“That was beautiful.” Her words were so softly spoken, as if she were feeling what he was: awe over what they just shared that was so much more than sex.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead since he had no words that would do justice to what he was feeling.
“Sleep, sweetheart.”
“Stay with me.”
“Forever.”
She pressed another kiss to his heart and he felt a wetness there before she whispered, “I love you.”
He fucking loved it when she said that to him. Before he could reply, she was sound asleep.
Trace woke four hours later with a start. He had never in his life taken a nap. It was dark out and a glance at the clock showed it was close to nine at night. Ember was still asleep, practically on top of him.
He gently rolled her off and slipped from the bed. In sleep, her hand reached for him and, when she came away empty, she curled into a ball on her side. He pulled the covers over her and kissed her head. He put on some jeans and ducked into the nursery. In under six months there would be a baby sleeping there. He grinned as he went to the kitchen for a beer, then settled in the living room with some files he wanted to read through.
The sound of the house phone startled him from his work. When he looked at the display he was surprised that it was after three in the morning. His surprise turned to annoyance when he saw Heidi’s number.
Why the hell was she calling his home number?
“What the fuck do you want?”
“You have to help me.” Her voice sounded odd.
“No, I don’t.”
He was about to hang up when she sobbed. “They’re going to kill me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I underestimated them. Help me, Trace.”
He was tempted to hang up on her, but the fear in her voice was genuine. And if she were in danger, then so was Seth. “Underestimated whom?”
“Not over the phone. Can you meet me at the twenty-four-hour diner near the apartment?”
“Now?”
“Please.”
“If you’re fucking around . . . I swear to God, Heidi.”
“I’m not.”
“I’ll meet you in thirty.” He hung up without waiting for a reply. He didn’t want to wake Ember, but he didn’t want her waking up and finding him gone, either. He walked into their room and settled on the edge of their bed.
“Ember, sweetheart.”
It took her a few minutes for her eyes to open. When he saw she was mostly awake, he said, “I need to go out.”
She looked past him to the clock and when she realized it was three in the morning, she was instantly wide awake. “Why?”
“Heidi called. She’s in trouble and she’s scared.”
He saw her face darken in response, so he added, “I know what you’re thinking, I’m with you on that, but she really sounded scared. If there is even the slightest chance that Seth could be in danger, I need to do what I can.”
She sat up before she asked, “Did she say what or who scared her?”
“She wouldn’t over the phone.”
“Okay.” Ember started climbing from the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“The hell you are,” he snapped. “If there really is something to this, you’re going to be as far from it as possible.”
“And you, once again, are going to walk blindly into something. This is Heidi we’re talking about.”
He rubbed a hand over his head in frustration. “Believe me, I know, but it’s late and you’re pregnant.”
“I don’t want you going by yourself,” she said softly.
The arrogant grin was instinctual. “I can handle Heidi.”
“Trace.”
He moved to her and wrapped her in his arms. “I’ll be fine. Please get back into bed; you’ve circles under your eyes.”
He knew she was more tired than she was letting on when she didn’t argue further and slipped under the covers.
“Wake me when you get home.”
“I will.”
He was out the door ten minutes later and on his bike five minutes after that. An unsettling sensation twinged in his gut when he reached the corner where the diner was located and saw red-and-blue lights flashing. He pulled over, climbed off, and joined the crowd that had formed at the crime tape blocking the alley by the diner. One look and his stomach dropped because lying in a pool of blood, looking but not seeing, was Heidi.
“Oh fuck.” Even he was surprised at his callousness when he didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse at