This Is Love, Baby (War & Peace #2)(40)

She presses her lips together when I lean forward, but I kiss her anyway.

“Baylee, I didn’t respond to those emails because I assumed it was someone pretending to be you. I was confused.” It’s mostly the truth. She didn’t seem like herself at all. Not my sweet Baylee. My girl would never willingly run off with someone else when she had me.

The terror melts away as her expression changes to one of determination. It doesn’t fit, considering our proximity and the anger emanating from me. She should still be quivering and frightened, but she’s not.

“I’m sorry, Brandon.” Her words weave themselves through my heart and slip under the black smudges. I hold them there closely. Guard and protect them. Nurture and love them. “You’re right. It probably must have been very confusing for you. I’m so sorry.”

Relief floods through me and I let out a rush of air. Crisis f*cking averted.

“I love you, Baylee Marie,” I murmur as I release her wrists and then slide my palms down her arms and to her hips.

She’s still stiff but she lets me kiss her this time, her mouth opening to give my tongue access. God, she tastes so f*cking good. I can’t wait to taste all of her. My mind flits back to the brief taste I snuck from her last night, and although I know I was a bastard for doing it, my cock hardens at the mere thought. I need more. To consume her as I make love to her. I need her like I need goddamned air.

“I’m hungry,” she murmurs when I finally break away. “I’ll make the call while you grab the food.”

I want to tell her I’m not hungry for anything but her. That I would rather spend the night licking and nibbling every part of her flesh. How I’d love to bury my tongue deep between her thighs and bring her pleasure. But then her stomach growls and I * out. I do need to feed her. The pleasure can wait. We have the rest of our lives.

“I’ll be back as fast as I can. Make the call and don’t leave this suite,” I instruct as I pull away.

She smiles and it quickens my heart. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”

Her words unnerve me but I’m not sure why. She’s grinning and her eyes are shining but it’s almost too much. Like the time she told me she loved the necklace I’d bought her for Valentine’s Day, and then later admitted she didn’t wear much silver because it irritates her skin. I’d been shocked and saddened that she could lie so easily to spare my feelings. At the time, I thought it was sweet. But now, now I wonder if she’s lying to me again. To keep me calm. Why would she lie to me?

I narrow my eyes at her and frown. “Don’t leave while I’m gone.”

She blinks and her smile falls. “I promise I’ll be here when you get back with our food.”

This time I do believe her.





THE MOMENT THE door slams closed behind him, I rush to the window. Several minutes later, I see his messy dark hair blowing in the wind as he emerges from the building below and trots across the street to a busy restaurant. When he turns to look up at the hotel, I duck away from the window and locate the phone.

He said to not leave.

And I won’t.

Not yet.

Not until I call the police. I’d been biding my time alongside Brandon since the cabin. I don’t know what’s happened to him, but I’m not sticking around to find out. He’s an angry, unstable, and volatile man whom I don’t even recognize.

Like the possessive way he behaved at the store earlier. I’d been horrified by the way he confronted that poor man for simply being nice to me. I know he’s keeping things from me. And I know he’s lying—I can feel it—and it scares the hell out of me. The way he took War’s money—it might not have been a blatant lie, but it was deceitful. Gabe may have been the psychopath in my story who dragged me into his deranged world, but Brandon’s erratic and controlling behavior fills me with the same sense of dread. And I refuse to lead a life of misery in anyone else’s steely clutches for as long as I live. I decide not to think about it too deeply, because if I do, I’ll fall apart. So, for now, I push it to the back of my mind. I need to find Land. He’ll keep me safe and help me get on my feet. We will search for my dad. Then, together, we can raise my child—his grandchild—in a non-toxic environment.

It’s time for me to stand on my own two feet.

I can do this.

It doesn’t take long for me to locate the number for the Oakland PD. Quickly, I dial and try to keep my fluttering heart calm.

“Detective Stark, please,” I mutter to the receptionist who answers. She tells me to hold and I’m soon listening to elevator music.

“Stark speaking.”

Her voice radiates authority and my nerves seem to hum with anxiety.

“Umm, hi, this is Baylee Winston.”

I hear her rushed breath come through the phone. “Miss Winston! Are you okay? Are you safe?”

I look toward the front door of the suite, expecting to see Brandon’s angry form materializing there.

“Um, for the moment. But I, uh, need to talk to you.”

She shuffles some papers and her voice is serious. “You have my undivided attention. Where are you, Miss Winston?”

I sigh and will the tears away. “San Francisco.”

“San Francisco? Are you still with Gabriel Sharpe?”