Holiday in Danger (19 page)

“Gladly.” He grabbed her head in one hand and her shoulder in the other and as Ivy shrieked, Trent fired.

* * *

TRENT

Brandon’s eyes went wide in shock as the bullet pierced his neck. He let go of Ivy and as his hand reached down to the gun tucked in his waistband, he fell to the floor.

Too much blood loss would do that to a guy. Trent stalked up to him, gun still drawn and ready. But there was no need. Brandon wasn’t a threat anymore.

Ivy sunk to her knees, scrabbling toward her boyfriend’s body. Blood pumped from the wound on his neck, soaking the white of his tux shirt and dripping into a puddle on the floor.

Trent paused. He didn’t know what to do with the woman.

Ivy grabbed Brandon by the head and started screaming. “Get up! Get up you asshole! They’re supposed to be dead, not you! Who’s going to make them pay? Where’s my revenge!” She shook him harder and the blood pumped faster. It soaked the hem of her dress, bright red inching up the silver fabric like dye.

Ian stepped forward, but Trent waved him off. She might not look dangerous, but the woman tried to kill him.

“Get the tape. Let’s get her secure.”

“What? No!” Ivy stood up, bloodstains covering her knees and dress and shoes. “You aren’t taping me up! You’re supposed to be dead!” She lunged at Ian and Trent stepped forward.

A single swing and the butt of his handgun hit the side of her head. She crumpled to the floor.

He turned to Ian. “How about that chair? Make sure it’s good and tight. I’ll find a knife.”

Adrenaline still pumped through Trent’s veins, but the threat was over. Now came the aftermath. He steeled himself to look at Holly. He’d ignored her since he’d busted in, refusing to acknowledge the wounds Brandon had inflicted. But he couldn’t avoid them now.

Her left eye socket had swelled close to shut and blood oozed from a gash in her lip. Her dress was torn in multiple places and a nasty purple bruise was spreading across her arm. She’d been beaten.

Trent exhaled and dropped into a crouch at her feet. “I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner. This is my fault.”

Holly shook her head. “No, it’s not. You just saved my life.”

He ran a hand over her hair and smoothed it down. “I should have figured it out. It’s always the exes. I don’t know why I didn’t put it together.”

“She’d covered her tracks. Besides, you’d never have thought to look for Brandon. He’s my problem, not Ian’s.”

“He’s not anyone’s problem now.” Ian hauled Ivy into a chair and wrapped the tape around her wrists. “He’s dead. And Ivy’s going to jail.”

Trent nodded. “It’s over.” He stood up and brushed a lock of hair away from Holly’s face. All the pain she’d gone through tonight could have been avoided. He’d never forgive himself for that. “Let me find a knife. I’ll cut you free.”

He turned to walk away, but she called out. “Trent!”

“What?” He spun around. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” She smiled. “Thank you.”

Damn it.
He wanted to tell her to stop it—he wasn’t a hero. He’d failed and let her get hurt. She could have died. Ian, too. “You should be thanking Ian, too. It was his idea to rush in and bait Brandon.”

Holly blinked at turned to Ian. “It was?”

He nodded. “I didn’t want to wait for the police. I couldn’t stand not knowing what he was doing to you.”

“Then thank you, too.” She turned back to Trent with a raised eyebrow. “Now about that tape.”

HOLLY

“B
EFORE
YOU
SAY
anything, I’m okay.”

Hillary exhaled so loudly Holly heard it over the phone. “Thank God. Tell me it wasn’t as bad as I’ve been imagining.”

“I could lie. Would that help?”

“No. Just let me sit down.”

Holly took a deep breath and relayed the details to Hillary until her best friend shrieked and launched into near-panic mode.

“I’m coming up there. Do you need me? I can be there in an hour. Maybe less.”

“No. I’m fine.” She glanced up at Trent pacing back and forth and gesticulating at the police officer. “Trent and Ian are…well, they’ll be okay. The police are here and the EMTs. You should stay in Midnight Cove.”

“Are you sure? I could bring something. Cookies?”

Holly smiled. “No. Really Hillary, it’s okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“First thing in the morning, all right? Because if you don’t I’ll be banging on Ian’s door with a box full of pastries and I won’t leave until you talk to me.”

“Talk to you soon.” She hung up the phone and exhaled. Hillary was safe and Ian and Trent were too. They’d all survived a pair of crazy people out to kill them and get revenge.

She shook her head. Hours ago she’d been worried about how she could let herself fall for two men. She’d spent days trying to convince herself it was just a fling—and because of what?

What other people might think? Because she might have to move back home and deal with her past?

It all seemed so trivial now. So unimportant.

When Brandon had dragged her out of that trunk and tied her to that chair, it had all sunk in. She wasn’t just having a fling with Ian and Trent. She was head over heels in love with both of them.

She didn’t want to move back to LA and her boring, comfortable life. She wanted to stay in Midnight Cove and wake up every morning wrapped up in their arms.

People would talk. She’d have to deal with the dirty looks and nasty comments and the jerks she’d run away from. It didn’t matter. This time she had something to fight for. Holly smiled. Two somethings to be exact.

Trent’s voice carried across the clearing. “If you’d gotten here sooner, I wouldn’t have had to shoot anyone! Your response time is shit!”

Holly shook her head. She knew he blamed himself for her injuries, but she didn’t. Trent saved her life. As soon as the cops left and they could go home, she’d show him. One kiss at a time.

Ian walked over and sat on the edge of the ambulance. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “How about you?”

“I’m fine. They took Ivy away. I put in a call to the DA’s office. She won’t be getting out anytime soon.”

Holly blinked. “You know the district attorney?”

Ian shrugged. “I know everyone. I used to, at least.” He ran a hand down his face. “The shipping business is so impersonal. I’m dealing with clients half a world away. When I worked restaurants full-time, I got to know everyone in town. Now—” He shifted on the bumper. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” Holly leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. “Thanks for rescuing me.”

“I’m sorry we even put you in this position. It’s all my fault.”

Holly sat up with a start. “It is not! First Trent and now you.” She twisted until she could look him in the eye. “You look here, Ian Knowles. Ivy would never have been able to pull this off by herself. Brandon wasn’t here because he loved her. He was here because he wanted me to suffer. It was as much about me as it was about you.”

“Still.”

“No! Stop it. Even if you find out Ivy was behind the emails, I’m sure once it gets all pieced together, we’ll find out they planned everything else. Brandon was never going to let it go.”

Holly pushed her hair off her face and continued. “If I hadn’t been so afraid to come back here…if I hadn’t been so angry at my mother…I’d never have gotten between him and any money. You have to know that. I’d have had the trustee give it all to him. I didn’t care.”

Ian reached out and wrapped his arm around her. He squeezed her gently. “I know you would have. You’re the only woman in Midnight Cove who holds it against me that I’m loaded.”

Holly smiled. “Is it that obvious?”

The vibrations of Ian’s silent laugh shook Holly until she giggled. “Let’s just say I know you’re not into me for the money.”

“That’s true, I’m not.”

“Am I interrupting?” Trent walked up and Holly smiled. She’d gotten a chance to see him in his element—defending her and saving the day. He was so much more than private security. He was her hero.

She motioned to the police car and the officers standing beside it. “Are you finally done yelling at that poor policeman?”

“For now.”

“Are we free to go?”

Trent nodded. “They’ll want to talk to us again. But for tonight, we can go home.”

Holly exhaled in relief. She wanted to get off of that mountain and wash all the memories of that night off her skin. A hot shower would give her all the courage she needed to tell Ian and Trent exactly what she wanted the future to be. “I call dibs on the shower.”

Ian helped her off the bumper with a smirk. “I have seven, Holly. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

* * *

IAN

“You think she’s okay?”

Trent nursed a scotch as he perched on the edge of the couch. “Yeah. She’s tough, Ian.”

“I know. She’s way tougher than I ever gave her credit for.” He couldn’t believe how she’d managed to keep Brandon talking even after he’d punched her into last year. “If she hadn’t found a way to stay alive, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Trent glanced up. “We’d both be in jail right now and Brandon wouldn’t be the only one dead.”

Ian nodded. Trent was right. If they’d gotten there too late, Ivy wouldn’t be crying in a jail cell somewhere. She’d be lying next to Brandon in the morgue.

“I’m sorry I didn’t connect the dots sooner. I should have known Ivy was behind everything.”

Trent shook his head. “It’s not your fault. Neither one of us thought it was her. Hell, I trailed her for two days just to see if she could be the one. All she did was go to the spa and have brunch at some fish place on the water.”

“You never saw her with Brandon?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. I’d never met the guy before. I wasn’t exactly a model student back when I lived here.”

“Holly said he was a football jock. Big trust fund kid. Drove a fancy car, was big man on campus.”

“Then I’d have ignored him. Guys like that weren’t worth my time. Still aren’t.”

Ian glanced up. “That include me?”

Trent smirked. “Naw. You’re all right. Besides, you pay me.”

“Is that the only reason?”

Trent’s smile faltered. “Are you talking about Holly?”

Ian swallowed a gulp of liquor. “I don’t want her to go back to LA. I want her to stay here with me.”

Trent’s jaw flexed. “Do I fit in with that somewhere?”

“If you want to. I’ve got more than enough room for the three of us here.”

Trent pushed off the sofa and walked to the edge of the rug. He stared off toward the windows to the pool. “Before I took this job, I thought I had it all figured out. I’d built this life for myself—part bodyguard, part security. I did it. I went home. End of story.”

“And now?”

“Now none of it matters. All I can think about is waking up to Holly’s soft curves. Her infectious laugh. I can’t give her up.” He turned around and met Ian’s stare head on. “I love her.”

Ian inhaled. It’s what he’d expected. “That makes two of us.” He stood up and walked over to Trent. “You want to fight for it?”

Trent grinned. “You know I can take you.”

“Yeah, I do.” He drained the rest of his drink. “You think we can make this work without killing each other?”

“As long as you don’t monopolize all her time. Yeah, I think we can.”

Ian nodded. While Trent had been cursing out the police, an idea had come to Ian. A way for all three of them to create a future right there in Midnight Cove together. He just hoped Trent and Holly would agree.

He clapped Trent on the back. “I’ve got a business proposition for you.”

* * *

HOLLY

Holly heard the laid back laughter as she made her way down the stairs. It warmed her heart and she paused to soak it in.

She’d taken her time in the shower, hoping the extra minutes would give Ian and Trent time to clear the air. They needed to come to terms with what had happened and stop blaming themselves.

They weren’t the cause of her bruises or scrapes. It was Brandon and Ivy. As strange as it may seem, Holly was thankful it had all happened the way it did.

The threat hanging over all of them was gone. They were safe. And Holly couldn’t deny what had been hiding in plain sight all this time. She wanted both of them…for way more than a temporary fling.

With a deep breath, she made her way down the rest of the stairs.

“Hey, beautiful.” Ian rose up off the couch and smiled. “Feel better?”

She nodded.

“Looks like the swelling’s gone down. How’s your eye?” Ian reached out toward the side of her face that used to be swollen and sore.

“I’ll have a black eye for a while, but it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” She glanced at Trent sitting on the couch. “How about the two of you? Are you both over the macho
it’s-all-my-fault
routine?”

Trent shrugged. “Sort of? I don’t think we’ll ever stop blaming ourselves.”

“Well you should.” Holly made her way into the living room and sat next to Trent. Ian sat down next to her on the other side.

“Will the police want to talk to us again?”

“Tomorrow or the next day. They need to process the scene, but we’ll have to give formal interviews I’m sure.”