Saved at Sunrise (Shadow Falls #4.5)(17)

"Kidnap her?" he asked.

"If I have to, yeah. She belongs at Shadow Falls with Miranda and me."

Steve chuckled. "You're not serious," he said.

"The hell I'm not," Della snapped. "Kylie's coming home and that's all there is to it."

* * *

Home. Della felt it as she landed outside the fence at Shadow Falls about thirty minutes later. Funny, how the place had started to feel that way. Of course, maybe that was to be expected when she no longer belonged with her parents.

Steve landed and transformed. "We should go to the front."

"No." She pulled out her phone. "I'm calling Burnett and telling him I'm here, then I'm jumping the fence. I just want to go to my cabin and relax ... I don't want to be interrogated right now."

She wanted to have time to regroup in her head.

Burnett answered on the second ring. "Where are you?"

"We're here. Right outside the fence on the east side of the property."

"Good. We're having dinner now. Why don't you come over? There's a surprise."

"I'm tired. Not in the mood for surprises. I just want to take a shower and relax. Can we talk tomorrow?"

"Are you okay?" His tone grew dark, concerned.

"I'm fine," she growled.

When she hung up, Steve started walking over to her. She watched the way he moved, like a lion, lithe and with purpose. He stopped right in front of her and brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "You know, I kind of don't want to go back. I liked it just being you and me."

She'd liked it, too. Too much.

She caught his hand and lowered it from her face.

Swallowing a lump of regret, she forced herself to say it. Part of her had hoped she wouldn't have to spell it out for him. But that was the coward's way out. And Della Tsang wasn't a coward. Plus, Steve deserved to know up front that it wasn't him. It was her.

"Look, I ... I enjoyed this. Everything. I really did, but ... it's over now."

He shook his head. "Why? It doesn't have to be."

"Yeah it does." Her heart suddenly grew heavy. Too heavy for her chest. "I don't ... I'm not ... I'm not ready for this." She waved a hand between them.

That look of apology filled his eyes again. "I told you I didn't mean for that to happen. I'm not going to pressure you to take it there. It'll happen when it's supposed to happen. I'll be patient."

She shook her head. "I don't mean just that."

Concern tightened his brows. "Then what do you mean?"

"I mean us ... period. Us being an item, us being an 'us.' I'm not up for that."

He shook his head. "Why? I thought we got along great."

"Why isn't important. It's just the way it is. I'm not going there. I'm completely happy the way things are, happy with me ... not being a couple." It was such a huge mistruth she could hear her swollen heart doing all sorts of erratic thumps, each one hitting against her sternum and calling her a lying bitch.

"No," he said, "I can't accept that."

"You're going to have to accept it. Because that's just the way it is, Steve. We went on a mission and we did great. We did what we were sent to do and thanks to both of us the world might be a little safer. But what happened between us needs to end. I'm not right for you."

He studied her. "Who are you right for?" he asked, sounding jealous.

"I'm not right for anyone," she said and her heart didn't race or mark that as a lie. She had loved already. Loved and lost. "It's over, Steve. Just accept it."

She started running and right before she leapt over the fence she heard him.

"We'll see about that." His words rang in her ears. A promise or a threat, she didn't know. But the idea of it being a promise chased away the biggest part of the pain she carried in her heart.

As she walked inside her cabin, she breathed in the scents of home-the smell of Miranda's fruity shampoo, and her scented candles. Della could even pick up the scent of Kylie's favorite lotion.

Standing in the living room, Della let herself feel the tiniest bit of pride that she'd completed the mission. The feeling reconfirmed that she wanted to pursue a career in catching bad guys.

Walking into her bedroom, she opened her bottom drawer and pulled out the pictures. Images of her and her family, and others of her and Lee. All captured moments with emotion. Memories that now hurt to think about.

She started to rip them all up, but then on second thought, she dropped the pictures of her family back into the drawer. Some things she couldn't give up on. But others ...

She tore the snapshots of her and Lee into little pieces and let the tiny specks of paper rain down into the garbage. Then she went to her bed and flopped down on her back and stared at the ceiling.

We'll see about that. Steve's words echoed in her head like the lyrics of a song-a good song, one that crawled into your head and replayed itself over and over.

She closed her eyes. Life might have thrown her some punches this last year, but Della Tsang didn't go down easy. She was just going to punch back.