Chapter Eight
Cora made a cup of tea and congratulated herself on turning Liam down a third time in a matter of days. That had to be a record for him. Men didn’t like hearing ‘No’ and Liam didn’t hear it often. She could still feel the chemistry between them, but she wouldn’t give into it. He still wasn’t ready to share his secret with her. No matter their differences though, she couldn’t ignore Liam’s warning that she could possibly be in danger. A security system would only protect her so well. Maybe she should go to the pound and get a dog. That deterred people, right? Sadly, Cora didn’t want the responsibility of a dog. She hardly took care of herself most times. She needed a better plan.
Finished with her tea Cora was headed back to her office when she heard a noise at her back door. She turned and saw the doorknob on her back door moving side to side as if someone was testing if it was unlocked or not. Cora froze. Was she seeing things? She had lived in this house for ten years, and nothing like this had ever happened before. Now suddenly a brick through her window, a break-in, and now another possible break-in? Cora looked around her kitchen for a weapon. She grabbed one of the butcher knives and held it close to her chest. She watched the door to see if it moved again. She waited in suspense for any sound or movement but all was quiet. Maybe she was losing her mind. Cora started to relax when she heard the bushes in the backyard rustling, and it was moving towards the side of her house.
Cora pivoted on her heels and raced back to her office and looked out the window but couldn’t see anything. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and just needed a good night’s sleep. It could be a stray cat moving through the bushes. All this talk about people watching her was messing with her head.
Just then Cora heard a scraping sound at her front door. What in the world? She slowly made her way to the front door keeping her knife in front of her. When she stood in front of the door, she saw the lock on her doorknob turn over. Someone had just picked her lock. The doorknob twisted but the door remained closed. Cora had a deadbolt, a doorknob lock and a bar that the top of the door. Her father had taught her the importance of door locks. Cora turned to the alarm system next to the door and tried punching the code that would alert the police, but the system was completely shut off. Fuck. They disable her security again.
“You better get out of here.” She yelled at the closed door as she backed up to her office for her phone. “I’ve called the police, and they should be here any moment.” Cora waited to hear retreating footsteps or some indication whoever was out there heard her, but all remained silent. Cora sighed in relief thinking whoever had been at her door was gone, but then she heard more scratching at her door. They were trying to pick the lock again. Cora raced to her home phone, but the dial tone was dead. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and was about to call the police but realized they might take to long. Liam had only left a few minutes ago. She called him and prayed he was still close. She had a feeling she was going to regret calling him, but right now she needed him.
“Cora?” he asked questionably.
She couldn’t fault him for that. She all but threw him out of her house. Again. “Someone is trying to break in. They tested the back door, and they’ve already unlocked part of the front door. I’m scared Liam.” She hated admitting it.
“I’m almost there.” He said she heard the car engine rev. “Where are you?”
“In my office. They disabled the security alarm again and the home phone line is dead.”
She heard Liam mumble something under his breath. “Okay, do you have a weapon?”
“A kitchen knife,” she said lamely.
Liam tsked her. “The child of two Marines only has a kitchen knife to protect her?”
“Not my fault I live in a quiet neighborhood. Well, I did until a few days ago. I have a gun, but it’s upstairs.”
“Get upstairs and go to your room. Lock the door. I’m on your street and will be there in a minute.”
Cora nodded though she knew he couldn’t see her. She heard the tires squealing outside her house as she raced up the stairs. Liam had already hung up with her, but she kept the phone to her ear as she ran into her room and flipped the lock. She ran into her closet and hid behind her long dresses. It felt juvenile to do it, but it still made her feel better. She thought about crawling over to her nightstand and getting her Glock, but she was too scared to move.
Long agonizing moments later Cora heard her front door open. “Liam,” she whispered into her phone then remembered he had hung up with her. She pulled her phone away from her face and started dialing 911. She was about to hit send when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Was it Liam? Or someone else? The footsteps came straight for her bedroom. The doorknob rattled then stopped. A few seconds later the hinges creaked as the door opened. Cora dropped the phone and held the knife with both hands ready to defend herself. She tried to remember all the self-defense moves her parents taught her, but nothing was coming to mind under pressure. She would just have to wing it. The steps were closer now. They moved around her room. Probably looking for her. They stopped in front of the closet. The door slid open, and Cora screamed at the top of her lungs and started slashing.
“Jesus Christ, Cora,” Liam yelled out backing away from her.
Cora stopped in mid motion and looked up at Liam before sagging back. “Shit, Liam you couldn’t call out or anything that it was you?”
Liam squatted down to her and pulled the knife out of her death grip. “Sorry, I didn’t know if anyone got in the house, so I didn’t want to alert them.”
“You just scared ten years off my life. I think I have a gray hair already forming now thanks to you.”
“And you still look hot as hell.” He smiled down at her.
Cora let the comment slide. She was still trying to get her heart rate down. “Did you see them?”
“Yeah, fuckers took off as soon as I showed up. They had parked a little way down the block. They split before I could reach them, but I did manage to get a license plate, so hopefully, that will help us.”
“Thank you, Liam. Thank you for coming when you did. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t.”
~
Liam didn’t say anything as he took Cora in his arms and held her close. He had never been as scared as he was tonight when Cora called him to tell him someone was trying to break in. As he drove like a madman down her street, he imagined all horrible possible scenarios about what could have happened to Cora. For being a military kid, she had lived a pretty sheltered life. She was a straight-A student in school and always followed the rules. Now she had a window breaking, a break-in, and another attempted break-in. She may not want to hear it, but he was staying with her. He was no longer going to be passive when it came to Cora’s safety. He had respected her wishes when she told him to leave. He had planned to stay at Ben’s and keep an eye on her but no more. She was too important to him. He would stay with her, even if he had to handcuff himself to her.
“You don’t ever have to thank me, Amazon. I’m just glad you called me.” It was one of the many things he loved about her. He would always be eternally grateful she called him first as much as she may not have wanted to. She hated his guts, but she turned to him in her hour of need.
“Well, if they’re gone I think you can go too. I can manage from here.” Cora was putting her walls back up around her heart. She was pushing him away. He couldn’t have that.
“There’s not a chance in hell I’m leaving you now. One too many times now someone has tried to get in your house. I’m not leaving you vulnerable.”
“Liam, don’t start this again.” Cora tried to reason.
“No, I respected your wishes and kept my distance from you. Well no more. What if I can’t get here fast enough the next time? Or the police? You’re too vulnerable.”
“I’ll call Aaron tomorrow and have a new security system installed.”
“Not good enough.” Liam was putting his foot down. She could be as stubborn as she liked, but he was not letting her win this argument. Not anymore.
“Well, I’m not leaving.” Cora stomped her foot.
“And I’m not asking you to. I know how much you love this house. So, I’ll make this simple. I will stay here with you. I’ll sleep in the spare room until the threat is over.”
Cora’s amber eyes blazed. “I already told you once no. I’ll call Aaron in the morning, but that is final.”