Page 36 of Come Back to Me
“Mia, are you okay?”
“Cole, I’m not some delicate flower. Of course I’m okay. But I need to talk to you right now! We can talk later about your ego male alpha fight with Jack. This comes first.” I hold out Carter’s note for him to see.
“I know. Foster already told me the jerk tried to leave you a note. Can you imagine the nerve of that asshole? Please don’t worry, Mia. I am fairly certain Jack will not be coming back for a visit, and he will never touch what’s mine again. If he ever forgets, I’ll break more than his fucking nose.” He slams his fist down on the desk, showing his rage has only barely subsided.
“Calm down, you lunatic. Foster, please go get Cole some ice for his hand.”
I round the desk to comfort my barbarian, inspecting his hands and kissing his bruised, bloody knuckles.
“You’re a psychopath, you know that? You can’t beat up everyone who upsets me, Cole. It’s called being a grownup.”
Cole smiles, but his face grows serious and he looks at me with that intense stare that makes my stomach flip over. “I ignored my gut once, one time only. The result was that you were very nearly hurt in the most horrible way. I will never ignore my instincts again. I don’t care if I have to pummel every Jack in the world, I will never let anybody ever hurt you, insult you, or so much as make you uncomfortable, again. You will forever be protected by my money, my power, all the resources at our disposal, and if necessary, my fists.”
There is so much I want to say to him; responses flooding my heart and mind, but I opt for the most powerful emotion I feel in the moment, gratitude.
“Thank you, Cole. I love you.”
I feel badly about Jack getting beat up. I have conflicting thoughts about handling any situation with common violence, and I will never admit out loud that seeing Jack get punched in the face was satisfying… but the truth is a part of me was comforted by Cole wanting to protect me. Besides, Jack is a grown-ass man. He challenged Cole and lost, plain and simple. That’s not my responsibility, is it? I don’t control karma.
Cole leans down and kisses me, then notices the note I’m still holding in my hand. I shake my head, realizing he still thinks it’s from Jack.
“No! Cole, this is not what you think, they are all the same…” I open my sweaty palm, to show him the other notes. Cole looks at me, not understanding, shaking his head.
“I got these notes when I was at the hotel. First I thought they were you, and then Jack said something the last time we spoke that made me think it was him. I hadn’t given it a second thought until I got this one delivered today, clearly not from either of you! Cole, it’s Carter… the notes were all written by him. He’s been watching and waiting all this time, just to get me.” My hands are shaking. I squeeze them shut to make it stop.
“Fuck! Mia, why didn’t you tell me about these notes before?” Cole picks up the phone starts dialing.
“I mean, I didn’t really need to fuel your hatred for Jack. I figured the notes were better off staying with my past. I didn’t imagine it was relevant, and forgot I even had them in my purse until today.”
“Come here,” he holds out his free arm. I lean in to find the comfort I seek, realizing only as I sink into Cole’s side and exhale that I haven’t relaxed in several hours. He kisses the top of my head and then abruptly says, “Richard, he’s here. We need talk. My house in twenty minutes.”
Cole hangs up without saying goodbye and calls Foster, then walks me over to the couch in the office and sits down with me. I curl onto his lap and he folds his arms around me, making me feel safe and secure. Foster walks in a moment later and hands Cole a bag of frozen peas. Cole tells him to get the security detail together and meet back in fifteen minutes. When the door closes, we sit in silence, which feels welcome and yet eerie, like calm before the storm.
“Whatever we decide, Amelia, there is no turning back. You know that.”
“I know.”
“Then I guess it’s time to plan the end game.”
Cole is planning his version of the end game, but mine is already in progress. This began as revenge for Carter stealing a piece of me, but now it’s protection for myself and for that which is most dear to me.
Cole.
The house is buzzing with both Richard and Cole’s teams, my mother, and Alex, who brought Chris along. I have kept myself in the kitchen, making coffee and trying to focus on anything other than what is happening. It isn’t working.
“Stop wiping the counters, Mia!”
“Alex, I need to do something! I’m totally skeeved out that Carter knows where I am and is out there, lurking. So, I’m going to wipe the damn counter a hundred times if I need to. Okay?”
“Okay.” She holds her hands up in surrender.
I feel bad for snapping at Alex, but my nerves are shot. Carter is out there, boldly making threats about killing me, and all this hullabaloo in my home is not helping to settle my stress level. Cole walks over and absentmindedly rubs my back while talking to the others in the room. Everyone is debating whether we should leave town—or possibly the country—until Carter is found.
“Mia needs to feel safe, she needs to be away from all of this craziness,” my mother pleads.
“I can protect my wife, Grace, we do not need to flee the country for Christ’s sake.” Cole huffs.
“Nobody is worried about your ego, buddy. Reign it in. I think we can all agree on what is best for Mia,” Alex snarks.