A dizzy wave passed over her. “Oh God …” She sank on the chair and buried her face in her hands, shutting her eyes tight.
“Sabrina, I’m sorry …” he choked. “I’m just ….”
Focus on breathing. Her left hand immediately went to her ring, twisting it around as she focused on the smoothness of the silver under her fingertips. Slowly, the nausea and dizziness faded away. Her body still felt hot, but at least she didn’t feel like fainting anymore.
A few more seconds passed before she lifted her head. Of course he was gone. “Coward,” she muttered. But why did he leave? And why was he so reluctant to tell her about that kiss?
She massaged her temples with her fingers. The headache had faded, but it was still there. The memory had been so clear in her head, like she had just lived through it again, that it couldn’t have been her imagination. Did he not want to kiss her? It couldn’t have been—he was the one who kissed her first. Maybe they broke up before the accident and he didn’t want to tell her?
Confusion, sadness, and anger swirled in her brain like a whirlpool, threatening to overwhelm her. She crossed over to the bed and lay down, hoping her mind and body would calm down
Chapter Five
Her memories were coming back.
Cross didn’t even know that was possible. They weren’t supposed to come back. But somehow, it was happening. He saw that look on her face—the sadness, surprise, shock, and confusion. That musical score always brought him back to that first kiss, but he never imagined that after all that happened, it would do the same for her. Was there a way to stop it? And more important: did he want to stop it?
Hope soared in his chest, but he quickly squashed it. Of course he didn’t want her to remember. They didn’t work this hard only for things to come crashing down again. His inner wolf, on the other hand, whined in displeasure.
“Jesus Christ, you gotta warn me if you’re going to just show up like that.”
He looked up from where he sat on the leather couch in the main cabin. Ransom was on the landing, staring down at him, his face drawn into a scowl.
“Sorry. Just needed to clear my head.” He didn’t really think about where to go, so he teleported himself back to Ransom’s. His first priority was getting out of that cabin when she started asking questions he couldn’t answer.
Ransom trudged down the stairs. “I thought that’s why you came here in the first place, to clear your head.”
“Yeah, well …”
“She’s got your mind all twisted up.” It was a statement, not a question. “Women. They’re all the same.”
He raised a brow. “You sound like you’re talking from experience. Didn’t see you as the commitment type.” Actually, he didn’t really know anything about Ransom’s love or sex life, but from what he’d seen, the prickly Lone Wolf tended to keep everyone at arm’s length, even his own sister.
Ransom grunted. “Women are good enough for a short while, but you can’t let them mess with your brain.”
“I’m sorry if Sabrina’s made things difficult between you and Silke.”
He plopped down on the couch next to him. “Silke always has to have her nose in someone’s business. She ain’t happy until she knows everything. Besides, this is her place. She’d have torn me a new one if I kept your girl from her. She’s always helpin’ out bleeding heart cases. Broken people have always been her thing.”
“Sabrina’s not—” He shook his head. Ransom probably didn’t care, one way or another. “I’m glad Silke’s okay with this. I’ll owe her too.”
There was a hard set to his jaw. “Just keep your girl safe, you know that’s all Silke would want in return.”
Cross stood up. “Well, thank you to you both all the same. If you don’t mind just keeping an eye out, I need to head out for a while.”
“Where’re you going?”
“To see an old acquaintance.” With a nod to Ransom, he closed his eyes and thought of where he needed to go. Back to New York.
Unsure where best to show up, he staked out the entrance of 414 Johnson Street in the financial district of Manhattan. He waited across the street for the rest of the day until he saw his target exit through the glass doors of the shiny new modern building that housed the headquarters of Strohen Industries. The target walked toward the limo where the driver was already holding the door open. As soon as he entered and the limo was on the move, Cross followed it, grateful for his Lycan speed and the slow crawl of rush hour traffic.
A few blocks later, when the vehicle stopped at a traffic light, he made his move. He rushed toward the limo, peered through the window and checked the interior, then transported himself into the empty space next to the lone passenger.
“What in the—” Jonathan S. Strohen’s eyes widened, and he clutched his chest in surprise. “You.”
“Yes, Jonathan,” he said. “It’s me.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Jonathan glanced around, as if checking to see if anyone was watching. “I thought we agreed—”
“I know what we agreed to,” Cross said, cutting him off. “But Sabrina’s in danger. They came for her last night.”
“Goddammit!” He fished for his phone. “I need to check on—”
“Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of it. Taken care of them.”
Jonathan lowered his hands. “You have? How?”
“I scared them away and then took Sabrina with me.”
Color rushed to his face. “What the hell do you mean took Sabrina with you?” he blustered. “Where have you taken her, you bastard?”
“She’s safe.”
“Where?”
Cross leaned back. “If you don’t know, then it’s safer for her. You know that.”
The older man grumbled. “You’re right. But why come see me after all this time?”
“I needed to know if you knew anything about why they
