Chapter Seven

Riley

Since I got to Greystone, Chase has been taking care of me, so today, I've decided to return the favor for once.

I learned from Sara that today is his birthday, and he absolutely hates celebrating it, so I've decided to change that. When he left for work that morning, I quickly ran to the store to get a few things to bake him a cake and make him a special dinner.

"I want to surprise him for his birthday, and I would like it if you guys could come celebrate with us," I told Sara that morning during our phone call.

"Bruce and I surprise Chase? No thanks. I've seen the guy wield a Smith and Wesson. I don't want a bullet in my skull for letting it slip in the first place or not warning him ahead of time that you want to surprise him, so thanks, but no thanks."

I laughed heartily. "It's that bad?"

"Worse. The last time Bruce and I tried to surprise him, he had Bruce in a chokehold so tight my poor baby almost died. We swore never to surprise him after that."

"Okay, now I'm officially scared to surprise him."

"Nah, you're good. He loves you."

A warmth flooded my body. "He said that?"

She scoffs. "He doesn't need to; it's as obvious as the day is bright."

As I head home with all the supplies I'd gotten from the grocery store later that afternoon, Sara's words replay in my head in a loop.

Nah, you're good. He loves you .

Every man I've ever known, my stepfather, my manager Kevin, guys who have asked me out, Dante, all wanted something selfish from me ‘til I met Chase. All he wanted to do was look out for me and protect me even though he had every reason not to.

So forgive me if I'm freaking out a little about the fact that he may love me. I didn't think anyone on this earth ever could, and Chase, one of the best men I've ever met, might?

This feeling is even better than sex, and sex with Chase is like rich chocolate melting in my mouth—decadent, smooth, almost criminal, leaving me utterly satisfied and craving for the next taste.

It's so good that I crave him ALL THE TIME. If I didn't know better, I would think I was becoming a nymphomaniac with how sex-obsessed I've been since Chase took my virginity.

When I get home, I get to work preparing the steak with garlic herb butter, his favorite, after which I bake him a molten chocolate lava cake.

Once the cooking is done, I change into my lilac gown with a cutout in front that leaves my breasts exposed—a deliberate choice since I fully intend for Chase to eat me after eating.

After applying some lip gloss and mascara, I light some lemon and vanilla-scented candles and wait for him to get home.

In about twenty-five minutes, I hear the front door click and open, and I quickly light the candles on his cake and get up to catch his reaction when he sees me.

His hands fly to his chest when he sees me standing in the living room. "Jesus Christ Riley. Baby, you scared me. What's all this?"

I walk over to him and place my hands on his chest. "Sara mistakenly let it slip that today is your birthday, so I decided to do something nice for you for once."

"I hate my birthdays."

"I know, but it's just you and me. Just pretend we're having dinner like we do every night."

His eyes fall to my breasts pushing at him through the cutout in my dress. "Not with you looking like that." His head dips and kisses my breasts, and I hold his head to stop him.

"No, we'll eat dinner before dessert, but first, make a wish."

I pick up the cake and place it in front of him, and he looks at me intently, his gray eyes shining in a way I've never seen it shine before. "I don't need to make a wish; all I ever wanted and desired is standing right in front of me."

My face breaks into a wide grin at how perfect this moment is, how perfect Chase is, and how perfect my life is. The butterflies that have practically been in my belly since I met Chase go into a frenzy, and I stand on my toes to kiss him.

Our lips are just about to meet when Chase suddenly stops and looks around. "Did you hear that?"

I shake my head no. "I didn't hear any—"

His palm covers my mouth to keep me from saying anything else, and his eyes dart around the house. "There's someone out there," he whispers. "So we're going to quietly go upstairs."

I nod frantically, and he removes the hand covering my mouth and pulls me toward the stairs. We have barely cleared the first flight of stairs when we hear a loud bang that shakes the entire house and sends the front door and me flying to the ground.

In one swift move, Chase picks me up in his arms and clears the remaining stairs before going into the bedroom and locking the reinforced door behind us.

He sends someone a text and grabs his gun and some bullets from his safe before proceeding to search through his closet while my heart pounds in my ears. "What's going on, Chase? Did you see who that was?"

"From the explosive that just blew my reinforced military-grade front door off its hinges like a paper clip, I'm guessing that was either your stepfather or Deadeye Dante."

The pounding in my ears gets even louder, and my breathing heightens with every second that passes. "Oh god, it has to be Dante. We're so screwed, I'm so screwed."

"Got it!" Chase turns around and shoves a shotgun in my hands, and I stare at it like it's an explosive.

"I've never used a gun before, let alone one this huge. I can't do this."

He places both hands on my shoulders. "Yes, you can. Just put your hands on the trigger, and if anyone who isn't me walks through those doors, blast them to kingdom come, okay?" I nod, the adrenaline pumping in my blood too much to process anything clearly.

Chase grabs another gun from his sock drawer and shoves it into the back of his pants. "Stay here."

"Oh no, no, no, no. You're not leaving me here; that's how people die in horror movies. We have to stay together. Besides, you don't know how many men are down there."

"Just shut up and listen! You have to stay here. I cannot lose you, Riley. Do you hear me? My life will be over, so stay here and do as you're told, okay?" I nod, too stunned to speak. "Good."

He plants a kiss on my lips and disappears from the room while I try to get my breathing under control.

It's not even up to a minute after he leaves when I hear several gunshots and then silence. Oh god! He's dead.

Chase could be lying dead down there, and I'm over here cowering like a coward. The man I love could be dead, and any second now, one of Dante's men or, worse, my stepfather, will burst in through that door and drag me out of here.

I can't let that happen. I need to be brave for once in my life. If I'm gonna go out, it might as well be fighting alongside the man I love.

Yes, I love Chase and would've told him that had we not been interrupted. And now, maybe I'll never get that chance. That thought scares me more than the thought of several armed men invading our house and probably taking me as their prisoner.

I slowly open the door, and then I hear one shot, followed by another round of gunshots. There are so many gunshots coming from all angles of the house that I'm not sure where any of them are coming from.

The glass of the window behind me shatters as one of the bullets hits it, so I duck and stay down ‘til the gunshots stop. I quickly get up and slowly move down the stairs, keeping an eye out for any suspicious or sudden movements.

Someone steps out of the guest room right in front of me, and just as I'm about to pull the trigger, Chase's voice stops me. "It's me, it's me, Riley. Jesus! I thought I told you to stay inside."

"I know, but it's time for me to stop being afraid. I'd rather fight with you."

He smiles, and I can see how proud he is of me. "All right, but stay behind me, always! Promise me that."

"I promise."

"Bring me what I was promised, or I'm gonna fucking burn this house to the ground with everything in it, dead or alive. Go upstairs and bring anyone you find down here, now!" That's unmistakably Dante's voice; the psycho is in this house.

Chase pulls me into the guest room and places me firmly behind him. "Anyone I miss, blow them up."

Our eyes and attention are so fixed on the door that we don't notice anything until it's too late. One of Dante's men had climbed into the house through the window behind us, and he currently has a pistol placed solidly behind my ear.

"Do not move a muscle, not one, or I will blow your girlfriend's brains out."

I clench and Chase spins around so fast I'm shocked he didn't fall. His gun remains trained on the strange man. "Let her go."

"One more word out of you, please give me a reason to use my gun, asshole. Who knows, If I'm lucky, I may even get some of her brains on me."

Oh my God, Dante's men are as creepy and as crazy as him.

"Now, drop the gun, both of you. Here, Princess." He eases the shotgun out of my hands. "Give me that before you accidentally shoot off your own feet with it. Dante likes his women with their body parts attached."

I watch Chase grind his teeth, something he does when he's furious.

"Now walk. Down the stairs you go." The guy commands us, and Chase and I slowly make our way down the stairs.

"Found them," he yells as we get off the last step and enter the living room.

Dante and about six other men are standing in the living room, and they look like they're ready to kill.

"Well, well, well," he says, moving closer. So you're the dick wipe who took what was promised to me? Big mistake, buddy, big fat fucking mistake."

"If you hurt her, I swear to god I'll skin you alive and dismember you."

A thunderous slap lands on Chase's cheek and I almost rush Dante, but the man with the gun behind my ear presses it closer to my skull.

"First, you steal my property, and now you threaten me?"

"She's nobody's property."

"Except yours. I can see that you've fucked her, and I was promised a virgin, so she's useless to me now."

He grabs a gun from one of his men, points it at me, and pulls the trigger.

Just as fast, Chase jumps in front of me, and the bullet hits him, sending him spiraling to the ground. Suddenly, I hear gunshots from outside and watch as Dante's men start falling to the ground like flies.

I can tell that Dante is about to pull the trigger again and finish what he started, so I grab the gun behind Chase's pants, close my eyes, and fire.

"Police! Cease fire! Cease fire!"

I open my eyes to see Dante lying on the ground dead and Chase clutching at his chest as blood oozes out of the wound, and he struggles to keep his eyes open.

"Oh my god, Chase, stay with me, please. I need you," I say as Bruce and Sara run toward me.

Bruce quickly takes off his shirt and puts pressure on the wound to stop the blood while I beg Chase over and over again not to leave me.

In a few minutes, some EMTs enter with a stretcher just as Chase's eyes finally close and carry him out of there. I ride with them to the hospital as they desperately try to resuscitate him, and I bawl my eyes out.

Once at the hospital, they take him into surgery, and we stay in the waiting room for almost six hours before a doctor finally comes out of the OR and walks over to us.

"What's the news, Doctor? Is Chase okay?"

"The bullet was lodged very close to his heart, so we had to take extra care while removing it, but we did. He's gonna be okay. He's a very lucky man indeed."

"Oh, thank god." I sigh, pulling Sara into a hug. "Can we see him now?"

"He's still pretty out of it, but one of you can sit with him till he wakes up."

"Go be with your man," Bruce says, and I mutter my thanks before going to see Chase.

When I enter his room, Chase looks so peaceful lying there that I break down in tears and cry from relief. I don't know what I would've done if I had lost him, and I need to tell him that.

It takes another four hours, but Chase finally opens his eyes and smiles when he sees me. "Hey."

I try to control my tears. "I never thought I'd be this happy to see someone open their eyes." I squeeze his hand tightly. "I thought I'd lost you, Chase. You scared me so bad."

He smiles. "I couldn't die and miss out on being with you. I love you, Riley."

"No, no, I wanted to say it first."

His gray eyes widen. "You love me?"

"Of course I love you. I love you more than life itself."

He takes a deep breath. "Okay, now I can die a happy man."

"Don't you dare!"

He smiles and I let out a loud laugh through my tears. "You almost died, and you're already cracking jokes? You're such a jerk."

"I am, and this jerk wants to make you his completely. Marry me, Riley, be mine!"

"I'm already yours, Chase, and yes, I will marry you. Of course, I'll marry you."

I get up and kiss my husband–to–be.