She opened her eyes to the solid wooden door standing between her and an unknown future. She’d make it on her own, if she had to. And she’d love her child enough for two parents.
When she turned back to the living room, the man of her dreams and nightmares stood in front of her, dressed in a crumpled tuxedo, the shirt unbuttoned at the neck, the tie gone, a ragged beard covering his chin and more handsome than any man had a right to be.
Ava’s vision blurred at the edges. “Ben?”
“Ava.” The deep timbre of his voice filled her senses, dispelling her dream state in that one word.
Gray turned to black as Ava’s knees buckled and she sank to the floor.
HE HADN’T MEANT to scare her, but he couldn’t come through the front door without possibly alerting the neighbors. When he’d climbed over the privacy fence, he’d tripped over the trash cans on the other side, making enough noise to disturb someone’s dog. Between barking and trash cans rattling, he thought for sure Ava and Emily would be calling the police. He’d hurried to the Florida room on the back deck where he found the screen door unlocked and the sliding door into the house equally unsecured.
Had Nicky Wayne already been here?
Was Ben too late? Panic had seized him and he charged into the house. That’s when he’d seen her standing by the front door, her back to him, her long auburn hair hanging down over her shoulders in loose waves. To be this close after so long, he stopped and stared, his heart lodged in his throat.
Then she’d turned, her face losing all color, her beautiful green eyes widening in shock.
When her eyes rolled backward, Ben lunged for her, catching her before she hit the floor.
He struggled to steady her, his body weak from lack of nourishment and the long jog across town. But he cushioned her fall with his own body. For the second time that night, his shoulder took the brunt of the impact, pain shooting through him in waves.
He didn’t care. Ava was there in his arms and she’d grown even more beautiful since the last time he’d seen her. The color returned to her pale cheeks, infusing the porcelain whiteness with the faint blush of a rose.
“Ben?” Her auburn lashes fluttered upward and emerald eyes stared up into his. “Am I still dreaming?”
“No, sweetheart, it’s really me.” His chest filled with such an aching sweetness, he thought he would explode. All those weeks in captivity, he’d dreamed of her, of when they’d met, when they’d first made love, and when he’d finally hold her in his arms again. She was the reason he’d survived.
Her hand lifted to her hair, pushing it out of her eyes. “Ben? How…what…where…you’ve been gone so long, I thought I’d imagined you.” She stared around as if the rest of the room had finally come into focus. “Why are we sitting on the floor?”
A chuckle escaped his lips. “It’s where we landed.”
She stared at their tangle of legs. “Did I—?”
Ben’s chest tightened and he turned her to face him, sitting squarely in his lap. “Yes, you dropped like a rock.”
Her dark, coppery brows knitted and she struggled to stand. “I haven’t done that since…”
“Since you were in your first trimester?” He held her steady until she managed to get to her feet and then he stood up behind her. He wanted to laugh out loud at the joy of being with her, but knew that she wouldn’t be as amused, probably thinking she looked huge.
In truth, she hadn’t changed much, other than the roundness of her belly. If anything, her pregnancy made her even more beautiful.
All Ben wanted was to hold her in his arms and make up for all the weeks they’d been apart.
When she turned to face him, he knew folding her into his embrace wasn’t an immediate possibility.
Her green eyes darkened and she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, resting them on her protruding baby bump. “Where have you been?”
He could go into a long discussion about what had happened to him in the past weeks, but he didn’t have clearance to discuss his mission until he talked to his supervisor, Jerry Ortiz.
The important thing was to get Ava to safety. Nicky Wayne had connections and it wouldn’t be long before he discovered her whereabouts, if he hadn’t already. “I’ll answer all your questions later. Right now, we have to get out of here.” He hooked her arm with his hand.
Ava jerked free of his hold, her feet planted firmly in her sister’s Berber carpet. “I’m not going anywhere until I know what the hell happened to you and why you disappeared off the face of the earth.”
The sound of a car door slamming outside made his pulse jump. Ben raced to the front windows and inched the wooden blinds away from the frame. A woman walked up the drive of the neighboring house and entered.
“Expecting someone?” Ava stood behind him, her frown deeper than before.
“Yes. That’s why we need to leave here immediately.” He grasped her shoulders and stared down into her eyes. “You’re in danger.”
Her gaze went to where his hands gripped her. “As I see it, the only person I’m in danger of is you.” She looked up at him, her face stony cold. “Let go of me.”
Hurt tugged at his chest, making it hard to breathe. Ben didn’t have time to explain what had happened. He just needed to get her the hell out of there. “Look, we don’t have much time. They’ll be here any moment. Get your purse and keys. We have to go, now.”
Her brows rose on her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me what’s going on and where you’ve been.”
“I was held captive by Nicky Wayne. I escaped. Now he’s after you and me. The end. Can we go now?” He reached for her arm again, anxiety mounting. Any minute Nicky’s thugs could storm through the door and…
She stepped back, that stubborn look he’d always found amusing pinching her lips together into a tight line. “And you’re just now getting loose? I’m supposed to believe you?” She snorted. “Everyone else must be right. You have gone to work for the Wayne organization. I should have known it.”
“Ava. I wouldn’t lie to you about this. The stakes are too high.” He couldn’t help glancing at her belly and she noticed his glance, her hand coming up to rest on the swell. “Wayne was drugging me. I was in too much of a fog to know until I got sick and couldn’t hold down the food he’d drugged me with.”
“What about Julie? Were you responsible for her murder?”
“Are you crazy? I loved Julie like a sister. I would never have hurt her.”
The hard line of her jaw softened briefly before it hardened again. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” She turned away from him and walked into the kitchen.
“Do what?” He followed, his ears straining for any sound out of the ordinary. Once in the kitchen, he reached for a loaf of bread and fumbled with the tie, his hunger threatening to overwhelm his other survival skills.
Ava grabbed keys from the counter and her purse. “I can’t fall back into your plans that easily. I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
Ben set the loaf of bread aside, all thoughts of food taking second place to what Ava said. “You have to trust me on this one, Ava. Your life and the life of our child depend on it.”
“My child, Ben. I’m not the one who disappeared. I’m not the one wanted for murder. I’m the one carrying this baby. Alone. My baby. I’m the one who will be raising it alone if you decide to disappear again.” She looped her bag over her shoulder. “I can’t do it. I can’t be your yo-yo, springing back every time you decide