Chapter Nineteen

" G et the water tank and the hose!" Webb's bellow carried over the land, sending a ranch hand sprinting for the truck used to haul water out to the animals in the pastures.

Hands plastered over her mouth, Livia stared at the bunkhouse. Up in flames.

This was no accident. This time they were out for more blood.

Meadow grasped her forearm, and Livia twisted to throw her arms around her dear friend. Meadow was shaking.

Ivy ran up to them, wild eyes reflecting the blaze. "The fire department is on the way!"

"Daddy?" Meadow's voice pitched into a wail.

"He's all right. He was asleep. I had to wake him. I told him to come out but that he can't attempt to help with the fire."

"When did someone sneak onto the ranch? We've been around all day. The cameras weren't tripped or Colton would have gotten a text!" Meadow whipped her head around as if searching for the man she loved.

The cameras. After the break-in at Badlands, Carver discovered the camera lenses there were all spray-painted over.

Her heart exploded in panic.

"Badlands!"

Meadow and Ivy stared at her.

"I have to get back! Somebody might have torched it too! I need keys to a vehicle!" She wheeled around.

Ivy grasped her arm. "You can't go alone. You have to find Wolfe!"

Sean Gracey would give her a vehicle. She had to go now .

She took three steps and slammed into a brick wall of muscle. Carver locked his arms around her. His face was covered in soot from attempting to fight the fire that was too far gone to control.

"I have to get to my bar!"

His stare penetrated hers. "I can't leave my men. I have to stay here and help."

"Then stay! I'm going!"

She struggled against his grip. At that moment, a loud whoosh sounded followed by an explosion as the gas line blew.

Carver took off, dashing toward the danger like the SEAL he was. She watched him go, eyes blurred with the brightness of the flames and tears pouring down her face.

Realizing she could make a break for it now, she took off running. Sean Gracey staggered down the porch steps, his face a mask of horror.

She rushed over to him. "Sit down. You have to watch your heart!"

He didn't seem to understand for a moment, but when she said it again, he nodded and sat down hard on the top step.

"Mr. Gracey, I need a vehicle!"

His gaze flicked to her. "Your bar."

"Yes!" Someone who understood what mattered to her.

"Hanging on a hook inside the door."

"Thank you!" She bent and planted a kiss on his cheek before blasting into the house for a set of keys.

The next few minutes were a blur. Brief images flashed in her mind afterward—of ranch hands shooing horses out of the barn, driving them into the distant pasture far from the burning buildings.

Of Meadow and Ivy running to the porch and sitting with their father as the structure of the bunkhouse turned into a black beast devoured by flames.

She gunned it down the driveway, pulling into the grass to let three firetrucks in a row zoom by.

The vehicle she drove had an old-school CB radio. She knew enough from serving beer to volunteer firefighters what station to dial in.

It took her a moment of listening to understand that they were sending trucks in two different directions.

Three to the Gracey Ranch. Three more to Badlands.

Her heart lodged in her throat, trapping her scream.

She stomped on the gas.

Rage built alongside the terror like gasoline to the already burning blaze of her bar. That bar was all she had to show for her life. Her past, present and future were in Badlands. Even though she went to bed with aching feet and woke up tired, she still loved that place.

It might have started out as her father's old saloon, but Livia had built it into what it was today.

Several streets were blocked off as she neared, but she parked and took off running on foot.

Smoke fogged the air. Pedestrians gathered outside to watch the firefighters work.

As she got closer, she realized that Badlands was still standing.

But the distillery behind it was engulfed in flames.

All that alcohol stored in barrels would keep the fire blazing hot until there was nothing left but ash.

Her mouth opened wide in horror as she watched.

Oh god. She owned more than a bar and distillery.

My house!

"Angel!"

Blinded by fear, she sprinted back to the truck. She didn't even feel her feet pounding the pavement or acknowledge any of the people she passed.

In the past twenty-four hours, she'd almost lost a man she cared about more than anyone else. Her distillery was gone. Losing her cat would be the final straw.

Her mind circled back to Carver.

Oh god, she'd actually tried to push the man away from her. Again.

The look of hurt in his eyes imprinted on her brain. A rough cry burst from her lips, and she pressed her fist against them to hold it back.

She gripped the steering wheel harder, the knot of dread tripling in her stomach as she approached the street where her house was. Minutes warped, feeling like they stretched into hours. Her fingers numbed from gripping the wheel so hard.

When she spotted wisps of smoke trickling through the cracks in the front door, her heart slammed the wall of her chest. A fire was set. But her house wasn't as far gone as the bunkhouse or her distillery.

Yet.

With a howl, she parked in the street, yelling for the cell phone assistant to call 911 as she ran for the house.

Just then, she spotted a tall man rushing around the side of the house. She froze in her tracks.

Carver's long legs ate up the distance fast. As she looked on, he picked up a heavy planter on her front porch, dumped out the plant and used it to smash in the front window.

"Carver!" Her throat seared with the force of her scream.

He tossed her a look before hitching himself up the wall and diving through the broken window.

Into her blazing house.

"Carver!"

There was only one reason the idiot would go in there—her cat.

Hands plastered to her face, she watched that window in shock and terror. He'd put himself in danger. For her pet.

Ire rocked her on her heels. She ran up to the window. The heat coming from the inside scorched her face.

"Carver! Damn you! Leave the cat! Get out!" She loved her pet, but nothing was worth his life.

Smoke poured from the open window as the fire moved to the front of the house. Sirens wailed at the end of the street, but all she could focus on was the stupid man who put his life on the line for a ball of white—

Angel practically fell out the window into her hands. She grappled with her pet and got clawed in the process, but she was too busy glaring at the man climbing out the window after it.

With Angel hugged too tightly to her chest, she glared him down. "You total asshole!"

He jerked. The gleam of warning in his eyes didn't stop her from balling her fist and punching him in the arm.

"You went into a burning house for a cat? Didn't the SEALs teach you anything about rescue missions?"

He grabbed her arm and dragged her several feet away from the smoking building that was probably about to go up any minute. The firetruck braked hard in front of the house in a scream of sirens.

Carver hauled her into the neighbor's yard. "You're yelling at me for saving your cat?"

"Yes, goddammit! I can never be with you."

"Why not?" Fury blazed over his handsome face.

"Because you fight six men at a time and practically tear your wrists apart when you rip off chains. You jump into burning buildings!" She stomped her foot.

"You're not giving me a chance because I did those things for you ?"

"We're never going to work out!"

"You're not giving up on me, Livia." His words were hard and clipped over the whoop of more rescue vehicles rushing down the street.

"What's the point? Nothing ever works out, Carver. There is no happily ever after. Fate is trying to break us up—"

"Then fate can drown in the lake. I'm not leaving." He planted himself in the yard like he'd sprouted roots.

He was insane. They had to stop this madness.

Tipping her head up, she glared at him. "When they put out the fire in my house, I want you to get everything that belongs to you and get out !"

He looked at her for a heavy heartbeat. "Fine. I'll start with this." He picked her up and carried her across the street to the truck she hadn't seen there when she pulled up.

She struggled and almost dropped the cat. "What are you doing? Put me down!"

"I'm taking what belongs to me."

Her stomach rippled with emotion that bubbled into a sob.

This man really was crazy. And amazing.

"Set me down!" Anger still hummed in her veins, but a shot of arousal flooded in too.

He dumped her on her feet at the truck.

"You're cute even when you're being stubborn."

She shot out her fist to punch his arm again, but he hooked his arm around her back, hauled her against him and slammed his mouth over hers.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she realized what could have happened tonight. How she could have lost the only thing that really mattered—Carver.

His fingers dug into her spine, yanking her closer. Angel let out a yowl of protest at being crushed between them.

He tore away, breathing hard, staring down at Livia. "You done fighting me?"

"Not even close. I almost lost you. I can't lose you!" Her voice broke.

"Oh, darlin'. Come here." He drew her into his arms, face buried in her hair.

"I actually…l-love…you! You big jerk!" Her dimple popped with every angry word she spat.

He pressed her up against the truck and kissed the hell out of her. She didn't know if the heat from her burning house was washing over her or if Carver's scorching body ramped up her temperature.

Breaking the kiss again, he knotted her hair around his fist. "You're the most perfect goddamn soulmate a man could ask for. I know you tried to push me away because you feel it too. But I'm not leaving. I went after your cat for you, Livia. There are plenty of people I wished I'd saved. I'm not letting something else die on my watch, not when I know I can save it."

Tears raced down her face. She hitched the cat to the other arm and wrapped her arm around his neck, dragging him close. How did he know so much about her when she'd only just realized these things about herself? He had so many chances to run away, and instead, he ran toward the things she loves…and to her.

He taught her that she could trust him not to leave her like everyone else. That she could maybe have that fairytale she dreamed of where they could work together toward a future they built.

He kissed her again, swiping his tongue across hers until she moaned with desire. The whole world could burn down and none of it mattered except what she had right here in her arms.

When his phone vibrated, she stepped back. Holding her stare, he answered the call. She could make out a male voice on the line but didn't know which one of his men called. He spoke in monosyllables.

"We'll be right there."

He lowered his phone from his ear and met Livia's stare. "They need us at the Gracey. There's video footage we need to see."