Back Home To You

Chapter 1

Perhaps she'd gotten it wrong. Perhaps this wasn't someone sent here to take her life. A home burglary? If she were a burglar, she would've chosen this house too. It was the largest house on the street. Since it was set right at the top of a slightly uphill road, the gorgeous beach house with powder-blue panels and white window frames was also the most prominent.

Emily stepped off the final step of the stairs.

There in the middle of the living room was her intruder. He stood, staring at the cloud-gray fabric couch. He was so focused he hadn't noticed her coming down the stairs.

What's he doing? Pushing her inclinations of curiosity aside, she quickly moved behind him and leveled her gun. "What are you doing in my house?"

The giant turned to her. He'd appeared large on her phone's screen, but she'd assumed that the angle of the camera skewed the proportions.

It didn't.

The man was easily over six foot. The padded muscles stretched his T-shirt, which appeared too short for him, across his chest and biceps.

Emily couldn't make out the intruder's features, not in the darkness.

But his size was enough to make her rethink her decision. Perhaps confronting this guy isn't the best idea. She should've called the police instead. She wasn't in Eastern Europe now. The police—mostly—weren't corrupted in the States. Surely not in a picturesque beach town of Anchorville, Oregon, where crimes were almost nonexistent.

Emily unlocked the safety on her gun. Her innate survival instincts yelled at her to shoot first and asked later.

But she couldn't.

She couldn't pull the trigger without knowing she didn't have any other choice.

Before Emily could even open her mouth to speak again, the intruder pounced on her.

The gun was knocked out of her hand as the back of her head hit the hardwood panels. The impact pushed all thoughts out of her mind, and her intruder loomed over her.

His shadowed face didn't help calm her racing heart, and his nearness only reinforced how large he was.

Which was why it wouldn't do her any good to remain under him.

She shifted and kicked out at one of his legs, then immediately flipped him over.

Emily's head was still swirling when she got on top of him, but she didn't have time to deal with that. She pulled her clenched fist back and slammed it down toward the intruder's face.

But the intruder caught her wrist.

Her other fist was on its way toward the intruder's nose, but it, too, was intercepted.

Emily struggled. But strength wise, she was no match for him.

A moment passed between them as their eyes locked.

Neither of them said a word.

Neither of them moved.

Somewhere in his journey to the floor, the intruder had lost his cap. Now on the floor, his face was illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through the bay windows.

Emily blinked. She couldn't believe her eyes. "This can't be." Was she dreaming? Hallucinating? Had the impact to her head been more serious than she thought? "Alexander Lewis?"

The man's brows drew together. "You know me?" His grip around her wrists loosened.

"You're supposed to be dead." His death had been reported in the news. The army held a funeral service for him.