Page 70 of Mountain Mens' Curvy Obsession

“No, I looked it up online when I first took the test,” I tell him. “It seems to be pretty textbook at this point.”

“Rest assured, you’re in good hands. And the next blood panel we run will look a lot better in a couple of weeks, provided you make the changes I suggested.”

“I will. Should I be worried about fainting again?”

“Not if you can control your stress levels.”

“I will”

He pauses in the doorway. “I’ll see you in two weeks, Anya.”

“Okay.”

“Shall I let your keepers in?”

“Yes, please.”

I brace myself for what will follow. I can’t keep it under wraps anymore, not with Leo Sokolov in town, not with everything falling apart right in front of me. I’m scared, and I don’t want to do this alone.

All I can do is pray the Hayes brothers won’t reject me.

Or worse, sacrifice their lives and their freedom out of some misguided sense of responsibility. Too many people have already died to protect me. I don’t want Booker, Chance, and Nico to be three more.

18

Anya

Alarmed by the event that landed me in the clinic in the first place, the guys send Breonna home and then take me back to the lodge, making sure we’re not followed on the way up there. But not before they debrief Breonna about what happened after I ran from Leo.

“What did she say?” I ask as soon as I’m back in the living room by the fireplace, wrapped up in a warm blanket.

“She didn’t stick around,” Nico says.

Chance and Booker exchange glances and settle on the sofa, their eyes constantly searching my face. I find a sense of safety when they’re around. I should’ve never left their side.

“She didn’t?” I mumble, lowering my gaze.

“No, Breonna says she told the guy to leave you alone, and then she bolted right after you. When she couldn’t find you, she tried calling,” Nico replies.

Only now do I think of checking my phone. Indeed, plenty of missed calls and text messages are waiting.

“I just saw him—” I say, but Booker cuts me off.

“Leo Sokolov.”

“Yes,” I reply, “just outside the coffee shop. We were careful, I promise. I checked the mirrors like you taught me. He showed up out of nowhere. I don’t know if it was luck or if he was following us from somewhere.”

Chance frowns. “But you’re sure it was him.”

“Retrograde amnesia or not, neither my body nor my mind ever truly forgot that man. The dread he inspires is real. Running was completely instinctive.”

“It was a good move,” Nico says. “I’m sorry to say this means we can’t let you go out on your own anymore. In fact, I think we need to keep you here, away from the town, at least until we figure out where Leo is holed up and what his strategy is.”

“We all know what his strategy is,” Chance scoffs. “He’s going to come for Anya.”

“I feel so stupid,” I grumble and press my fingers to my temples, trying to relieve some of the pressure building up since I regained consciousness at the clinic. So much for stress management.

Booker shakes his head. “Don’t. It’s not your fault. Leo is a resourceful man, way more capable than Max. It was always a question of when, not if, with him.”

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