Page 74 of Keeping Collette

Collette was that to him.

She brightened his life, and even though he had purpose in his life, with Collette it became deeper.

They broke apart, and he rested his cheek against hers. Enjoying the moment. He’d never said I love you to another woman. He’d never felt the need to. Now though, he would be saying it to Collette for the rest of their lives.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Collette sat at a table in a coffee shop just down from her apartment block. It wasn’t busy, but considering it was almost nine in the evening, it made sense why it was quiet. She and Courtney had often frequented this place after they’d had dinner together. Her sister had liked the idea of going out for cake and coffee after they’d eaten. Collette hadn’t minded, because Courtney had so few pleasures in life, she’d liked to indulge her.

Tonight’s visit was the first time she’d been to the café since Courtney’s death. For some reason, she’d wanted to be close to her sister, and this place had always held special memories for the two of them.

Deal was out doing something he hadn’t given her all the details of. He’d told her it was an assignment that he and the team had to do and the less she knew about it, the better. Which was fine by her. As much as she was an inquisitive person, there were some aspects of what Deal and Alliez did that she didn’t need to know everything about. All that mattered to her was that he came home to her.

She couldn’t believe he loved her. Given who her parents were, she’d never had a lot of boyfriends growing up. Although she’d had a few guys show interest in her, only to dump her when they worked out that she wasn’t going to supply them with drugs. After the third time that had happened, she’d stopped accepting their invitations.

But Deal had seen her parents. Knew what they did, and it still hadn’t turned him off her.

A shaft of guilt hit her at how happy she was, when Courtney would never get to experience this. They were still no closer to finding the killer, and given that Deal and the team were off doing something else, she couldn’t help but wonder if they too had given up on finding who was responsible for Courtney’s death.

As quickly as the thought came, she dismissed it. Alliez had other clients and jobs, surely someone would be working in the background on Courtney’s case, but when Deal got home she’d check with him.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’re closing up soon. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” One of the coffee shop workers smiled at her apologetically.

“Oh no, that’s fine. I need to head home anyway. Thanks.” Collette quickly gathered up her things. She’d been working on next year’s production schedule for Astrid. She had a new line of cookware coming out, so she would need to go on the road to promote it. Collette was trying to work out a schedule where she wouldn’t be away from her family for long stretches, because that was the last thing Astrid wanted.

She checked her phone hoping to see a message from Deal but knowing that it wasn’t likely. So she was surprised to see that he had, in fact, sent one.

I love you.

She smiled and fired off a quick response.

I love you too. Be careful. <3

Collette popped her phone back in her back pocket, hoisted her laptop bag on her shoulder, and made her way out, thanking the staff again.

A cool breeze swept over her, and she was glad she only had a short walk to get back to her building.

What time Deal would come home was anyone’s guess, but she planned on staying awake until he walked through the door and she could see for herself that he was unharmed.

What would it be like when he went away for days on end? How would she cope?

She would have to, and at least she could contact Astrid to ask her how she’d coped when Callum had gone away. Or, considering Astrid had two young boys to worry about, she could speak to Steff, and maybe they could do something together to keep their minds off the fact that their men were off on a dangerous task, but knowing it was one that would keep the world safe.

She breathed out a sigh of relief when she walked through the door to her apartment. The faint scent of Deal’s cologne lingered in the air, and she smiled. They hadn’t talked about what they were going to do in the future, but he’d hadn’t spent a night at his place in weeks. It seemed pointless, him paying rent for an apartment he didn’t use.

A knock on the door came as she put a mug of water in the microwave to heat up to make some tea to keep her awake. After she’d gotten home from the café she’d done a little more work before settling on the couch to watch one of her favorite comfort shows. Anything to keep her mind of Deal and what he and the others were doing. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was ten-fifteen, a bit late for someone to come visiting.

A hollow feeling slammed into her—what if it was one of the guys coming to say something had happened to Deal? She moved without thinking, and yanked the door open, not bothering to check to see who was standing on the other side.

“Can I help you?” she asked the young girl on her doorstep.

“Are you Collette Harper?” Her voice was quiet, as if she was afraid of speaking too loudly.

“Yes. Do I know you?” A feeling of dread swept over her, and she cursed herself for being so silly as to open the door without thinking.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, before the girl was shoved to the side and a gun was pointed at Collette’s forehead. A gun held by the one man she thought she’d never see darken her doorstep. One she never thought would find her, because why would he? He didn’t know her at all.

But it appeared he did, and he’d timed his appearance to when Deal wasn’t anywhere near her. Something that definitely wasn’t a coincidence. This was planned.