Hope watched Thea move around her small home like a caged animal waiting for its release. Her friend peeked out the window for the tenth time, and Hope had had enough. She stood and stretched—her body ached from sitting in the same position for the past hour. Making her way to the small kitchenette, she set her small, antique kettle on the burner.

“Really, you don’t need to stay. That biker guy is out there, and I’m sure I will be fine. Plus, you need to go home and start packing. Don’t you?" This was the third time she’d appealed to her friend, to no avail. If Thea and Lex were to make their flight, they needed to get home in the next day or so to pack. While Hope appreciated the companionship and the safe feeling their company provided, she felt like shit for possibly ruining their honeymoon.

Her friend moved from the window and sat on Hope’s threadbare sofa. “There’s no way I’m leaving you here alone.” Thea’s solemn eyes met hers.

And that was exactly what Hope wanted to avoid—the pity. Because how could a woman, such as herself, allow a man to force her into hiding?

Hope’s hand flew to her neck, a choking sensation overcoming her. She’d always thought of herself as a resilient woman, but Mark’s hands around her neck, choking the life from her, had ushered in a new person. A person who would hide in the closet during his drunken tirades. A person who would cry herself to sleep at night after being raped by the very man who’d promised to love and cherish her forever.

Her fingers slid down her neck to the scar Mark had left the night she’d forgotten to make mashed potatoes without the skin. He’d held the knife to her throat and made her promise, over and over, that she would never again forget. And she hadn’t. She’d never forgotten the malicious look in his eyes, or the way he pushed his arousal against her stomach. Finally, he’d sliced her neck deep enough that blood flowed down her chest.

Hope closed her eyes, the stinging sensation of tears building behind her lids until she could take it no longer. The loud whistle of the tea kettle snatched her from the past and made her jump so hard, she scared Thea. Thea made to stand, but Hope motioned for her to sit back down.

“Sugar or honey?” she asked, glad her back was to her friend. It gave her time to gather herself, as she reached to the cabinet above and pulled down the honey.

“However you take yours,” Thea muttered.

Hope threw a quick glance over her shoulder to see that Thea was at the window again. She’d pulled the curtain open just as a flash of lightning brightened the sky. Soon after, a booming clap of thunder rattled the house.

Storms had a way of soothing Hope’s nerves. There was something about the chaos of the storm that chased away her fear.

Hope made two cups of tea and took them to her wobbly coffee table. Placing Thea’s cup down, she made her way to the ratty, but unbelievably comfortable, leather wingback chair. Tucking her feet up underneath her, she settled back into the seat and pulled an afghan over her knees. The cold front that had caused a storm, mercifully cooled the oppressive heat outside, yet somehow, her old AC unit hadn’t seemed to get the memo to turn off.

“Tell me about this Abel character,” she said.

When Lex had suggested they hire her a bodyguard, Hope had reservations. The first being, she couldn’t afford such an expense. The second being, it’d be safer for everyone if she just picked up and left town. But Thea had reminded her that her funds were too low to allow her to run again. On top of which, she was one of the best employees she had. While Hope thought Thea was exaggerating, her insides had warmed at the compliment.

“Honestly, I’ve only met him a few times, and that was when we were younger. He worked for a security company for a while, and from what Lex tells me, he was going to start his own company before he was arrested.”

Hope nodded. Lex had filled her in on what’d sent Abel to jail. A bar fight with a man who’d harassed a woman, along with the shitty sheriff of Blackwater. While Hope understood Abel’s actions that night, he wasn’t completely irreproachable. He’d shattered the man’s face and punctured his lung.

It later turned out that Abel had shown extreme force during the fight, and had to be pulled away several times by a group of men. Hope thought she’d want to steer clear of a man with such anger issues, but Lex had explained Abel’s need to protect those who were unable to do it themselves. She found it noble of him, and secretly hoped that if Mark did find her, this Abel would be there.

A knock at the door startled Thea and Hope.

Then a dark voice called from the other side of the door, “Your men are here and I’m heading out.” Gator’s heavy-booted feet could be heard thundering down the stairs.

Hope stood, placing the still steaming cup of tea on the table, and made her way to the picture window.

Lex’s old truck sat in the drive, surrounded by four men. Three she noticed as Lex, sharp-toothed Gator, and a man named Blu—his now blue Mohawk no longer spiked skyward, but plastered to his head from rain—who was to take up the second watch for the night. And then there was Abel. Hope couldn’t see well from the window, especially since her glasses currently served as a bookmark in a mystery novel she’d been reading.

The men, uncaring of the rain pouring down on them, stood around the truck. Abel glanced around, then pointed to the woods behind her place. She was surrounded by woods, however, the front of her garage apartment stuck out far enough that it could be seen from the dirt road along her place.

Gator said a few words, then Abel took off running toward the clearing. Hope’s hand flew to the window, supporting her weight as she pressed her face against the pane to watch him disappear into the woods, only to emerge seconds later. She surmised there wasn’t a threat, since the other men didn’t take off after him. Then, he made his way in a light jog to the base of the stairs leading to her place and took off again in the same direction.

Thea sidled up beside her, hands on her hips, watching the scene unfold.

“What the hell are they doing?” Hope asked, as Abel ran from different spots in the yard, always ending up at the opening of the woods.

Thea leaned forward and squinted. “It looks like they’re timing how long it would take to get to that opening.” She pointed. “Where does it lead to?”

“It leads to a glade and a lake.” Hope had gone back there a few times and explored. She’d even taken a book and sat by a tiny stream to read.

Thea pushed back from the window with a sigh. “How are you feeling?”

Meeting her soft eyes, Hope smiled. “Better than if I were alone, I guess.”

“You guess?” Thea’s forehead wrinkled and her lips pursed.

There was a knock at the door, saving her from having to lie about how she was truly feeling. Thea uncrossed her arms and strolled to the door, her troubled gaze leaving Hope when she placed her hand on the knob.

“It’s me, baby. Open up,” Lex’s voice called from the other side of the door.

Thea opened the door and Hope ran to the bathroom for towels for the men. While her place was incredibly small, the builder had decided to reward the tenant with a rather large and comfortable bathroom. After pulling two large towels from the linen closet, she headed back to the living space.

She held the towels to her chest as both men entered her home. Their large, intimidating bodies dominated her small living room. Hope tried to meet Abel’s golden gaze, but he was too busy surveying his surroundings. She watched as his eyes bounced from each window, to the barren space she used as her home/office/bedroom. He took in everything, from the carpet, to the small desk under the second window. He turned and shut the door behind him, testing the locks on the doors.

Hope had asked her landlord to add two chains and an additional deadbolt. He’d looked at her as if she had two heads, but in the end, he added them for her. She felt a tug and turned to see Thea was pulling one of the towels from between her fingers.

“Sorry,” she muttered, unclenching her grasp.

Abel had moved onto every homemade alert system she’d made. Only, a frown had taken residence on his face, flaring her annoyance when he moved the string of Coke cans she’d strung from the window. The cans did just as they were intended to do, and made an obnoxious noise as he yanked them down and dropped them onto the floor.

Hope crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a brow when he made his way to the large picture window. He stood there for a moment taking in the surrounding woods. Moving closer, he inspected the privacy film she’d placed over the windows, so that during the night no one could see in. She growled when he picked at a peeling piece of the film and shook his head.

When he turned, his eyes briefly met hers, and Hope saw a glint of mirth in them. She wasn’t sure if he was amused with her extra attempts to protect herself, or laughing at the situation. Either way, he annoyed her. His tall lean body was thinner than she’d expected it to be. Though his frame held a healthy dose of lean muscle, his swimmer’s body conveyed, to her at least, that his greatest strength would perhaps be in endurance more than physical force.

He stalked around with the grace of a sleek panther. His golden-brown hair, longer on top than the sides, had been pushed back—slick and wet with rain water. Hope wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but each time he passed her, she got a whiff of light aftershave and wet earth. The scent was strangely calming, and her earlier anger fled.

Finally, Abel stopped in the middle of the room and met her gaze—a zip of warmth traced up her spine at the connection. “I see what you’ve done to protect yourself. And while most of it is ineffective, I’m sure you did the best you could with your limited knowledge and funds.”

She licked her dry lips and nodded, unsure of what to say. It was extremely hard to hock jewelry worth thousands in a small, crumbling town like Blackwater, and while Thea paid her a decent wage, Hope still had to fork over a large chunk for rent that included utilities.

“Figured as much. Still,” he waved a hand to the window and soda cans, “all ineffective. As well as the fact that you live in the middle of nowhere.”

Wasn’t that supposed to help? She wondered. “Yeah, but—”

He put a hand in the air, stopping her words. When he moved toward her, Hope shoved away the urge to shirk back. He was at least a foot taller, and a hundred pounds heavier. If he wanted, he could wrap his hands around her neck and there would be nothing she could do. Hope felt the first flutter of panic build in her belly and her cheeks heated, no doubt flaming red.

Abel stopped in his tracks, and took two deliberate steps back. “Better?” His knowing eyes bore into hers and softened just a bit.

Hope, completely embarrassed, nodded and swallowed. She had to remember this man wasn’t here to hurt her. She’d treated bigger, scarier men in the clinic. Taking a few deep breaths, she felt Thea come up beside her and take her hand.

“It’s okay. This is a stressful situation. But you no longer have to go through this alone, Hope.”

Unable to speak as emotion clogged her throat, she nodded again, feeling like a bobble head on the dash of some college student’s old beater.

“I’m going to be direct.” Abel spoke in a loud and clear voice. “You are a sitting duck out here in the middle of nowhere. Whether it be that you think you are harder to find, or that you are protecting your loved ones, it doesn’t matter. You’ve placed yourself at a disadvantage. Cell service is horrible. It’d be easy to cut your phone lines, and no one would hear you scream.”

Hope listened to this man explain how vulnerable she’d made herself, and hot, angry tears welled in her eyes as he broke down why each of her added protections weren’t worth shit.