51. Mira

51

MIRA

When the door at the end of the hall squeaks open, I pause the TV.

Ten seconds later, there are shuffling steps behind me. I spin around to look over the back of the couch, but there's no one there.

Still, I know exactly who it is.

"You shouldn't be here," I warn.

Finally, a little head pokes around the corner. When Aiden knows he's caught, he slumps out from his hiding spot. His pajamas are covered in wooly mammoths and dodo birds and dinosaurs. The shirt says, "Going to bed extincts."

Aiden hugs his stuffed Spiderman toy to his chest and juts his lower lip out. "But I want to see my daddy."

My heart tugs even as I get up to lead him back down the hall to bed.

"I know, bud. And I promise you will… in the morning. Daddy is going to get home too late tonight."

Honestly, it won't be much longer now. Aiden has been getting out of bed every thirty minutes or so since I laid him down three hours ago.

"Where is he again?"

It's been the same question every night for the last four nights. It's the longest either of us have been without Zane, so I can't even blame him.

"He was in New York. Remember the show we watched last night where Daddy was on the TV?" I ask. Aiden nods. "That was in New York."

As the new team captain, Zane is the face of the team on the ice and off. The last few days, that meant showing up for photoshoots and fulfilling brand endorsements in the offseason. He tried to get out of it, but I convinced him he should go. He worked hard to be captain and I don't want anything keeping him from living out that dream fully.

(Plus, he sent me some of the photo proofs, and him shirtless with a milk mustache is my new screensaver.)

The plan was for Zane to get on a red eye flight as soon as his sponsorship duties were over, but a freak storm shut down the airport, and I firmly forbade him from even attempting to bribe a pilot to bring him home.

"You'll end up in TSA jail!" I said.

"Maybe. Or, alternatively, I'll make it home and be buried inside of you before sunrise."

As tempting as that was, I held my ground, and Zane finally agreed to get a hotel. He texted me a few hours ago that his new flight was boarding, and Daniel is going to meet him at the airport to drive him home.

"Can I please stay up?" Aiden yawns as I pull the blankets up under his chin.

He's going to drop any second, which is why I make a deal with him. "How about this? You can stay awake if you want, but you have to stay in your bed. If you hear your dad come home, then you can come out and say hi. But only if you hear him. Okay?"

He gives me a sleepy smile. "Okay."

"Okay." I kiss his forehead. "I love you."

His lips move around the words, but almost no sound comes out. I slip out of his room quietly just as I hear my phone vibrate in the living room. I jog to answer it, hoping it's Zane. But it's just the security system.

Front Gate Alarm Activated.

I groan just as my phone buzzes again. This time, it's Evan. I got a notification about the gate. Are you okay?

I'm in the middle of telling him I'm fine when he calls.

"Mira?" He sounds groggy. "You okay?"

"Evan, please tell me that stupid alarm didn't wake you up."

"Are you okay?" he repeats.

I can picture him poised on the edge of his bed. The man probably sleeps in cargo pants and combat boots, just in case .

"I'm fine. You know this security system goes off every time the wind blows. Zane is going to get rid of it next month and go with a new company."

"Have you checked the cameras?" Nothing I'm saying is comforting him at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already in his car.

I put my phone on speaker and open the security app. I try to select the front drive cameras, but they aren't pulling up. Neither are the backyard cameras. Or the interior cameras.

The entire stupid system is down. Again .

Since we've gotten married, Zane has spent more quality time with Lance from the security company than with me, I swear. And yet, it's still a piece of garbage. A very expensive piece of garbage.

"The cameras all look good," I lie, wedging my phone between my shoulder and my ear. "And Zane will be home soon. I'll have him double-check everything when he gets here."

Actually, I won't. I plan to make sure Zane makes good on the promise he made me yesterday, and he can't do that if he's outside trying to fix the front gate alarm in the dark.

Evan makes me promise to text him the second Zane gets home, and I give him a solemn "cross my heart and hope to die." Then I drop back down on the couch. I'm about to hit play on the TV when I hear what sounds like shuffling from the front porch.

Like suitcase wheels rolling across the cement.

Zane's home.

I jump up and run to the front door. I don't even look through the peephole before I yank it open to greet my husband.

Except there's no one there. The porch is empty.

So is the front walk and the driveway.

I squint into the darkness, trying to understand what I heard, when it hits me—what's wrong with this picture.

The gate at the mouth of the driveway is wide open.

Fear slams into me. Adrenaline thrums through my veins as I slam the front door closed, bolt it, and whirl around to grab my phone from the couch. I hope Evan is even more paranoid than I think he is and he's already on his way.

I'm halfway across the living room, still five feet from my phone, when a shadow falls over me. I don't even have time to turn around to see who it is before a hand wraps around my throat and a voice I'll never forget purrs in my ear.

"Hello, little sister."