“He’s a professional. A…hitman.” The one word she hadn’t let herself say before sent her panic over the edge. As she hyperventilated, Alexander guided her head towards her knees, then rested his hand on the back of herneck.
Elizabeth jerked away. “Don’t. Don’t touch methere.”
Alexander held up his hands. “What is it? What did Ido?”
“There’s a spot…he said there was a spot he could use to render me unconscious if I fought him. I don’t want to keep feeling his hands onme.”
Anger twisted Alexander’s mouth into a snarl, and he went to her window, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring out over the alley behind thebuilding.
After several tense minutes, Elizabeth managed to calm enough to speak. “Comeback.”
“Not if I’m going to frighten you.” Emotion thickened his tone, and he refused to turnaround.
The entire room smelled wrong. Felt wrong. Elizabeth went to Alexander, took his hand, and returned it to her neck. Locking her eyes on his, she tried to focus on his scent, the warmth of his touch, and the steady beat of his heart under herpalm.
“I don’t want to be soscared.”
“Fear is…a part of life, Elizabeth.” Alexander’s voice cracked, and he slid his other arm around her. “I close my eyes and I hear you screaming. I see him hurting you. I’d be happy if you never came back here again. But whenever you want or need to be here, I’ll be withyou.”
As Alexander pulled her close, she laid her head against his shoulder. Home, safety, love. She’d never associated scents with those thoughts before. Alexander’s soap, his aftershave, and the very essence of him would now forever be branded with thosewords.
Once her heart rate returned to normal, Elizabeth extricated herself from his embrace, then returned to her closet. Packing a duffel bag with jeans, her favorite sweater, a couple of flannel shirts, and underwear, she tried not to let her mindwander.
“Snow attire?” Alexanderasked.
She dug in the back of her closet for her snow pants and boots. “We’re not sledding, are we? I hatesledding.”
“No,” he chuckled. “But there’s a storm headed for the coast that should hit tomorrow afternoon. We might end up walking to dinner tomorrow, or skiing if the roads are too slick. It’s a small town. We could be stranded for a fewdays.”
A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. “You’d like that, wouldn’tyou?”
“It wouldn’t upsetme.”
An hour later, Alexander pulled out onto the highway. Behind his Mercedes, Milos and Carl followed in a black SUV. BBC streamed from theradio.
“We’ve about ninety minutes,” he said, “if you want to take anap.”
“Where are we going? All you ever told me was ‘Maine.’” Elizabeth stifled a yawn, then reclined the seat slightly to take some pressure off of hershoulder.
“York Beach. I go there when I need to escape the city. During the winter, half the town shuts down. There are a few people who know me there, but they’re discreet. We won’t bebothered.”
The way he spoke of the town made her think this wasn’t an ordinary destination. “Have you ever brought anyonethere?”
They turned onto Interstate 95. Snow danced outside the windows, tiny flakes that had no direction or destination. Alexander flicked on the wipers. “No. You’re the only one. I’m not even certain Nicholas knows aboutit.”
“Oh.”
“You’re very special, Elizabeth. You have to know this by now. I want to share everything with you. Including parts of me I never share with anyoneelse.”
They drove for almost two hours. The snow piled up along the interstate. By the time they entered Maine, Alexander’s knuckles had paled as he clutched the steering wheel in a vise grip and he hunched forward in the driver’s seat. Through the white curtain outside her window, Elizabeth caught glimpses of the sea. Five years in Boston and she’d never made it to Maine, despite Kelsey and Toni pestering her to join them everysummer.
Alexander pulled off the main road and turned up a small hill. But even the snow tires couldn’t keep up with the ice and snow gathering on the winding road. They skidded, righted, and skidded some more. When they pulled into the driveway of a small, single-story home, Alexander stopped the car and blew out a breath. “Bloody hell. That was the worst sodding drive I’ve had inyears.”
The black SUV pulled in to the driveway next door. Milos stood by their car while Carl checked theperimeter.
“No footprints around the house, sir, and the alarm hasn’t been activated. Do you want us to check inside?” Carl asked when hereturned.
“No. We’ll be fine. The caretaker stocked the fridges here and at the cottage next door this morning. I have the panic button.” He held up a small pager. “Go relax. If we need you, you’llknow.”
