Hot as Sin (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #2)(21)
Author: Bella Andre

“The line went dead before she gave me any other details. Oh God, who could have grabbed her? And what if he’s hurting her right now?”

“You can’t let yourself think like that. I promise you, we’re going to find her.”

Relief flooded through her, even though he was only trying to make her feel better.

“I’m going to need you to tell me everything you can about April, past and present, so that I can help you figure this out.”

Dianna was afraid that every additional second that ticked by could have terrible consequences for her sister. But at the same time she knew she had to think through the situation as calmly as possible. Thank God Sam was here to help her.

With everyone else, she’d always felt that she’d had to gloss over her problems with April. For so long, she’d been afraid of the press picking up the story and running with it and she hadn’t wanted to give away any potentially damaging information. Not to her various boyfriends over the years. Not even to her close girlfriends.

But Sam was different, wasn’t he? After all, he could have sold her story a long time ago, told everyone about her trailer park roots, about her drunk mother, but he hadn’t. It was safe to come clean with him.

“April and I have problems. She hates all of my rules. She says I’m too strict. I’m pretty sure she moved to Colorado to get away from me.” Her tongue felt like dry leather inside her mouth and she took another sip of water before continuing. “I saw her last night at a café in Vail for the first time in a couple of months, but I was too hard on her and she stormed out.”

Sam didn’t look surprised by anything she was saying.

Did he really know her that well? Did he still know her better than anyone else ever had—or ever would?

“What did she want when you saw her at the coffee shop? Money?”

“No. But I gave her some anyway.” She pressed her palms to her eyes. “She wants me to treat her like an adult, but how can I when all I ever see when I look at her is a four-year-old girl crying for me to save her?”

“Don’t blame yourself for doing whatever you need to do to take care of her,” he said softly. “She’s not the only one who was put through the wringer by your mother. You were, too.”

She pulled her hands away from her eyes, amazed all over again that Sam was sitting in front of her. And that he was helping her through another of the most difficult moments of her life.

He’d been there when she and her mother had almost gotten stuck in their trailer during the wildfire. He’d been there when she needed help with April’s case. And he was here now.

At least for the next few minutes, she wasn’t alone.

“How do you always manage to be here right when I need you?” she asked in a whisper.

His eyes darkened and her breath went as she waited for him to respond.

“What did you and April argue about?” he asked instead of answering her loaded question.

Disappointment flooded her. He obviously didn’t want to get any closer to her than he had to.

He was right to keep his distance. She knew she should be doing the same thing, and yet his smackdown still hurt. Like crazy.

Fortunately, it was also a good reminder that he hadn’t always been there for her. Like after she lost the baby, for instance, when he’d all but disappeared from her life.

In any case, what was she doing focusing on anything but April?

“She’s living on a commune,” she said in answer to his question about her argument with April. “I wanted her to come back to San Francisco with me and she refused.”

If Sam was shocked about April living in a commune, he didn’t show it. “Did she tell you where the commune is located?”

Fortunately, April had thrown a few details at her before storming out of the café. “No, but she did tell me that it’s very controlled. That they don’t let just anyone up there and visitors need to have special permission. She said there aren’t any roads and they don’t like trespassers. She seemed to think the isolation was a good thing.”

April had seemed utterly enraptured by her new home, almost as if she’d been brainwashed into believing that living like a wild animal was a good thing.

“She told me they get to live on their own terms. And that it’s really exclusive and an honor to be allowed to live there. I just know that place has something to do with what’s happened to her.”

Sam held up his hands as if to try to slow her down.

“I know you’re worried about your sister, but from everything you’ve told me she isn’t exactly Little Miss Perfect, is she? Could this phone call be just another bump in the road for her? A prank to see how high she can make you jump?”

She couldn’t stop herself from going to April’s defense. “She’s had a hard life. She’s still figuring things out.”

“You had it rough, too. But you always knew what you wanted. Always kept yourself on track and found a way to achieve your goals.”

Sorrow came at her. Did he even realize that she’d gone completely off track ten years ago? Didn’t he realize that apart from her sister and mother, he was the only person whose love she really wanted? And that losing him was a big enough failure to trump all of her later successes?

“You’re absolutely positive that April isn’t just messing with you? Trying to get your attention. Trying to get you to prove your love.”

“No.”

She shook her head hard and immediately felt dizzy. Sam was at her side in an instant, his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back into the pillows.

“You need to take it easy.”

But they both knew she couldn’t. Not when her baby sister needed her.

He was sitting so close that she could breathe in the fresh scent of his bath soap, reminiscent of dry pine needles in a warm and sunny forest. It would be so easy to fall into his arms, to press her lips against the pulse beating strong and steady on his neck.

Despite her intense longing, she still couldn’t forget how badly he’d hurt her. Those painful memories gave her enough self-control to shift away from him on the bed.

“April wouldn’t do something that horrible to me,” she told him again, knowing that even though April wasn’t the easiest person to love, she wasn’t evil.

“That may be the case,” Sam replied, “but I’m not going to let you go rushing off to find her. You need to continue resting and getting better.”