Page 51 of Heartbreak Hero

“Agreed. I just…I’m having a hard time dealing with what happened in Seattle. How could I have been sleeping with a man who was stalking my best friend? A guy who killed her husband? And not even know it?” she wailed.

“First of all, her husband was an abusive son of a bitch and in my opinion got what he deserved. And secondly,” Ana stopped her with a raised hand when she wanted to interrupt. “None of us knew what Chris was.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t screwing him.” She shuddered, tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks, and she didn’t bother to wipe them away.

“Were you in love with Chris?” Ana asked flatly.

“No, not even a little bit. But I was dating him.”

“You just need to trust that your gut was keeping you from falling for him. Some part of you knew he wasn’t good, you just didn’t find out in time,” Ana said.

“Stop beating yourself up,” Carla whispered, brushing the tears from her own cheeks before taking a swallow of her drink. “He’s dead, he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“That’s right. Levi killed him,” Ana said decisively.

Sara blinked at Ana. “What?” Her voice wobbled.

“You didn’t know, because you packed up and left Seattle without talking to anyone,” Ana said.

“But…I’ve talked to you, Michelle, Lily, and Carla since then and none of you mention a word of it…”

“I didn’t because I wasn’t going to open old wounds,” Carla said.

“I didn’t tell you because it never came up,” Ana said bluntly. “Now, it’s coming up and Chris is dead.”

“And Levi killed him,” Sara whispered.

“What’s the sudden interest in Levi?”

“Nothing, just surprised is all,” Sara said. She wasn’t ready to disclose the father of her baby yet.

Ana squinted at her for several long moments as if trying to figure out something, but then gave up and eyed her.

“I think we need to have a good meal tonight. Let’s find a restaurant that’s close by,” Ana said.

“My treat!” Carla said with a smile.

Sara nodded and was once again engulfed in hugs from both of her friends. She was glad they had forgiven her for running off.

Her friends were just what she needed to put her life in perspective.

And for the first time in a long time, she thought about returning to Seattle.

Later that same night, Sara searched through her purse for her room card and finally found it tucked into an inside pocket.

Ana and Carla were parking the rental car and would meet her in the lobby.

Clutching the card in her hand, Sara came to an abrupt stop when she spotted a tall, familiar figure.

Levi Huxley leaned against the outside wall of the hotel. He looked sexy as hell wearing blue jeans and a thick black leather jacket. The man had one knee bent with a black work boot planted on the building’s surface.

“What are you doing here?” Sara hissed, squeezing her purse strap and the card.

Her feet were killing her and the last thing she wanted was to stand out there and have a heart-to-heart with Levi, much less take him inside the hotel.

She was pretty sure the bulge in the man’s jacket was a holster with a gun. Was that the weapon he’d used to kill Chris? Had he used his bare hands? Her gaze lifted from the bulge, she’d seen the gun in question first hand. He had taken his holster off both times before they ended up in bed.

Cutting off any further thoughts of the two hot nights spent heating up the sheets, she glared and shifted to take her weight off of each foot respectively. She should have worn her new sneakers instead of wanting to look fashionable while going to dinner with the girls.

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