Read Freefall to Desire Online

Authors: Kayla Perrin

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary

Freefall to Desire (22 page)

Brianne screamed. Maybe both she and Tracy did.

Carter got off a few good punches as Alex tried to gain his bearings. But then Alex threw up his elbow, landing it in Carter’s neck.

That knocked Carter off his game, and Alex jumped to
his feet, positioning his hands in a boxer’s stance, prepared to beat Carter to a pulp if he had to.

That’s when the shot went off.

Followed by Brianne’s scream.

Alex threw a panicked glance at Brianne, but a quick, frantic once-over told him that she was okay. Then he looked at Tracy, who had tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were fixated on Carter.

Alex then looked directly in front of him. He saw the spot of blood on Carter’s side. Carter, looking dazed, brought his hand to his left side and touched the wound. Pulling his hand back, he saw the dark red that covered his fingers, and his expression grew even more confused.

Everyone was absolutely still. No sound permeated the house.

And then Carter fell.

Another scream, followed by a gut-wrenching sob. The gun fell from Tracy’s fingers as she dropped to the floor in a weeping heap.

Alex rushed toward her, snatching up the gun from the floor to make sure she wouldn’t be able to fire again if she had a change of heart. Either to hurt them or herself.

And then he hurried to Carter, who lay on the floor, blood seeping from his side.

And as much as he hated Carter for what he’d done, he realized that he didn’t want it to end this way. He didn’t want Carter to die on the floor like this.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit of empathy for the man who had once been his best friend.

But he also wanted him to face justice.

“Brianne, call 911!” Alex shouted. He stared down at the man who had betrayed him. He still wore a dazed expression, like he was in shock.

Quickly, Alex lifted Carter’s shirt. He examined the
wound, then pressed his own hands on Carter’s side to help stop the bleeding.

“Hang in there, Carter,” Alex said to him. “Because no way am I letting you get off this easy.”

Chapter 21

C
arter didn’t die.

But right about now, Brianne was betting that he was wishing that he had.

The list of charges were extensive and included kidnapping on top of the fraud charges. She wasn’t sure what would happen to Tracy, who had been inconsolable in the aftermath of the shooting. A detective had told her that if Tracy cooperated, she likely wouldn’t face any charges. After all, she had shot Carter when he’d attacked Alex.

But whatever happened to Tracy and to Carter was not Brianne’s problem. Her concern was Alex.

They’d both been brought to the police station to be questioned, and Brianne now sat in the waiting room. She wanted desperately to have a moment to talk to him. Ever since the shooting, there had been a flurry of activity, and she wanted him to know that she meant what she’d said.

After another fifteen minutes passed with no Alex, Bri
anne stood and began to pace in the waiting room. Why was Alex still being questioned? Surely there wasn’t a problem. Surely the police didn’t believe Alex was guilty of any crime.

No sooner had the worrisome thought come to her than her cell phone rang. She considered letting it ring but then dismissed the idea. It could be her sister or her parents, eager to know what was going on with her.

She rummaged in her purse and found her phone. Her forehead burrowed when she saw Salina’s name flashing on the screen.

“Salina?” Brianne said, putting the phone to her ear. “Is that really you?”

“Hey, Bree,” Salina said. “Got your message. What’s going on?”

“I’m at a police station in Orlando.”

“What?”

“Yep.” Brianne spent the next few minutes giving Salina the condensed version of what had happened since Alex had shown up at her door. But she didn’t tell her about how she and Alex had connected. That would be a story for when the two friends were together, sharing a bottle of wine.

“Unbelievable,” Salina said. “Will you have to testify in court and everything?”

“I guess it depends on what happens now. If Carter pleads guilty or claims innocence.” Brianne blew out a huff of air, the idea of having to go to court making her nervous. “But forget about me. What’s going on with you? You’ve been so hard to track down.”

“I’ve just been crazy busy,” Salina said. “Feeding New Yorkers is no easy task,” she added with a chuckle.

“Maybe I can head to the big city and visit you sometime soon.”

“Um…sure,” Salina said. “After Christmas. I’ll let you know when I’ve got some time.”

“Great,” Brianne said. But she had the feeling her friend was giving her the brush-off. And not for the first time, she got the feeling that something major was going on with her.

But she didn’t get the chance to ask Salina about her life, because when she looked up, she saw Alex.

“Salina, I’ve got to go. Let’s talk soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

Brianne pressed the End button on her cell phone. Then she once again looked in Alex’s direction.

Her heart began to pound. She was nervous, she realized. The serious look on his face had her suddenly unsure that he wanted anything to do with her. Maybe he had concluded that he needed a break from the stress of the situation.

From her.

Tentatively, she stood. And then Alex smiled.

Relief rushing through her, Brianne rushed toward him and threw herself into his arms.

He wrapped her in an embrace, and Brianne began to cry. The emotion of the day finally got to her.

“Hey,” Alex said, easing back when he realized she was crying against his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” she quickly said. “I shouldn’t have taken off. I should have stayed at the house with you. I keep thinking, what if you’d been killed by the time I got back there?”

“But I wasn’t killed. I’m here. You’re here.” He framed her face, a smile forming on his lips. “It’s over, Brianne. It’s finally over.”

“Not if Carter pleads innocent. Then we’ll have to go to court—”

“No,” Alex stressed. “It’s over. Carter confessed. To everything.”

“He did?”

“Yes. That means there’ll be no need for either of us to testify in court. We can finally move on.”

God, he had the sweetest smile in the world. And the sexiest.

“Oh, thank God.” Brianne hugged him again.

“I’m sorry,” Alex whispered into her ear.

She broke the hug and looked at him. “
You’re
sorry?”

“For not being totally honest with you before we came down here. I shouldn’t have involved you at all.”

“No, don’t apologize. I’m glad I came. Because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have realized that I love you.”

Alex’s eyes lit up.
“Realized?”

Brianne was silent for a moment, considering the words that had just come from her lips. They surprised her, but she knew without a doubt that they were true.

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “I mean that the way it sounded. I think that I always loved you. I…I just didn’t know it.”

Alex circled his arms around her waist. “Music to my ears, baby. Because I’ve loved you ever since the moment I met you.”

His voice was deep and husky, and despite being in a police station, Brianne’s body was growing warm with excitement.

“And I want to be your husband,” he added.

Brianne’s eyes widened as she stared at Alex. “Are you—”

“Serious? I’ve never been more serious in my life. I believe we were always meant to be together. Carter just got in the way.”

“All that matters is that we found our way to each
other, even if it was a long and winding path to get to this point.”

“We don’t have to dwell on the past anymore. We have our future to look forward to.”

“Our future.”
Brianne smiled. “I love the sound of that.”

Right there in the police station waiting room, Alex lowered his head and kissed her. A slow, hot, deep kiss that proved the gravity of his feelings for her.

Her body on fire, Brianne broke the kiss and looked up at the man she loved. “Are you ready to leave?”

“Oh, I’m ready,” he told her huskily.

Brianne’s body tingled. “Then let’s not waste another moment. I want to get back to Daytona as quickly as possible.”

“So you can have your wicked way with me?”

“Something like that.”

Grinning devilishly, Alex lowered his head and kissed Brianne hotly once more. “Oh, man. The hour drive to Daytona is going to be torture.”

“Sweet torture,” Brianne said. “Think of how the anticipation will build with every single mile…”

“I love you,” Alex said.

“I love you, too.”

Then, taking her hand, Alex led her out of the police waiting room, both of them giddy with excitement.

And ready to express the physical manifestation of a love they knew would last forever.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-7950-0

FREEFALL TO DESIRE

Copyright © 2011 by Kayla Perrin

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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