Safe Word by Teresa Mummert Page A

life and was living in an upscale neighborhood with a picket fence, although the thought of her being able to forget me so easily was still like a knife in my stomach.
    I nodded and watched her walk off to her dark little corner of the apartment. I scrubbed my face with the heels of my hands as my eyes fell to the empty coffee table.
    “Son of a bitch!” I jumped from the couch and ran to the spare bedroom. Lily was hunched in the corner, her back facing me. I grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet. She squealed and kicked backward as she held my cell phone out in front of her, just beyond my reach.
    “Stop!” She screamed as I yanked us both backward onto the mattress. I rolled on top of her as I struggled to pry the phone from her fingers without injuring her.
    “Do you have any fucking idea how stupid you are?” I yelled as I pinned her empty hand down.
    “Let me go!” Her other hand had a death grip on my phone, and she was holding it above her head, stretching as far as she could. I was well aware of the fact that her oversize shirt was riding up, and her smooth, warm stomach was pressed against mine.
    “You are going to get yourself killed!”
    “Then fucking kill me already!” Her eyes, wide and crazy, locked onto mine and we both stopped struggling, panting from the fight.
    “Who were you trying to call?”
    “None of your business.” She narrowed her eyes. I let my gaze fall to her chest and back to her perfect fucking mouth. She got the hint, and as her body relaxed for a fraction of a second, I pulled the phone from her hand. I kept her pinned under my body as I looked at the number on my phone.
    “You can give me a name, or I can do a reverse check and pay them a visit. Lily.” My eyes locked onto hers. “I never said I had a problem with killing someone. I only said I wouldn’t kill you.”
    “Shawn, my fiancé.”
    “You’re engaged? Where’s your ring?”
    “We have been separated for a few weeks. I moved back in with my family while we were working things out.”
    “What family?”
    “After Mom died, I moved in with a friend, and her family accepted me as one of them. I was already eighteen so it didn’t really matter…”
    I pushed myself up on my elbows as I tried to process this new information. I was glad Rose was able to move on with her life, find some semblance of normalcy.
    “I’m happy for you.”
    “Are you?”
    “Of course. Now we have someone to pay the ransom.” I pushed off the bed, looking her over once more. It was a fucking shame we were in this situation because she looked insanely beautiful sprawled out on that mattress. I hit the call button on my phone as I left the room and pulled her door closed behind me.
    It rang four times before man answered, sounding bored.
    “Can I help you?”
    “Notice anything missing?” I ended the call and laughed to myself. If he and Lily weren’t together, I needed to make him aware that she wasn’t around. We had two weeks to make him sweat.
    “What happened to you?”
    I spun around to see Rose leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest.
    “
You
happened.”
    Her gaze fell to the wooden floor below and her toes traced a crack in the wood.
    “You know I didn’t move out of Bollerville for years.” I tossed my phone on the coffee table and sank down on the couch. I ran my hand over the back of my neck as I looked down at my feet.
    “I know why I couldn’t find you. You practically fell off the map, but me…I was always around.”
    “I didn’t want anything to do with my past, Cole. You of all people should understand that.”
    I nodded my head but I had no fucking idea how she could go on and live this normal life while she knew I thought she was dead. The whole thing fucked me up and made me into the heartless asshole I had become.
    “Is he…is he gonna pay?” She stepped out of the doorway, her arms swinging at her sides as she made her way into the living room.
    “Don’t know