Maya Banks - Colters’ Woman

“I don’t want to lose her,” Ryan said in a tight voice.

“Do you think we do?” Ethan asked. Anger and frustration simmered in his eyes.

Adam rubbed his face tiredly. They were all on pins and needles. Tired. Frustrated beyond belief. And scared to death of losing the one woman who meant everything to them.

“How can we just let her walk away?” Ryan demanded. “Who’s going to make sure that bastard husband of hers isn’t going to hurt her again?”

Adam turned his head to the bed when he heard Holly shift and sigh softly. Her eyes fluttered open, and he leaned forward in his seat.

“How’re you feeling, baby?”

“Tired,” she whispered.

He felt guilty for what he was about to do, but he wasn’t going to let go without a fight. She didn’t need to be pushed, but that was exactly what he was going to do.

“What’s going on, baby? Why did you call the D.A.? I don’t like what that implies.”

She stared at him with her beautiful eyes. Eyes that were awash in sadness. And fear. Almost as if she was afraid of how he’d react when she answered his questions.

His gut tightened uncomfortably.

“It had to be done,” she said.

“No, it didn’t,” Ryan refuted.

Tears welled in her eyes. “You almost died, Ryan. Because of me. Do you have any idea what that did to me? How badly it hurt? I can’t stand the thought of any of you gone. I love you too much.”

Adam glanced over at Ryan. His brother looked to be near losing all control. Rage and grief festered like a gangrenous sore.

“I’m the one who let you down,” Ryan said in a near shout. “Don’t you get it? I let that bastard into our home. I let him take you away from us. I let him nearly kill you. I let you down just like I let those prisoners down in Iraq.”

Tears streamed down Holly’s face. “Ryan…”

“I won’t let you do this, Holly. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for us,” Ryan said fiercely.

She struggled to sit up, and Adam leaned further into her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to help.

“I made a bargain with the district attorney,” she said. “A bargain I won’t back out of. It’s something I have to do. For all of us.”

Nausea welled in Adam’s stomach, and he and Ethan exchanged panicked looks.

“What kind of bargain?” Ethan asked dully.

“I’m going to testify against Mason.”

Adam shook his head. “No. No, no, no! It’s too dangerous. He’ll go after you with everything he has.”

“I’m going away,” Holly added softly. “Until the trial. I’ll be in protective custody.”

Adam surged to his feet. He clenched his fingers into tight balls. God, he wanted to hit something. Put his fist through the wall.

“Why? Why are you doing this?” he demanded. He no longer cared that he sounded so angry. He couldn’t bring himself to treat her so gently when she was tearing him apart on the inside.

“I’m doing it for you.”

The statement was firm. Accentuated by a sharp lift to her chin. Fire blazed in eyes that had been so fatigued just moments ago.

Adam closed his eyes, drawing a tight rein on his anger. He wanted to fucking howl. Instead, he turned and walked out. He couldn’t trust himself to speak when all he wanted to do was shout.

Holly watched as he left and felt her world splinter and break into tiny pieces. He was angrier than she’d ever seen him. At her.

Looks of betrayal loomed in Ethan and Ryan’s eyes. Did they all hate her?

“Go after him,” she said softly. “He needs you.”

“He needs you,” Ethan pointed out.

“Don’t let him do anything stupid,” she continued.

“I need some air,” Ryan said in a defeated voice she cringed at.

Ethan shook his head and followed Ryan out the door.

Holly clapped her hand to her face as the sobs she’d tried so hard to contain came bubbling out. She tried to suck in steadying breaths, but loud, raspy, harsh sounds kept spilling from her throat.

The nurse came in the door, a concerned expression marring her face. David Masterson followed closely behind.

“Do you need something for pain?” the nurse asked.

For pain? If only a simple drug would take away the agony that clawed at her heart.

Holly shook her head. She wanted her wits about her. She was going to need all she could get in the coming days.

“Mrs. Bardwell…Holly, I’ve spoken with your doctor, made extensive arrangements to have you transferred to a private facility in another state. If you’re agreeable, we’ll have you transported within the hour.”

Holly’s mouth gaped open. “So soon?”

“It’s imperative we move you to a safe place as soon as possible. Your husband has already proven he is capable of anything. He hasn’t had any trouble finding you. It’s only a matter of time before he finds you here.”

The brothers. Mason would also find Adam, Ethan and Ryan. Where she was, so were they. If he could find her so easily, what did that do for the Colters?

“I’m ready,” she said in a steady voice.

Adam knew something was wrong the minute he stepped off the elevator. The nurse who’d cared for Holly this shift wouldn’t meet his gaze. In fact, she scurried off in the opposite direction as fast her legs would take her.

He growled low under his breath. It had taken him the better part of two hours to cool off enough to think rationally. Ethan and Ryan hadn’t helped. They’d been as pissed as he was.

The three of them strode down the hall toward Holly’s room. Adam noticed the absence of the guard who had been posted earlier. When he opened the door, he was greeted to a freshly made bed. An empty bed. He rushed through the door, slamming it against the wall.

The room was empty. Completely empty. No trace that Holly had ever been there could be found.

He stormed back into the hallway, his brothers close on his heels. He stalked to the nurses’ station and slammed his hands down on the counter.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

An older lady, the head nurse, maybe, walked over to him and put out a placating hand.

“She’s been transferred to another facility. One that has better security than we do here.”

“Where?” Adam bit out.

“She can’t tell you that.”

Adam whirled around to see David Masterson standing a few feet away. He itched to plant his fist square onto the D.A.’s nose.

“She left this for you,” David said, extending a folded note. “Don’t worry, Mr. Colter. We’ll take excellent care of her.”

Adam watched, stunned, as David turned and walked down the hall toward the elevator. He stared down at the paper in his hand, his stomach rolling and tumbling.

With shaking hands, he pulled it open. Three words. So simple.

I love you.

He crumbled the note and sent it flying into the wall. His brothers wore expressions of disbelief. Ryan punched the wall, shoving a hole into the plaster.

“What do we do now?” Ethan asked in a quiet voice.

“We go back to the cabin. And wait for her to come home,” Adam said.

Holly stood at the end of the winding driveway, staring up at the cabin. Summer had come to the mountains. Everywhere she looked, the earth burst with green. She’d only seen the landscape when it was covered with a sheet of white and had thought at the time it couldn’t be more beautiful. She’d been wrong. It couldn’t possibly look any better than now when she was coming home.

She’d parked down the road, exactly as she had done once before. Somehow she’d wanted to replicate the journey she’d made so many months before.

She smiled as the breeze lifted her long hair and blew it gently around her shoulders. She slid a hand over the bulge of her abdomen, rubbing absently at the gentle swell.

With a deep breath, she started the long walk up the hill to the front door. Butterflies danced in her stomach. In response, the baby kicked and turned over. She stopped and put a hand to her stomach again until the sensation passed.

She smiled and continued on. When she reached the front porch, she hesitated. The door was merely inches away, and yet, she didn’t knock. Should she just go in? No. She’d been gone too long.

Would they welcome her back? Would they still love her? Uncertainty nibbled away at her confidence. Adam had been so angry the last time she’d seen him. She closed her eyes to banish the look of betrayal she’d seen in his expression.

Tears swam in her eyes. She’d missed them terribly. She’d lain awake so many nights longing for their touch. She looked down and scrubbed at her eyes. It was over now. She was finally free to live the life she wanted. It was up to her to reach out and take it.

Slowly, she raised her hand and knocked quietly. She waited a moment then mustered her courage and knocked harder.

Her heart lurched when she heard firm footsteps from inside. The door opened and Ryan stood in the doorway, a stunned look on his face.

“Holly?”

She stared at him, praying he didn’t turn around and shut the door.

Before she could say anything, she found herself enfolded in his arms. He picked her up and whirled her around, burying his face in her chest.

The baby rolled and kicked between them and he froze. He let her slowly down then backed a space away. He reached out with a shaky hand to cup her swollen belly.

“Is this…is this…?” he broke off his voice hoarse with emotion.

She covered his hand with hers, holding it in place against her stomach. “Yes,” she whispered.