it is, I’m having my office searched by my PI to check for bugs and switched email addresses in case they hacked my old one. And I got this burner phone.”

“Smart. You’re a good student,” I said, finding a small smile. I’d taught him some basic aversion tactics after my training with the SEALs and after some contract jobs with the CIA. At the time it was a “in case of emergency” training session. I never expected him to actually have to use any of it.

“I’ll keep changing numbers, but I’ll check in as often as I can so you always have the updated one. In the meantime, Henry hasn’t formally responded to the divorce papers and this could drag out for months before they go to court.”

I stared over at the closed door to my bedroom and briefly wondered what Melissa was doing. She should be getting this same information.

“How are you guys doing?”

“We’re good,” I replied, not wanting to get into the details in case someone was listening in. “Laying low.”

“Good. Well stay off the grid and keep Melissa and Jackson safe. I’ll do what I can on my end. My PI is still digging into O’Keefe, but the problem is that everything is a clusterfuck now that this woman, Talia, is dead. Henry is cautious and it’s making it harder than ever to dig anything up. He keeps a close knit circle. I’ll give him that.”

I nodded and raked a hand over my short hair. “All right. Check in when you can. I’ll try to get word out if we see anything on our end.”

“Okay, man. Stay safe.”

“You too.”

I hung up and flopped back against the mattress. What the hell were we going to do?

“Good morning,” Melissa said, smiling at me in a sexy new grin as I walked into the kitchen an hour later. I’d agonized over a game plan while I showered and dressed for the day. We were booked in the hotel for another day but I was getting itchy about the idea of staying still. Something was stirring in my gut but I didn’t want to let paranoia creep in and take over. A little dose of paranoia could be good—but it could also be the difference between staying alive and ending up dead. On the flip side—if you let it get a tight grip—it could make you bat shit crazy. And that was the worst thing I could do.