Page 156 of Master of My Heart

“I think Arizona’s boring to look at.”

Chase chuckled. “The desert has its beauty.”

She shrugged. “I guess. When it’s rainy. But you have this all the time.”

“Maybe you appreciate it more because you don’t have it all the time.”

“Maybe.”

They went quiet again and Sabrina looked around in awe at things she’d only seen in pictures. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking and tripped on a tree root. Before she could fall, though, Chase caught her in his arms and she found herself gazing into his wonderful gray eyes.

He smiled and pushed a lock of hair out of her face that had come loose from her braid. Her heartbeat sped up as they gazed at one another. When he bent down to kiss her gently on the lips, she sighed. He smiled and they began walking again. She walked a little closer to him, less focused on the environment around her and more on his presence next to her.

*****

Chase had never imagined that a simple walk with a woman through a park could be so wonderful. They talked occasionally, but after Sabrina almost fell and he kissed her, they were quiet. He loved the simplicity of holding her hand and being with her in his favorite place. He glanced down at her every once in a while and his chest swelled with warmth. She was here. She was safe. And she was his. Well, almost. She seemed as content as he felt. He was confident that they were well on their way to a solid relationship.

Whenever possible, they walked on the path right next to the river, rather than the one next to the busy street. Boats would pass by occasionally, and he wondered if Sabrina would like to go on one someday. Since they officially met on a yacht, maybe it would be an appropriate date. He’d have to look into that.

When they passed through a shady spot beneath the trees and she shivered, he used it as an excuse to wrap his arm around her shoulders.

“Why is this your favorite place?” she asked.

Chase thought about her question. “We lived here off and on when I was growing up. When my dad was deployed, we’d come back here. His parents were here, and Mom’s weren’t really supportive of her marriage to an army guy. When he’d come to visit, if the weather was nice, they’d bring me and my brothers here for picnics and concerts.” He motioned to the open area ahead of them. “They have concerts over there and we’d come whenever possible. I guess it reminds me of my dad.”

“How old were you when he died?”

“Thirteen.”

“I bet that was hard.”

Chase nodded and pursed his lips. Yeah, it was hard. He remembered his mom calling him and his brothers into the living room that day. They’d moved to North Carolina a few months before. She was sitting on the couch, straight back, lifted chin, but her eyes were red, and Chase’s heart had dropped. Something inside told him what had happened. He wanted to throw himself onto the floor and sob, but he didn’t want to freak out his brothers. He straightened his back, lifted his chin, and sat silently as his mom explained what happened. There weren’t a lot of details at that point, but that didn’t matter. Their dad was gone and wasn’t coming back.

His brothers all started crying and clung to their mom. Chase wrapped his arms around his mom’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. “It’ll be okay, Mom. I’ve got you.” It was something his dad said to his family and army brothers a lot. It was short for “I’ve got your six.” It meant he would stop at nothing to take care of them. It meant they were loved.

From that moment on, Chase became the man of the house. He took on the responsibility to make sure his mom was okay and his brothers behaved. Mom had told him repeatedly that he didn’t need to take care of her, but he couldn’t not take care of her. He swore that day that he would. It was part of the reason he had Casey, who had gotten injured and discharged the same time as Chase, be his mom’s assistant. It was the condition he gave her when she encouraged him to start his own business. It was dangerous work and people could come after her because of what he did, so she agreed to let Casey do his thing.

“Chase?”

Chase blinked and realized Sabrina was looking at him expectantly. “What?” he asked, confused. Had she asked him a question?

“You seemed lost in your thoughts.”

He shrugged. “I guess. It was a hard day when we found out he was gone.” The day that changed his life.

Sabrina nodded. “I can imagine.”

“Were you—” He hesitated to ask about her parents’ deaths. He’d read everything he could about it, but there was so little information. “Were you there when your parents...”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “I saw the whole thing.”

He guided her over to a nearby bench and they sat. “I’m so sorry that happened.”

She looked out over the water. “Khyan was there when we got home. I had no idea who he was, but my parents knew. They argued with him, and my dad tried to... attack him or something, I guess. Khyan threw him across the room like he weighed nothing.” She swallowed, tears welling up in her eyes. Chase took her hand and squeezed gently. “Threw him against the fireplace.” She was quiet for a moment. “At least he didn’t have to see what happened to my mom.”

Knowing Khyan had done it, the police reports made more sense now. There had been a suspicion that Elena’s death had been some sort of ritual killing because she’d died from internal injuries resulting from something being pushed into her body through her vaginal canal. Chase now knew that it was simply an Immortal raping her to death.

“Did Khyan hurt you, too?”

---