Once Reed parked inside the garage, I opened the door to get out. For the first time in my life, I wanted to be cold. I needed to put out the fire burning beneath my skin and extinguish the fury flying through me that Mitch had created.
“I’ll do a perimeter check,” I offered.
Ryder shut his door, standing in front of me while shaking his head. “No, you need to get inside and change your bandage. Reed will do it.” The man morphed into Delta One, going so far as to block my path. “Don’t argue with me. I’m not in the mood.”
I knew better than to fight fire with fire. So I soldiered forward, grabbed as many bags from the trunk as I could carry, then followed him and Audrey through the interior door after he’d unlocked it with the security code.
The cabin was quiet but prepared. Someone had been there ahead of time to set things up for us. The heat was even running. Kitchen probably stocked, too.
“Wyatt said there are three bedrooms upstairs. Primary downstairs,” Ryder said as I dumped the bags in the kitchen.
Audrey wandered off, her phone in hand, probably texting Trevor that we’d arrived and anxious to talk to Chase again.
“You take the room down here. I’ll stay upstairs next to her.” Ryder picked up her bags, prepared to bring them to Audrey’s new quarters. “Not that any of us will do much sleeping tonight.” He lifted his chin since his hands were full. “Grab the medkit. Check your wound. Take more antibiotics if you have to. Need you in top shape.”
I nodded myroger thatat his orders.
“Natasha and Wyatt should be calling soon. I’ll get the laptop set up in the living room in a minute,” he said before taking off.
Once I was alone, I braced my hands on the counter.
But before I let myself go off the deep end, thinking up a bunch of negative shit that didn’t belong in my head, my body went still.
Is that music?I followed the melodic and resonant notes as they became louder, more powerful.
If pain were ever to be described as a sound, that’s what it was. But it was also oddly peaceful.
I rounded the corner, surprised to find a doorless open space with a Yamaha, and Audrey parked behind it—playing.
Her eyes were shut as her fingers gracefully moved.
I leaned against the wall, mesmerized by the music. Well, by her.
One tear trailed down the length of her cheek as she played, and my hand climbed up my chest as I followed her fingers over the keys.
When her fingers came to a stop, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. She startled at the sight of me and hurried to stand. “I couldn’t help myself. I left my piano in storage in Virginia. I was worried it’d get damaged in the move. I’ll get it one day.”
“I, uh, had no idea you even played.”
“You didn’t ask,” she said, repeating what I’d said to her the other night about my Vegas-childhood question.
“What was that piece called? It was sad.”
She picked up her phone and headed my way. “It’s by Jurrivh. Called ‘Crying Alone.’”
“It was ... well, you were incredible.” I wanted to reach for her. Be the one to take away her pain so she wouldn’t need to cry.
She stopped in front of me, tucking her hand into the collar of her protective vest as if uneasy wearing it.
“Let me get that off you,” I offered, and quickly went to work removing it so I wasn’t touching her too damn long. I tossed the vest off to the side. “Where’d you learn to play, and why’d you stop?”
I had a million more questions for her, and I knew now I’d need every single answer. I had to know everything about her.
“New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.” She gave me a small smile, letting her free hand fall to her side. “I was part of an orchestra after college. We traveled. Performed.” She lowered her head, losing my gaze when she added, “That’s how I met Trevor. Military ball in DC. He approached me after the performance.”
Trevor.The roadblock between us, not Mitch. Not the man she was still technically married to.
“I apparently met Mitch that night at the ball, too. And we bumped into each other at another ball a few years later that I was attending as a guest, not performer. I’d been pregnant with Chase then and kind of dismissed him.” Her shoulders fell with a sigh. “Our paths wound up crossing again after Trevor and I were divorced, and he said it was fate that we kept bumping into each other, so we should date.”
