Page 232 of Beyond the Temptation: Vol 2

PROTECTING HEART

BY CM SMITH

A Briar Mountain Short

BLURB

Two years ago my life came crumbling down around me. My partner was the worst of bad cops. My wife left me for another man. I’ve crawled my way back to normal one inch at a time. I still have my job, I have my friends in the town and on the force, and I’m fine. Until she shows up.

Beautiful and broken. Delia Bertram invaded my mind the minute she arrived in town. My need to protect and serve her overwhelming, but she wasn’t ready. She needed time to heal. Her kids needed time to trust again. Good thing I’m patient.

When a threat from the man who almost killed her arises, I’ll do anything to ensure her safety. To be there to hold her through the dark times. To show her with kindness and soft hands that she deserves to be loved. By me.

CHAPTER ONE

DELIA

“Theo,” I call to my oldest. “I need to step out for a few minutes. Can I trust you not to burn the place down while I’m gone?”

“Sure, Mom, whatever.” He waves me off, not even looking away from the game on the TV he’s playing with his brother, Sebastian. “Bring us back some food? I’m starving!”

My third son, Hudson, is on the couch, his nose in a book, oblivious to the world around him, nods his head in agreement at the word food.

“Sure, baby,” I reply, grabbing my keys and walking out the door before I break down in front of them.

Two years. We’ve managed to stay safe for two years, but that safety is no longer promised if the letter I shoved in my pocket means what I think it does. And the last thing my boys need is to see me break down. I save that for the car.

Twenty minutes later, I’m driving around Briar Mountain, trying to calm down and get a game plan together. My ex-husband is being released from prison early for ‘good behavior’ and is to be re-assimilated back into society. He’s requesting visitation with his kids. No, not his kids. Not anymore. MY kids. His rights were terminated when the judge sentenced him for almost killing me in front of those same kids. He isn’t supposed to know where we are, but my gut tells me he does. I’m rotating between wanting to scream and choking on my sobs, when the whoop-whoop of a police cruiser sounds behind me, crashing through my thoughts. I slow down and pullover, roll the window down and put my hands on the steering wheel. Isn’t this just the cherry on top of my shit cake for the day?

I don’t look in the mirror to see who it is. It doesn’t matter. Just another man telling me how I’m failing at life. How I suck. And I know it’s a man, because there’s only three women on the police force here, and they don’t work nights if it isn’t a holiday. And no matter how prepared I am, the tap on the top of the car makes me jump.

“Delia,” a smooth voice, like velvet, calls my name. “What has you all the way out here?”

“Huh?”

“Sweetheart, you’re almost ten miles up into the hills.”

I blink a few times to focus and look around. He’s right. I don’t know where I am. “I…have no idea how I got here,” I whisper, not sure if I’m talking to him or myself.

Him being Officer Marcus Manning, of the Briar Mountain Police Department. Tall, dreamy dark brown eyes, black wavy hair, tan skin, built—but not too bulky—and the man knows how to wear a uniform.

“Hey,” he says softly, leaning over to look me in the eye, but also keeping his distance. He knows my story, or most of it, anyway. And he’s trying not to freak me out. It’s appreciated, but right now, what I’d really like is this safe, strong man to pull me into his arms and tell me everything’s going to be alright. It’s been so long since anyone has done that. “Talk to me, Delia. What’s got you so freaked out?”

“I got a letter today from the courts.” I want to tell him more, I really do, but I can’t say it out loud. If I do, it’s real, and I can’t face that yet.

“Ah, I see.” He nods. “Want to talk about it?”

“No,” I laugh on a sob. “I want to bury my head in the sand and pretend I never saw it. But I can’t do that, can I?”

“It really doesn’t help. Trust me. I tried that for years and it sucks.”

I’ve always wondered what his story was, but I’ve been afraid to ask. I’ve heard some things—small town and all, but most of it is about his former partner. I actively try not to listen to stories about his personal life. He’s divorced, and she was screwing around on him before it was final. That’s about all I know. Because the more I know, the more I’m sure I’ll be interested, and being interested in any man other than the three boys living with me is not in my cards. Never again.

“What if he finds us?” I finally ask the question that’s been terrifying me since I opened the letter.

“He won’t hurt you,” Marcus practically growls, his hands flexing like he’s looking for someone to fight.

“He’s already hurt me,” I reply. “You can’t stop him. No one can stop him if he finds us. He’ll kill me and take my babies from me.”

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