Colters' Woman (Colters' Legacy #1)(69)

Adam closed his eyes, drawing a tight rein on his anger. He wanted to f**king howl. Instead, he turned and walked out. He couldn’t trust himself to speak when all he wanted to do was shout.

Holly watched as he left and felt her world splinter and break into tiny pieces. He was angrier than she’d ever seen him. At her.

Looks of betrayal loomed in Ethan and Ryan’s eyes. Did they all hate her?

“Go after him,” she said softly. “He needs you.”

“He needs you,” Ethan pointed out.

“Don’t let him do anything stupid,” she continued.

“I need some air,” Ryan said in a defeated voice she cringed at.

Ethan shook his head and followed Ryan out the door.

Holly clapped her hand to her face as the sobs she’d tried so hard to contain came bubbling out. She tried to suck in steadying breaths, but loud, raspy, harsh sounds kept spilling from her throat.

The nurse came in the door, a concerned expression marring her face. David Masterson followed closely behind.

“Do you need something for pain?” the nurse asked.

For pain? If only a simple drug would take away the agony that clawed at her heart.

Holly shook her head. She wanted her wits about her. She was going to need all she could get in the coming days.

“Mrs. Bardwell…Holly, I’ve spoken with your doctor, made extensive arrangements to have you transferred to a private facility in another state. If you’re agreeable, we’ll have you transported within the hour.”

Holly’s mouth gaped open. “So soon?”

“It’s imperative we move you to a safe place as soon as possible. Your husband has already proven he is capable of anything. He hasn’t had any trouble finding you. It’s only a matter of time before he finds you here.”

The brothers. Mason would also find Adam, Ethan and Ryan. Where she was, so were they. If he could find her so easily, what did that do for the Colters?

“I’m ready,” she said in a steady voice.

* * *

Adam knew something was wrong the minute he stepped off the elevator. The nurse who’d cared for Holly this shift wouldn’t meet his gaze. In fact, she scurried off in the opposite direction as fast her legs would take her.

He growled low under his breath. It had taken him the better part of two hours to cool off enough to think rationally. Ethan and Ryan hadn’t helped. They’d been as pissed as he was.

The three of them strode down the hall toward Holly’s room. Adam noticed the absence of the guard who had been posted earlier. When he opened the door, he was greeted to a freshly made bed. An empty bed. He rushed through the door, slamming it against the wall.

The room was empty. Completely empty. No trace that Holly had ever been there could be found.

He stormed back into the hallway, his brothers close on his heels. He stalked to the nurses’ station and slammed his hands down on the counter.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

An older lady, the head nurse, maybe, walked over to him and put out a placating hand.

“She’s been transferred to another facility. One that has better security than we do here.”

“Where?” Adam bit out.

“She can’t tell you that.”

Adam whirled around to see David Masterson standing a few feet away. He itched to plant his fist square onto the D.A.’s nose.

“She left this for you,” David said, extending a folded note. “Don’t worry, Mr. Colter. We’ll take excellent care of her.”

Adam watched, stunned, as David turned and walked down the hall toward the elevator. He stared down at the paper in his hand, his stomach rolling and tumbling.

With shaking hands, he pulled it open. Three words. So simple.

I love you.

He crumbled the note and sent it flying into the wall. His brothers wore expressions of disbelief. Ryan punched the wall, shoving a hole into the plaster.

“What do we do now?” Ethan asked in a quiet voice.

“We go back to the cabin. And wait for her to come home,” Adam said.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Holly stood at the end of the winding driveway, staring up at the cabin. Summer had come to the mountains. Everywhere she looked, the earth burst with green. She’d only seen the landscape when it was covered with a sheet of white and had thought at the time it couldn’t be more beautiful. She’d been wrong. It couldn’t possibly look any better than now when she was coming home.

She’d parked down the road, exactly as she had done once before. Somehow she’d wanted to replicate the journey she’d made so many months before.

She smiled as the breeze lifted her long hair and blew it gently around her shoulders. She slid a hand over the bulge of her abdomen, rubbing absently at the gentle swell.

With a deep breath, she started the long walk up the hill to the front door. Butterflies danced in her stomach. In response, the baby kicked and turned over. She stopped and put a hand to her stomach again until the sensation passed.

She smiled and continued on. When she reached the front porch, she hesitated. The door was merely inches away, and yet, she didn’t knock. Should she just go in? No. She’d been gone too long.

Would they welcome her back? Would they still love her? Uncertainty nibbled away at her confidence. Adam had been so angry the last time she’d seen him. She closed her eyes to banish the look of betrayal she’d seen in his expression.