She’s okay. She’s okay.
Rationally, he knew that she was alive. Tate had just seen her. Still, he needed to see her beautiful face with his own eyes. And she needed him. He could sense it.
He spotted her standing beside the hot springs, just holding her phone in her hand and staring at the water. Jesus! She looked so lost and alone, and so damn vulnerable, her arms wrapped around her upper body, her face streaked with dark lines. She’d obviously been crying and her makeup and mascara outlined the marks of her tears. But she’d never looked more beautiful because she was standing right there, still alive and breathing.
She’s mine. She was always supposed to be mine.
Travis had never been more certain of anything in his entire life. He wasn’t the type of man who believed in fate, always believing that everyone made their own destiny. Now, he didn’t believe that. Not when it came to Ally. There had really only ever been her, and he’d nearly lost her.
“Ally,” he said hoarsely as he walked to her slowly, opening his arms as she turned at the sound of his voice. She flung her whole body toward him, and he closed his eyes as he folded her tightly into his embrace. “Everything will be okay, sweetheart. I’ll make everything right again.” He stroked his hand over her hair, holding her head tightly against his shoulder. “All that matters is that you’re okay. Anything else, including the house, can be replaced.”
“Tate told you?” Ally asked softly.
“Yeah.”
“You knew it was going to happen, didn’t you? That’s why you wanted me to come with you? It didn’t have anything to do with avoiding the auction. You were trying to save me.”
“I had the same dream every time, but it was so fucking vague. I recognized the resort and the ballroom when I got a call that you had—” Travis had to force the word out his mouth in a guttural tone as he finished, “died. I didn’t know how or why. I didn’t know when. The only thing that made sense was that if something was going to happen, it was going to occur while I was in Colorado.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked in a confused voice.
“Christ, Ally. I wasn’t even sure anything was going to happen. And I couldn’t stand to even think about it, much less talk about it. I didn’t want to scare you for no reason. But I was going to make damn sure you were in Colorado with me, even if I had to kidnap you.”
“You wouldn’t,” she exclaimed, pulling back to look at his face. “And I might have been married.”
Travis gripped the hands on her back into tight fists. It was past time that he stopped bullshitting himself and everyone else. “You wouldn’t have married him. I would have done whatever I needed to do to make sure you didn’t get married.” He’d finally said it, admitted it to himself. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to think he’d let her be happy with another man. It simply wouldn’t have happened. He wanted her too much, needed her too much. He would have thrown her over his shoulder at the wedding if necessary and taken her away. “I couldn’t have waited much longer. I would have done everything in my power to make you mine.” His conviction that she belonged with him had been too strong, too powerful to ignore. The closer her wedding had gotten, the more desperate he had felt. There was no damn way he’d have let her say “I do” to another man without first fighting with everything he had to make her belong to him. Maybe he’d have fought with himself right up until the last moment, but he had no doubt how things would have ended, and she wouldn’t have ended up married to someone else. He would have fought dirty if he’d had to, and he was perfectly capable of doing just that. “Hell, and I thought Sutherland was crazy for the plan he’s making up with Tate’s help. I would have done something just as crazy or worse.”
“You never said what they were planning. You just said Jason was going after the woman he loved,” Ally murmured.
“Believe me, you don’t want to know,” Travis told her emphatically, immediately changing the subject. “Tell me what happened with the house.”
Ally explained what had happened, that she’d spoken to the police twice, and the house was a total loss. “I don’t think it will really sink in until I see it,” she finished sadly. “And I’ll need to find a place to live. I can’t believe I’m currently homeless.”
“You’re going to be living with me,” Travis growled, his protective instincts sharp and nearly painful.
“I appreciate you giving me a place to stay for a while, but I’ll find something as quickly as I can,” she assured him gratefully.