Deadly Reckoning. Elle James
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“I’m sorry.” She glanced down at where her fingers tugged at a loose strand of hair. “I’m so new to town, I didn’t know.”
“Trust me, you can’t be half as surprised as I was when I found out I had a son.”
She frowned up at him. “When was that?”
“Four months ago.”
Her auburn brows rose up her forehead. “Four months?”
Gabe scrubbed a hand across his short hair. “His mother dumped him at my apartment in Seattle. Before that, I didn’t know he existed. Since an apartment’s no place to raise a kid, I brought him to my hometown.” His lips twisted. “I’m pretty sure he hates Cape Churn. And he’s not that fond of me, either. Honestly, other than strange music, I’m not really sure what he likes at all. I’m clueless when it comes to raising teens.”
“Can’t help you there.” Kayla’s hand smoothed across her flat stomach. “He seemed really interested in my art.”
A chuckle rose from Gabe’s throat. “I’m not surprised. He’s on probation for defacing private property.”
Kayla’s head tipped to the side. “He doesn’t strike me as someone who’d be deliberately destructive.”
“Graffiti.”
Her smile, though fleeting, lit her face. “Was it any good?”
Gabe stared at the waiflike woman, hoping her smile would last longer, but her lips tipped downward again, the shadows in her eyes returning.
“From the picture he showed me on his cell phone, yeah.” He shook his head. “Not that the courts saw it as anything other than a crime.”
“He needs an outlet for his art. One that isn’t against the law.” Again, that hint of a smile curved her lips.
Gabe’s breath caught. He could imagine how much more beautiful she would be with a full smile that reached her deep green eyes. “I brought Dakota here to give him a fresh start.” He glanced out across the rough waters of the cape and back to Kayla. “I wonder if it’s too small-town for him, though.”
“Any place is what you make of it. He could be just as unhappy in Seattle as here.”
Intelligent as well as beautiful. Gabe’s chest tightened. “So what brought you here? Why did you move into the lighthouse cottage?”
“The attack in Seattle two weeks ago.” Her fingers rose to her neck absently, but she grimaced and pulled them away before they touched the skin. “It was too close a call. I couldn’t walk down the street without seeing danger in every dark corner.”
He tried to suppress the urge to take her into his arms and hold her until her fear faded. After he’d learned what had happened to her in Seattle, he’d no longer been surprised that she’d struggled against him when he’d pulled her away from the cliff’s edge. It all made sense.
She fished in her jeans pocket. “He tried to kill me, but he didn’t have time. Before he got away, he yanked off the necklace I was wearing.” She held up a thin gold chain with a broken clasp and a locket dangling from the middle. “I found this in my car when I got in it to bring Dakota home. It’s the same necklace he took that night.” Her voice was steady, but he could see the way her hand shook slightly, sending tremors through the necklace chain. “I left Seattle to get away from him. I’m certain now that he followed me here.”
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