by Diana Gardin
The son of a bitch had tranked her.
So now I’ve been waiting. And while I wait, I’ve had a lot of time to think.
I could have lost Rayne and Decker. The situation worked out, but the fact that Wagner Horton and my grandfather nearly succeeded in taking everything I love away from me isn’t lost on me. I almost lost everything, and it makes me realize how damn lucky I really am.
Rayne walked back into my life by accident, but I’m going to make sure she’s here to stay. I’m going to make sure that she and Decker know how much I love them, and there’s one way that I can make that very clear.
I’m staring toward the window when her slender fingers clench around my hand. Glancing down at her, I see her eyelids flutter before her long, dark lashes open and I’m staring into her gorgeous blue eyes.
“Jeremy?” Her voice, always sultry and raspy, sounds even more so than usual. I pull her hand to my lips and just try to keep myself from losing it right then and there.
“Hey, beautiful.”
She glances around the room, and her eyes go wide. “Where’s Decker? Oh, my God…they took him!”
“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Rayne. He’s here. He’s safe.” I move to the bed so I can be even closer to her while she’s freaking out. I can’t imagine what it must feel like, waking up to think you’ve lost your son.
Her eyes close, but it doesn’t stop the tears from leaking out. When she begins to tremble all over with the force of her quiet sobs, I flip a giant middle finger to hospital rules and lie down beside her, pulling her to my chest.
“It’s okay, baby. Let it out…I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.” My words are meant to soothe her, but they’re truer than any I’ve ever spoken.
She just cries. My shirt soaks up every single tear, but I couldn’t care less. I’d change shirts and let her soak up another one if I could.
When she finally takes a deep, shuddering breath that shakes her entire body, she lifts her head from my chest, and I wince at the sight of the bruise forming on the side of her face.
With gentle fingers, I caress it. “He hit you. You don’t know how bad I want to hurt him for that.”
“It happened when he let Decker go with O’Shea. All I could see was Decker leaving me, and I know what you said about stalling, and I didn’t want to fail and lose our baby boy, and…” Fresh tears spring to her eyes and this time I turn so that I can cradle her face in my hands.
“You did so good, darlin’. You really did. Decker ran when he got outside and I caught him. He was with Ronin the whole time. And now my grandfather and Horton, along with his crew, are in police custody. I think the team is making the calls that need to be made for them to be turned over to the feds.”
Her forehead wrinkles in confusion. “Your grandfather?”
Trying to hold my anger in check, I explain to her how my grandfather caved under police interrogation and said he initially approached Horton in order to get to Rayne.
“He wanted to invest in Wagner’s company so he could get close in order to get you out of the picture. He wanted to kill you so that I would automatically have custody of Decker.” Just saying the words makes bile rise in my throat. I can’t even stand the thought of something happening to her, and it was this close to all going to hell.
“Then, when Decker was here, my grandfather was going to try to manipulate me into coming back into the family business so I could give Decker the ‘right kind’ of future. As if a future with Mason Teague would be superior to growing up without a mother.
“But my grandfather found out that Horton wanted you for himself. Since my grandfather didn’t care what happened to you he allowed Horton to do all the work, which worked out perfectly. My grandfather wouldn’t even have to get his hands dirty and he could still get his way. Horton was going to fly off with you, someone would say you disappeared and abandoned Decker. Then Decker would be under my custody. Horton could have you as long as you never reappeared in public. But then you saw the Prednar coding and ran. You screwed up their plan Rayne. And thank god you did. Thank God you came home, because as bad as this was, I can’t imagine what would have happened if their plan had worked.”
“Wait a minute. The whole time, he was acquiring Horton Tech because he wanted to get his claws in our son? He wanted to kill me?” The rage in her voice is familiar, and I nod with total understanding.
“Yes. And now he’ll be charged with attempted kidnapping, among other things.”
The team, from their place in the hospital waiting room, had been filling me in on each development happening with Mason and Horton. I didn’t really care at this point, but it helped knowing they’d pay for their crimes against my family.
Rayne attempts to sit up, and I move out of her way so she can slowly prop herself against the pillows. Making sure she’s comfortable, I eye her. “Can I get you something? Water, maybe? More pillows?”
She shakes her head but turns pleading eyes on me. I swear, I’d give her anything she wanted at this moment. “All I want is to see Decker.”
Standing, I lean down and brush my lips against her forehead. “Then I’ll be right back.”
When I walk into the hospital waiting room, six sets of adult eyes turn to me, while Decker throws himself into my arms.
“Dad! Is Mom awake yet? Can I see her now?”
My heart clenches into a ball of emotion like it has every time he’s called me Dad. Will it ever feel real, having this little boy as my own?
Kneeling down in front of him, my hands on his shoulders, I smile. “Yeah, bud. She’s awake and she really wants to see you.”
Standing and slinging my arm around Decker’s shoulders, I look around the crowded waiting room. There are more people here than I expected to see. Berkeley, Dare’s wife, sits beside him, her curly blond hair pulled up off her face. She blinks big brown eyes at me, concern marring her normally pretty face. Next to Grisham sits his fiancée, Greta. Her long, lithe frame is fitted into an uncomfortable-looking chair, her legs curled up beneath her. Her head rests on Grisham’s shoulder, but as I scan the room she looks up at me. And then my eyes land on Jacob Owen, who I definitely didn’t expect to see. Going rogue doesn’t exactly send warm and fuzzy vibes to your boss.
Walking over to him, I offer a hand but he bypasses it and grabs me into a rough hug. “She okay?” His whisper is for me only.
Nodding, I pull away and offer him a chagrined smile. “We suspended?”
With a wry twist of his lips, he glances at the guys before meeting my gaze again. “We’ll talk about that when we’re all back home. But I definitely can’t fault you for goin’ after your family. Would have done the same damn thing.” He glances down at Decker. “Looks like you. He seems like a really good kid, Teague.”
Pride threatens to swallow me whole as I glance down at my son. He’s looking up at me with nothing but trust on his face. Addressing the group, my voice is thick with all the emotions I’ve been holding back. “Thanks. All of you…for being here. For—” I choke off, scrubbing a hand down my face. Then I look each member of my team in the eyes in turn. “For all of it.”
Ronin speaks up. “Get outta here. The little dude wants to see his mom.” But there’s nothing but sincerity and compassion in his eyes.
When Decker and I walk back into Rayne’s hospital room, there’s a doctor and a nurse with her. The doctor has a stethoscope over her heart while the nurse sits at the computer, typing away with busy fingers.
Decker runs to the bed. “Mom!”
Rayne pats the spot beside her. “Get up here, sweetheart.”
He climbs up and the doctor moves out of the way so that she can hug her son. Straightening with a small smile, he glances at me.
It was hard when we first arrived and they were doing all of these tests on Rayne for me to get them to let me sit with her or to give me any information about her case. Apparently, “baby daddy” isn’t on the approved list to receive patient information. But wh
en I’d called Rayne’s sister Olive in Paris, she’d given them hell over the phone, insisting that since she wasn’t there to be with Rayne, they give me total access. And they’d caved.
“So your, um, Rayne here is going to be just fine. We were just waiting until she was awake to examine her. These tranquilizers, especially a heavy dose like she had, affect everyone differently. But she seems to be having no adverse reaction, except for a little weakness. There are no broken bones in her cheek, and she should recover just fine at home.”
Rayne glances up at that. “You mean I can leave?”
The doctor nods. “I don’t see why not. You were very lucky, Miss Alexander.”
Midnight blue eyes, deeper than the sea, meet mine. There’s something in them, something warm and intense, and it causes the inside of my chest to feel like it’s caving in.
Lucky.
36
Rayne
Ten Days Later
You’re both supposed to have your eyes closed. Are they closed?” I giggle as I walk backward in front of Decker, pulling his hands while he completes a zombie-walk down the upstairs hallway.
“Why do my eyes have to stay closed?” Decker’s voice is full of delight. His long lashes flutter against his cheekbones and he squeezes my hands. His face is completely alight with thrilled anticipation.
“Because.” Jeremy feigns gruffness. “It’s a weekend of surprises, remember? Yours is today, your mom’s is tomorrow.”
He stands behind Decker, guiding his shoulders. “Just a few more steps.”
I back into Decker’s bedroom, my heart still leaping at the sight of everything we’ve done.
After taking a few days to recover from the ordeal in the mountains, Decker went back to school and I went back to work at the start of the week. Today is Friday and Jeremy and I took the day off in order to decorate Decker’s room.
My peace of mind was in rock-solid shape when, the day after we returned to Wilmington, we were informed that both Wagner Horton and Mason Teague were being brought up on multiple felony charges for their wrongdoings. And Jacob’s connections at the FBI let him know that the federal government had enough evidence stacked against both men to make the charges stick.
Eventually, there would be trials for both of them, and we’d have to deal with reliving the experience again then. But until that day comes, I’m happy knowing that my family is safe.
An emergency meeting of the board at Teague Industries unseated Mason Teague as the CEO of the company, instead placing the current president of the corporation as the acting chief executive officer. There’s been some shuffling of executives at the top level, and Jeremy was called in for the board meeting. When the board offered him a seat, he accepted. When I asked him why, his answer was simple:
“Just because my grandfather is an asshole and I want to see him live the rest of his days in prison doesn’t mean the company should crumble. Peoples’ jobs are at stake, good people, people who had no idea how despicable he’d become. If I can do something to help, I want to. Maybe putting on a suit and tie and heading to the office every day isn’t in the cards for me, but I’d like to have a say in what goes on with the company that bears my name. My son’s name. It could be his future, if that’s what he wants. I don’t hate the company, Rayne. If my grandfather had stepped up all those years ago and proven he cared about me more than what I could do for him, then maybe I would have actually wanted to learn the ropes at the company. Now, Decker has a choice. If he wants it, Teague Industries is his.”
I’d squeezed him tight, trying to pour all of the love and respect I had for him in that moment into the fiercest embrace I could manage.
“Okay, bud…you ready?” Jeremy leans around Decker, his mouth curving into an enormous smile.
My heart falters for just a moment, watching him. Being in this house with Jeremy, spending time with him every day both at work and at home, falling into a routine of parenting together…it still blows my mind that we made it here. That after everything we endured in our past and over the last few weeks with Wagner Horton and Mason Teague, we ended up strong and resilient and together.
His eyes flick to mine, and the understanding I see there tells me that his thoughts are similar to mine. He turns and squeezes Decker’s shoulders.
“This is your new room, Deck.”
Decker’s eyes fly open, and he pulls in a thrilled breath. He spins around slowly, and I follow suit, trying to see the room through his eyes for the first time.
Jeremy and I have painted the walls Carolina blue. There was a brick-red dresser and an entertainment console complete with the newest video game system. It was something I told Jeremy I’d never spent money on in the past, and he insisted on buying one that he and Decker could share. Jeremy handmade the headboard, a chalkboard framed with antique white wood. He’d drawn Xs and Os all over the board, just like a football playbook.
The room is littered with Decker’s stuff that arrived with the shipment of our things from Phoenix a few days ago. He had a box overflowing with his toys and stuffed animals, some of which I know he’ll be outgrowing soon.
“Wow.” When Decker’s awed whisper reaches me, I focus my attention on my little boy standing in front of his dresser. He’s holding up a framed picture. “Dad? Is this you?”
The utter reverence in his voice as he gazes at his father’s high school football photo tells me something I already know to be true: Decker worships Jeremy. He finally has a father figure in his life, but not just any father figure. His dad. And Jeremy has become his hero.
He places the photo down and picks up another frame. The one with Jeremy and me snuggled together during our high school prom. Decker’s eyes are still wide as he takes it all in.
My eyes well with sentimental tears, and I turn toward the window so I can let them fall. I listen as Jeremy shows Decker some of the sports-themed knickknacks that fill the room and how we’ve organized all of his clothes and shoes in his closet. I bite my lip on a smile when I hear him explain to Decker how we expect him to keep his room clean and take care of all of his things. Decker’s serious “Yes, sir” in response almost pulls a sob from my chest.
“Hey, Deck. I think Night needs some more work on that trick you were trying to teach him. That dog isn’t gonna learn to jump through a Hula-Hoop overnight. Why don’t you take him into the backyard to work on it, and your mom and I will be out in just a minute.”
“Okay!” Decker’s arms wrap around my waist from behind, and I suck in a deep breath and squeeze his little hands as hard as I dare. “Thanks, Mom.” His lips land on my back in a kiss before he dashes out of the room.
Then, bigger, stronger arms pull me against a broad, hard chest. I relax into Jeremy’s grip and lay my head back against him.
“Everything okay?” He drops a kiss on my hair.
Breathing him in, his deep ocean-air scent, I nod and wipe my eyes. “It’s just a lot sometimes. Things have worked out so beautifully for me and Decker, and he loves you so much. I…I don’t know where we’d be without you. I’m thankful.”
Jeremy turns me around to face him, and his eyes zero in on mine. “You and Decker belong to me. I’m not going anywhere, Rayne, and neither are you. This is our family. It took awhile to get here, but now we’re here and I’m not wasting any time. You get that?”
Nodding, I try not to get lost in the depths of his jade-green eyes. When my tongue darts out to lick my lips, his gaze tracks the motion and go dark.
When he returns to my eyes, his hands move to my face, his thumbs stroking gently while his hands cup me like something breakable.
“I love you, Rayne. And it’s not just because you’ve grown into this strong, amazing woman. And it’s not because your beauty steals my fucking breath every time you walk into a room. It’s sure as hell not because your sexy mouth needs to be washed out with soap. It’s a combination of all of those things. It’s the fact that I was made to love you.”
Oh, God. I can hard
ly breathe through the lump forming in my throat. A big ball of teary emotions that I can’t swallow and can’t put into words. Except for the most important three.
“I love you, too.”
His eyes flash with desire and love and need, and he dips his head low to kiss me. It’s not a gentle kiss; it’s rough and rugged and full of promise of all the things that are to come. It’s a Jeremy kiss, and there’s never going to be any other kind for me.
The following afternoon, Jeremy and I are getting the backyard ready for a barbecue while Decker and Night run around playing catch. Jeremy scrubs the grill while I add the brand-new cushions to the outdoor lounge and patio table set that Jeremy already had. The colors are bright and cheerful, the perfect addition to a backyard that Jeremy has already put his talented touch on.
With a happy sigh, I drop down onto a chaise lounge and close my eyes. A few minutes later, the lounger sinks under Jeremy’s weight, and his ocean-spray scent washes over me.
“Hey.” His deep, warm voice sends tingles of pleasure dancing all along my skin. Opening my eyes, Jeremy’s face blocks out the sun, but it’s a welcome interruption. He leans over me, two strong arms caging me in.
“Hey.” I smile up at him. “Beautiful day.”
“Mm-hmm. I think you should go upstairs and get ready for the barbecue.” I gasp as his nose draws a path across my jaw. His lips land lightly on mine before he pulls away.
I snuggle deeper into the lounger. “I have a little while yet.”
He shakes his head, causing the bristly hair on his jaw to lightly scratch my face. “Come here, darlin’.”
He pulls me up off the lounger and then looks out into the yard where Decker and Night play. He gives a low whistle, and both boy and dog freeze. He waves a hand. Decker and Night race over to meet us.
“Is it time?” Decker’s excited voice brings a smile to my lips.
“Someone’s excited about the last barbecue of the season,” I tease, ruffling my son’s dark hair. It’s getting long; usually I’d have taken him to get a cut by now. But I suspect he might want it to grow a little longer than usual, more like his dad’s.
