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The three of them strode down the hall toward Holly’s room. Adam noticed the absence of the guard who had been posted earlier. When he opened the door, he was greeted to a freshly made bed. An empty bed. He rushed through the door, slamming it against the wall.
The room was empty. Completely empty. No trace that Holly had ever been there could be found.
He stormed back into the hallway, his brothers close on his heels. He stalked to the nurses’ station and slammed his hands down on the counter.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
An older lady, the head nurse, maybe, walked over to him and put out a placating hand.
“She’s been transferred to another facility. One that has better security than we do here. ”
“Where?” Adam bit out.
“She can’t tell you that. ”
Adam whirled around to see David Masterson standing a few feet away. He itched to plant his fist square onto the D. A. ’s nose.
“She left this for you,” David said, extending a folded note. “Don’t worry, Mr. Colter. We’ll take excellent care of her. ”
Adam watched, stunned, as David turned and walked down the hall toward the elevator. He stared down at the paper in his hand, his stomach rolling and tumbling.
With shaking hands, he pulled it open. Three words. So simple.
I love you.
He crumbled the note and sent it flying into the wall. His brothers wore expressions of disbelief. Ryan punched the wall, shoving a hole into the plaster.
“What do we do now?” Ethan asked in a quiet voice.
“We go back to the cabin. And wait for her to come home,” Adam said.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Holly stood at the end of the winding driveway, staring up at the cabin. Summer had come to the mountains. Everywhere she looked, the earth burst with green. She’d only seen the landscape when it was covered with a sheet of white and had thought at the time it couldn’t be more beautiful. She’d been wrong. It couldn’t possibly look any better than now when she was coming home.
She’d parked down the road, exactly as she had done once before. Somehow she’d wanted to replicate the journey she’d made so many months before.
She smiled as the breeze lifted her long hair and blew it gently around her shoulders. She slid a hand over the bulge of her abdomen, rubbing absently at the gentle swell.
With a deep breath, she started the long walk up the hill to the front door. Butterflies danced in her stomach. In response, the baby kicked and turned over. She stopped and put a hand to her stomach again until the sensation passed.
She smiled and continued on. When she reached the front porch, she hesitated. The door was merely inches away, and yet, she didn’t knock. Should she just go in? No. She’d been gone too long.
Would they welcome her back? Would they still love her? Uncertainty nibbled away at her confidence. Adam had been so angry the last time she’d seen him. She closed her eyes to banish the look of betrayal she’d seen in his expression.
Tears swam in her eyes. She’d missed them terribly. She’d lain awake so many nights longing for their touch. She looked down and scrubbed at her eyes. It was over now. She was finally free to live the life she wanted. It was up to her to reach out and take it.
Slowly, she raised her hand and knocked quietly. She waited a moment then mustered her courage and knocked harder.
Her heart lurched when she heard firm footsteps from inside. The door opened and Ryan stood in the doorway, a stunned look on his face.
“Holly?”
She stared at him, praying he didn’t turn around and shut the door.
Before she could say anything, she found herself enfolded in his arms. He picked her up and whirled her around, burying his face in her chest.
The baby rolled and kicked between them and he froze. He let her slowly down then backed a space away. He reached out with a shaky hand to cup her swollen belly.
“Is this…is this…?” he broke off his voice hoarse with emotion.
She covered his hand with hers, holding it in place against her stomach. “Yes,” she whispered.
He stared at her in stunned silence. Then he hugged her to him again. He buried his face in her hair and stroked her back. He reached between them to palm her abdomen again as if he couldn’t quite believe the evidence in front of him.
“Our baby,” he whispered.
He tugged her to the couch and sat down. He reached for her hands and pulled her down until she straddled his lap. Then he placed both hands on her stomach, a look of wonder in his eyes.
He looked back up at her, and his hands traveled over the arm that had been broken then up to where the knife wound had torn her chest.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Now that I’m here,” she added.
He reached up and framed her face in his large hands then pulled her down to kiss him.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he said hoarsely.
Tears slid down her cheeks. “I missed you too. ”
A noise across the room had her jerking her head in that direction. She tensed as she saw Adam and Ethan standing in the doorway to the living room.
Ethan’s face split into a wide smile, but Adam stared in brooding silence. Her heart flipped and her stomach dropped. He hadn’t forgiven her for leaving.
She shakily crawled back off Ryan’s lap and stood, her fingers wrapped tightly together.
Adam took a step forward. “Promise me. ” He stared directly at her, his eyes penetrating every layer of her skin. “Promise me you’ll never do anything so completely stupid again. Swear to me you’ll never leave us again. ”
She flew to him, throwing herself into his arms. He caught her tightly against him. He held her head against his chest. He kissed the top of her hair, leaving his lips there for a long moment.
When she pulled away, she found herself tugged into Ethan’s arms.
“Welcome home, doll. ”
He kissed her lingeringly then hugged her again.
“Do you have something you want to tell us?” Adam asked, his eyes drifting to her stomach.
She smiled. “You’re going to be fathers. ”
Ethan let out a whoop and twirled her around the living room.
“Put her down, dumbass,” Ryan said sourly. “She doesn’t need you throwing her around like a sack of grain. ”
Ethan set her down and molded his hand to her belly.
