Only Her (A K2 Team Novel)(64)

There was no sign of Pelli. Cody dreaded telling Riley her kitten was missing, and as he stood outside her front door waiting for her to get out of Jake and Maria’s car, he knew it was going to happen in a minute. He watched as she reached over the backseat and gave Maria a hug, and then said something to Jake that made him laugh. Cody gave Jake a wave as the car backed out of the driveway.

Even with the puffy eyes from crying and her long hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, she was gorgeous. He met her halfway down the sidewalk and took the cat carrier from her, wrapped his free arm around her shoulder, and pulled her close.

“Jake called, said Arthur’s gonna be okay. That’s great news.”

She leaned her face against his arm. “It was touch and go for a while, but he’s a fighter. I was so scared I was going to lose him.”

There was probably not another man who would understand her fear as much as he did. He was getting close to accepting that he’d never find Layla, and it was a hurt deep in his heart knowing he’d lost her.

“Even though he’s a cat, I’m awful glad he’s okay,” Cody teased.

“You know you love him.” He opened the door, following her inside, and her eyes darted around the room. “You found Pelli, right?”

The owner of the alarm company walked into the living room. “We should be done here in about an hour.”

Cody welcomed the interruption. The last thing he wanted to do was tell her Pelli was gone. “Take however long you need to make sure it’s right.” Doug gave a two-finger salute before disappearing back into the bedroom.

“Who was that?” Riley asked.

He set the carrier on the coffee table. “Doug Villiers. He’s here with two of his employees. They’re installing a state-of-the-art alarm system. Tomorrow he’ll do your clinic.” While that had been going on, Cody had managed to straighten up her house. Fortunately, no lasting damage had been done, only upended things and Riley’s stuff tossed to the floor.

“Oh, okay. Where’s Pelli?”

He took her hand and led her to the sofa, sitting beside her. “I’m sorry, darlin’, but he’s not here.”

“Maybe he’s hiding.” Tears pooled in her eyes.

“I don’t think so. I’ve looked in every cabinet and hiding place I could find.” When the tears overflowed and streamed down her cheeks, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I think he’s alive. We just have to find him.” He wished he could be sure about that, but his gut said the bad guy would have left Pelli’s body for her to find if they’d killed the cat.

There was so much hope and trust in her eyes that he silently vowed he’d find her kitten even if he had to tear the town apart.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN




Friday afternoon, Riley slipped on a pair of black-and-gray silk pajama pants and a soft, light-gray pullover top after taking a shower. Hair dried and left down her back, face moisturized, and lips glossed, she decided she was done. Cody had taken care of feeding her since she’d come home from the hospital, but tonight she would make dinner.

One thing she never scrimped on was food. At any given time, her pantry and refrigerator were full. She was self-aware enough to understand that her reason for needing to have an abundance of food on hand was a direct correlation to her childhood.

She liked to cook, and on Sundays would often make a batch of freezable meals. After Cody left for his doctor’s appointment, she eyed the possibilities in her freezer, settling on lasagna. That, along with French bread and a salad, should satisfy a man’s stomach.

She wasn’t sure what she would have done without him these past few days. He had stayed at her side, held her until she fell asleep each night, and true to his word, blended into the woodwork during her days at her clinic. She’d cut her day short so Cody could bring her home before he left to see his doctor, but parked in front of her house, guarding her, was a man from K2, one she’d not met.

One thing she didn’t like was that Cody moved to the couch each night after she fell asleep. She wasn’t afraid of him, didn’t believe he would hurt her during one of his nightmares, but he refused to take the chance.

They still hadn’t had sex and that was going to change tonight. Her headaches were gone, and she was more than ready. Her plan for the evening was a romantic dinner and then bed. Her only concern was Cody. He’d been quiet all day, and had spent most of the morning working on the homework he’d been assigned, which he’d declined to talk about.

As she set the table, she glanced at her two cats. Both were curled up with Pretty Girl and Sally, and it amazed her how well Arthur and Merlin had taken to Cody’s dogs. The cats had searched for Pelli, especially Arthur, and they’d been subdued since he’d gone missing. Thinking of Pelli brought tears to her eyes. She was so worried about him. Cody believed that he was alive, and she prayed he was right.