Into The Dragon's World - Brittany White Page 0,45

saw him.”

His hand stopped its exploration and he went silent, eyes darkening, jaw tightening. “Did he do anything?” he managed to say.

Casey shook her head. “Just watched me.”

Brady fell back on the mattress beside Casey. It felt like forever before he spoke again.

“Why did you go out?” he finally asked. “I told you it was safer here—”

“And I’m supposed to stop living my life because some asshole has decided to stalk me?”

Brady sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, covering his face with his hands for a few moments. “Jesus Christ, Casey…” he said quietly. “He could have done anything to you…”

“But he didn’t.”

Brady quickly turned to face her. “But he could have!”

The anger in his voice sounded unnatural coming from him. She said nothing more, watching him tamp down the dragon rising inside him. He turned away from her again.

“What do you think it would have done to me,” he said in a rough whisper, “if something had happened to you today?”

Casey didn’t know what to say. She crawled to her knees and knelt behind Brady, wrapping her arms around him as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. He curled his hands around her forearms, leaning his head back against her. Neither of them spoke for a while.

“You are the most precious thing in the world to me,” he finally said quietly. He turned slightly until he was facing her. “You know that, don’t you?”

Casey slowly nodded. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I do.”

His eyes searched hers so intensely that Casey felt as if he were looking inside her. She saw the worry and concern in his eyes, the vulnerability and trust.

It’s time, Casey thought. Tell him now. Tell him you love him. Tell him about the baby. Now.

“Brady…” she said softly, raising her head to look at him. And then her words failed her. She managed a faint smile instead. “Let’s go to bed. You look exhausted.”

He stood and peeled off his shirt, kicked out of his pants, and crawled back into bed wearing his boxer briefs. He really did look tired. Casey knew that he was working twice as hard at the club between running the place and keeping an eye out for Evan Wallace. It was starting to take its toll on him.

He pulled her into his arms, and they settled into the sleeping position they found themselves in every night: Brady on his back, Casey curled up against him, their arms around each other. Casey had never slept so well as she did when she was with Brady.

After a few minutes, Brady snored softly, completely knocked out. Casey raised her head and watched him for a few minutes, fascinated by the angles and planes of his face, the shadow of stubble on his chin and cheeks. She smiled and pressed a gentle kiss against his shoulder as she slowly moved away from him and stood. She quickly dressed in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants and tiptoed into the living room.

She was too wired to sleep. She felt buzzy with energy, as if every cell in her body had woken up all at once and insisted that she do something. At 1:30 in the morning, her options were a little limited, so she compromised by grabbing a pint of ice cream and a spoon and settling down in front of the TV.

She had just reached for the remote control when her phone buzzed. The sound caught her off guard, startling her. She picked up her cell from the arm of the couch and frowned. She didn’t recognize the number.

A cold premonition trickled down her spine.

It was a text with an attachment. She hesitated a moment, then touched the screen to open it.

Get here now or she dies.

The attachment opened. It was a selfie of Evan and Jasmine. Her eyes were huge and terrified, and Casey could see she had been hit. Evan was leaning in, his tongue extended obscenely as he licked the side of Jasmine’s face. He had shifted his other hand to a bear claw, which he poised just over her throat.

Casey covered her mouth as hot, raging tears spilled from her eyes.

A series of texts buzzed, one after the other:

If you tell anyone, she dies.

If you bring that asshole boyfriend, he dies.

Come alone. Get your ass here NOW!

Casey dropped the phone as if it were white-hot. She jumped to her feet, paralyzed for a moment. She had no doubt that Evan Wallace would do exactly as he promised. He