Chapter 5

CHAPTERFIVE

Raid knew the moment Khloe stepped into the room. He had an innate sense about where she was every time he was near her. In the library, he was aware of when she’d left her office to help clients find a book. Knew when she went to lunch and when she was back. He knew when she left for the day…all without actually seeing her. He had no idea why he was so attuned to the woman, but he wasn’t exactly upset about it.

It took everything he had to pretend he didn’t know she was there. His spine tingled as he felt her gaze as he finished preparing their meal. Raid had no idea what she was thinking. If she liked what she saw when she looked at him, or if she was wondering why he was being so nice.

It wasn’t as if he’d tried to be abrasive when he was around her. There was just something about her that made him feel off-kilter. He figured since he’d realized long ago that she was keeping secrets, he wondered if maybe subconsciously, he’d pushed her hard in the hopes she’d lose it and lash out at him, maybe letting something slip.

But he’d never expected to learn one of those secrets the way he had. Raid was still astonished by the fact that Khloe was a veterinarian. And he’d never been so relieved and thankful as he was right now. Duke was alive because of her.

Taking care of her was the only way he knew how to thank her. To apologize for being an ass. For all the times he’d sniped at her. But it was more than that, and Raid knew it. He wanted to get to know her better. She was still keeping secrets, ones that were more significant than just hiding her profession, if her slip from earlier was any indication. It would take time to get under her shields, but Raid very definitely wanted to get there.

But first, he needed to feed her. Make sure she got some sleep. Then he’d see what he could do about chipping away at her tough outer shell. He knew that getting her to open up would mean he’d need to do the same. And for the first time in years, the thought didn’t give him horrible anxiety.

When she cleared her throat, Raid turned and gave her a small smile. “Good timing,” he told her. “The chicken’s just about done.”

“Can I help with anything?”

“You want to grab some plates out of that cabinet?” Raid asked, motioning to a door to his right.

Without a word, she headed to where he’d indicated and grabbed two plates. Within five minutes they were sitting at his small table with plates of steaming chicken marinara with polenta in front of them.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Khloe said, “This is amazing.”

“Thanks.”

“Seriously, it’s really great. Thank you.”

“You should’ve seen my first few meals I tried in the Instant Pot. They were disasters.”

“Well, you’d never know it tasting this,” she said.

Her praise felt good. In fact, sitting at his table with her felt good too. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever sat here while eating,” he blurted.

Khloe stared at him. “What? Why?”

Raid already regretted the impulsive comment. “It’s not a big deal. Forget I said anything.”

“Seriously, Raid. Why?”

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. “I don’t usually have people over. It’s just easier to eat standing up in the kitchen or sitting on the couch as I watch TV.” Or downstairs in the basement, where he spent most of his free time, but he wasn’t going to go there. What he did in his spare time definitely wouldn’t impress a woman like Khloe.

“What do you mean, you don’t have people over?” she asked. “You have a bathroom filled with toiletries for guests. And two bedrooms besides the master.”

“I guess that’s just something I learned from my mom. She always took home the little bottles from hotel rooms and put them in baskets in the bathrooms in our house, just in case someone visiting needed something.”

“I’m sure she loves seeing you carry on her tradition,” Khloe said with a smile.

Raid shrugged. “She’s never been here.”

“Oh. Has she passed?”

“No. She and my father live in Iowa. They’re retired and they don’t like to travel. I haven’t seen them in at least eight years or so.”

Khloe’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Feeling defensive, Raid’s words came out a little harsher than he wanted. “It’s not a big deal. I still call every now and then, but they have their life and I have mine. They weren’t happy when I quit the Coast Guard, especially my dad. I was such an introvert growing up that he thought being in the service meant I’d finally become a ‘manly man’. They were both disappointed in me.”

To his surprise, Khloe reached over and put her hand on his forearm.

Raid was so surprised, he froze with his fork in mid-air. The feel of her hand on his skin sent tingles down his spine.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t judging. And they’re missing out, Raiden. You’re a good man. And not being in the military doesn’t make you any more or less manly. You’re one of the most masculine men I’ve ever met in my life.”

Raid had no idea what that meant, but her words still made warmth spread through him. “Thanks,” he said softly.

Khloe pulled her hand back, and it was all Raid could do not to grab it and put it back on his arm. He had so little skin-on-skin contact in his life that he hadn’t realized how much he missed it.

“My mom died when I was in elementary school. It was hard, but my dad was around and he did everything he could to make up for her not being there,” Khloe said. She smiled slightly. “When I was a teen, he brought me to a woman who worked in a salon so she could help me with my makeup and teach me how to do my hair. He was the typical dad when it came to meeting my dates, and he was always supportive of anything I wanted to do.”

“He sounds great.”

“He was.”

Was. Shit.

“He died about five years ago. Had a heart attack. We didn’t even know he had any heart issues. As far as I knew, he was as healthy as a horse. It sucked.”

“I bet,” Raid said gently.

“Anyway,” Khloe said in a perkier tone. “I’m still surprised you haven’t eaten at this table much. What about Ethan and the rest of the guys? Haven’t they been over here?”

Raid shrugged. “We usually hang out at one of their places.”

“So that’s a no. Raid, that’s crazy. This house is awesome! You’ve got that fenced-in yard, and I bet you have a kick-ass deck out there too, don’t you?”

She wasn’t wrong. Raid shrugged.

Khloe smirked. “Of course you do. Why haven’t they been over here?”

He wished she’d drop it. He felt self-conscious now. “They just haven’t. It’s not that I don’t want them here, I’m just not the kind of person to set up a party or arrange get-togethers.”

Khloe stared at him for a long minute. Then nodded. “Yeah, I guess I can see that.”

Raid wanted to ask what that meant, but he was too chicken.

“I didn’t have too many get-togethers in Norfolk either. After work, I was just too tired, and it was easier to come home and make a bowl of cereal or something for dinner and crash than try to further any friendships with the acquaintances I knew.”

“Norfolk,” Raid said thoughtfully. In all the time he’d known the woman sitting next to him, he’d never known where she came from before she’d landed in Fallport. He’d asked once, and she’d been very evasive in her response, asking if she had to tell him in order to keep her job.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, not meeting his eyes. “I know there’ve been a lot of things I haven’t told you about my past, and⁠—”

“It’s okay,” Raid interrupted, not wanting her to feel obligated to talk to him.

They ate in silence for another minute or so before she said, “I just wanted to say, I get it. I’m an introvert myself. I like spending time alone. Reading. Watching TV. Simply sitting in a quiet room and soaking in the silence. Your friends here like you for who you are, Raiden, not because you invite them over for parties or anything.”

“It’s a good thing,” Raid mumbled.

Khloe giggled, and Raid looked at her in surprise. Had he ever heard her sound so carefree before? He didn’t think so.

“Crap. Now I’m getting punchy,” she said with a small smile. “When I start giggling over nothing, it’s definitely a sign I need sleep.”

Raid filed that fact away. He was hungry to know every little nuance about Khloe. Looking at her plate, he was pleased she’d eaten just about everything he’d given her. To him, she was a tiny thing, and he wouldn’t mind if she put a little more meat on her bones, but he figured she’d probably disagree and claim that she was overweight. She wasn’t. She was curvy in all the right places.

“You want more?” he asked.

She laughed again. “No, I’m stuffed.”

“Right, so why don’t you head on back to the guest room and lie down. I’ll take care of cleaning up.”

“I should help,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because. You cooked, I should clean. It’s only fair.”

Raid shook his head. “No. I’ve got it.”

“Okay. Thanks. Do you mind if I lie down on the couch in here instead?”

“Of course not. Can I ask why?”

Khloe shrugged and wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I just think the couch looks extremely comfortable.”

Raid figured there was more to her reticence to go to the guest room than that, but he didn’t pry. “It is. I’ve fallen asleep there more times than I can count.”

She gave him a grateful smile, then stood. He watched as she padded over to the couch and sat. Then her head disappeared as she stretched out on the cushions. He couldn’t see her anymore, but he still grinned knowing she was there.

When he was finished putting the dishes from their meal into the dishwasher and cleaning out the Instant Pot, Raid couldn’t stop himself from walking into the other room. He could’ve gone to his bedroom to nap, but there was no way he was going to pass up the opportunity to sleep next to Khloe. Even if “next to” meant in the recliner near the couch.

His first glimpse of Khloe was a shock. Not that she was there, of course, but that she somehow looked like a completely different person when she was asleep. All her shields were down and she looked vulnerable as hell.

She was on her side and her hair was mussed around her head. With her eyes closed and her guard down, Raid’s protective side rose even higher. For so many months, he’d forced her to be wary and given her no reason to think he appreciated or even liked her. He was done with that. She’d saved Duke’s life, and that meant the world to him. The least he could do was stop being an ass around her.

Raid sat in his recliner and put his feet up, but his gaze didn’t move from Khloe asleep on his couch.

He knew what he was and what he wasn’t, and he wasn’t the kind of man women were drawn to. He’d made peace with that a long time ago. The names he was called in grade school still echoed in his head.

Elf.

Weirdo.

Little Orphan Arnold.

Freak.

He’d heard them all. And the truth of the matter was, his ears were pointy. He was weird. He had bright red hair and was a longtime nerd. The kids back then hadn’t really said anything that wasn’t true. He just hadn’t realized until he was in high school that being who he was meant girls weren’t interested. They wanted the jocks. The blond or dark-haired idiots who looked good but couldn’t pass History or Math without cheating.

So Raid had always been withdrawn. Found it was easier to relate to dogs than to people, which carried into adulthood. He’d had the occasional hook-up over the years, but no long-term, serious relationships.

For the first time in his life, Raid wondered what it would be like to come home to someone like Khloe. To have a woman smile at him like she did and ask about his day. He liked cooking for someone other than himself. Liked making sure Khloe was cared for and had her needs met. Though, it was likely he’d already screwed up any chance he might’ve had with her by picking fights and forcing her to stay on her toes around him all the time.

He’d do what he could to mend their relationship. Maybe they could be friends, at least.

Raid closed his eyes and sighed. It figured that the one woman in a very long time he was interested in happened to not only be his employee, but was also the woman he’d done his best to annoy and antagonize for months.

Just before sleep claimed him, Raid had the thought that he was still a very lucky man. If he hadn’t hired Khloe all those months ago, it was likely he would’ve lost his best friend. He had a roof over his head, lived in a town that had accepted him for who he was, even if they didn’t really know him that well. He had friends who would bend over backward to help him, and he’d made it out of some pretty dangerous situations while he’d been in the Coast Guard.

Life was never guaranteed. It was a crapshoot what kind of hand you were dealt when you were born. You couldn’t choose your parents, or the country you were born in, but you could choose how to deal with the shit life threw at you. And he’d done his best to take that shit and run with it. To turn his seemingly bad fortunes around to something good.

The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was a soft snore from Khloe. Knowing she was there, that he wasn’t alone, felt damn good.

* * *

Alan Mather sat with his two brothers in the visiting area at the state prison near Norfolk. He much preferred the county jail he’d been in while awaiting trial. It had fewer people, the food was better, and he had a bit more freedom. Not to mention the other men he was incarcerated with here were way meaner than in county lockup.

Being here sucked.

And it was all that bitch’s fault.

She’d killed his dog, then blamed him for the condition she’d been in.

Khloe Watts had to die.

It was a shame he’d fucked up when he’d run her over. He’d intended to crush her skull, but instead had only hurt her leg.

He might be in prison, but he wasn’t cut off from the world. He’d been searching for her ever since she’d gotten out of the nursing home where she’d been recovering after the “accident.” The bitch had run. Was hiding from him. She’d come back for his trial, and seeing her on the stand, hearing her talk shit about him, made Alan even more determined to make her pay for ruining his life.

His brothers were the key to making that happen.

Scott and Jason were younger than him and would do anything he asked. They’d been scouring the internet for any mention of the fucking veterinarian and where she might be hiding out since he’d been arrested.

And today they’d shown him a viral video they’d seen totally by chance on social media. Apparently, she’d pissed off someone else…no surprise there. A Doctor Ziegler was ranting in the video about Khloe breaking into his clinic and performing surgery on a dog without his permission.

Alan didn’t give a shit about the doctor or what the bitch had done to him. All he cared about was her location.

Scott had looked up the vet’s office online and found that she’d been hiding out in some hick town called Fallport. It was on the other side of the state in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

“What’s the plan?” Jason asked quietly so the other prisoners or the guards lurking nearby couldn’t hear him.

“How do you two feel about takin’ a trip?” Alan asked.

“Where?” Scott asked.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His youngest brother wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He was twenty-six, a high school dropout, and he relied on Jason to support him and keep a roof over his head.

Jason was thirty and not too much smarter than his brother. But at least he had a high school diploma. He’d knocked up his girlfriend when they were twenty and now they had four kids. He worked at various jobs, all of which paid him under the table so he didn’t have to pay taxes. His wife brought home the bulk of their income, and if it wasn’t for that, he would’ve dumped her a long time ago. But Jason was smart enough to know if he broke up with her, he’d have to work a lot harder than he did now.

Jason and Scott spent their days smoking dope and hanging around the house when they weren’t working. They had the flexibility to head to Fallport and do what Alan wasn’t able to…at least until he was paroled. Unfortunately, his fucking lawyer hadn’t been able to get the attempted murder charge thrown out, and he would be there for several years. And it was all that damn vet’s fault for screwing up her job in the first place.

“Where are you going? Dumb ass,” Alan sighed. “Fallport.”

“Oh!” Scott exclaimed with a laugh. “Right.”

“So, again, what’s the plan?” Jason asked, repeating his question.

“I want you to make her life a living hell. Show up everywhere she goes. Spread rumors. Leave presents on her doorstep. That kind of thing.”

“What kind of presents?” Jason asked.

Alan did his best not to get annoyed. He hated that he had to spell out every little thing. “Dead animals, piles of shit…I don’t fucking know. Whatever will freak her out and make her quake in her boots. That bitch isn’t allowed to start her life over as if she didn’t ruin mine. She needs to be aware every second of every day that she’s being watched. That she didn’t get away scot-free after what she did.”

“Right, got it. We can do that,” Jason said with a nod.

“Yeah, this is gonna be fun.”

“But don’t do anything that will get you arrested,” Alan warned. “I’m sure the cops in that backwoods town are dumb as shit, but still. I want her to know she’s been found. That there’s nowhere she can hide. We’ll harass her for a while, then back off. Let her think we’ve given up. Then we’ll show back up when she least expects it. The bitch ain’t never forgetting what she did.”

“Then what?” Scott asked. “I mean, we’re gonna get to do more than harass her eventually, right?”

“When I get out of here, she’s dead,” Alan said in a cold, flat tone. “I’ll finish what I started. I’ll finish it. If you two take that away from me, I’ll kill you instead.”

“No killing her. But everything else is on the table, right?” Jason asked with a sly smile.

Alan tilted his head as he studied his brother. He’d heard stories about his sexual tastes. How he liked to choke women when he fucked them. How he expected complete obedience. He smiled. “Sure. Again, just don’t get caught. The last thing we need is the two of you being thrown in here with me. Who would carry out my revenge then?”

“We aren’t gonna get caught,” Jason told him. “People who live in those kinds of towns are stupid. We’re gonna blend right in and no one will suspect a thing. Besides, from that clip we watched, it sounds as if people hate the bitch anyway. They’ll be glad when she’s gone.”

“Keep an eye on her. If she runs, we need to know where she goes.”

“Time’s up!” one of the guard’s announced.

Alan scowled. He hated this fucking place. Hated being told when to pee. When to eat. When to sleep. He should’ve backed over the bitch after he hit her. Smushed her brains all over the damn parking lot. Instead, he’d left her alive as a witness to testify against him. When he got out, he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Doctor Khloe Watts was a dead woman walking. She just didn’t know it.