Three Times as Deadly

by Erin Wade

  Amy settled another mouthful of food on the fork and held it to me. I must admit it was pretty good being fed by a gorgeous woman. I pulled myself from my indulgent stupor and gently took the fork from her hand.

  “I can feed myself.”

  “I don’t mind, Sloan. I have always enjoyed taking care of you. If we were home, I would cook your favorite meal. You love my home cooking.”

  “What’s my favorite meal?” I watched her eyes as she answered my question. She tilted her head a bit and cast her eyes to the right as if thinking.

  “You love beef dishes,” she said, “and potatoes and bread. You love ice cream.”

  I wondered how I knew she was lying just from the way she’d shifted her eyes before answering my question. “Uh-huh.” I nodded as if agreeing with her.

  “I must apologize for my father’s behavior this morning.” She bowed her head. I was pretty sure the look of embarrassment she shot me was fake.

  “He was rude to you and Miss Roland.”

  “Why was he here?” I tried to direct the conversation away from my overreaction to her father’s movement toward Alex.

  “He wanted to check on you, to make certain everything is being done to make you comfortable. He is fond of you.”

  “Yes, I could tell he’s crazy about me.” I refrained from rolling my eyes.

  “At first he had trouble accepting that I was hopelessly in love with you.” Amy blushed. “It was difficult for him to comprehend that two women could care for each other as we do. My family is of the Muslim faith. My feelings for you go against everything he believes.”

  “And what do you believe?” Now I was curious.

  “I don’t believe,” Amy whispered. “I know I love you. I can’t help it.”

  Before I could respond, a perky tech pushed his rolling treatment center into my room. “Time to suck and blow,” he said before addressing Amy. “Do you mind stepping out for a few minutes, ma’am?”

  “No,” I said, “I want her to stay with me.”

  Amy’s face brightened, and she moved to the head of my bed. “I’ll stay out of your way,” she said to the tech.

  The breathing treatment was sheer torture.

  “Suck the ball to the top,” the tech instructed as I gasped from the pain caused by my inflating lungs.

  The treatment exhausted me. Amy was talking about her father when I fell asleep.

  ##

  A nurse gently shook me awake. “Dinner time, Miss Cartwright.”

  I cautiously opened my eyes, not certain which of my wives would be present. To my surprise, Leigh was sitting in a chair next to my bed.

  She stood, raised the head of my bed, and fluffed the pillows behind me. “How do you feel today?”

  “Better.” I moaned as I struggled to sit up straighter. “Still sore.”

  The truth was, my ribs and head hurt like a son-of-a-gun. I was happy to see Sadie enter my room. “Drugs?” I couldn’t hide the hopeful sound in my voice.

  “Eat your dinner,” Sadie instructed as she checked my vital signs. “Then I’ll give you some pain medication.”

  She shook my water pitcher and held it toward Leigh. “Please take this to the nurses’ counter and ask them to fill it with fresh ice and water.”

  Leigh looked a little perturbed but did as she was told.

  Sadie leaned close to my ear. “Listen, Sloan, there are two extremely nasty-looking men asking to visit you. I told them you were too critical to have visitors. I’m trying to keep a close watch on you, but they may attempt to sneak into your room, so stay alert.”

  “I . . . I can’t defend myself, Sadie.”

  To my surprise, Sadie slipped a pistol under the hospital blanket. “Do I even know how to use a gun?”

  “It’s already racked,” she whispered. “I don’t think you’re strong enough to rack it yourself.”

  I stared in disbelief. “What is racking?” I croaked, as I slipped my hand around the gun handle. It felt good.

  “Don’t be fingering it,” Sadie said, her brow furrowed. “Glocks have no safety. When you pull the trigger, it will fire.”

  “Who are you?” I wanted to inhale deeply to catch my breath but knew it would hurt like hell.

  “Your best chance of survival,” Sadie whispered.

  “Swallow these, my little Casanova.” She winked as she shoved a tiny paper cup of Advil into my hand and then keyed in more morphine for me.

  Leigh entered the room and poured fresh water into my glass. Her fingertips fluttered across my cheek. “I love you,” she whispered.

  “Call me if you need anything,” Sadie said over her shoulder as she left the room.

  Leigh leaned down to brush her lips against mine. I turned my face away from her. The hurt in her eyes was heartbreaking.

  “Am I still a stranger to you?” She wrinkled her lovely brow.

  I slowly exhaled. “In my mind, I just met you yesterday.”

  “How long are you going to hide behind the memory loss story?” Leigh glared at me. “I accepted your womanizing years ago. I’m okay with it. I’m not surprised to find you have three wives.”

  “I . . . I’m not hiding,” I mumbled.

  She looked down for several seconds. When she raised her eyes to meet mine, they glistened with unshed tears.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “You’ve always been the strong one, the one who takes care of everything. I’m having trouble reconciling the woman I’ve shared my life with for the past seven years with a woman who doesn’t even know my name.”

  I caught her hand and smiled. “We will work this out. I promise you everything will be okay.”

  Leigh’s phone rang. She answered and listened intently to the caller. “Yes, I’ll be right there.”

  “Sloan, I have to leave for a little while,” she said. “Someone has broken into my hotel room and rifled through all my belongings. I’ll be back as quickly as possible.”

  “Please be careful,” I said. “Leigh, there is something wrong going on, and I have no idea what it is.”

  She studied me for several long seconds. “You truly don’t know, do you?”

  Before I could answer, she was out the door.

  My first two visitors had given me plenty to think about as I lay flat on my back. I was a little appalled that I’d been willing to use Amy as a food taster. I was even more distressed that Leigh had called me a womanizer. That destroyed my lone wolf image of myself.

  Maybe I am a total scoundrel and not a very nice person. I hope Alex gets here soon.

  ##

  Movement in the shadows jerked me awake. I tried to see without opening my eyes too wide. I could tell there was someone just outside the circle of light cast by my nightlight. Then I heard whispers.

  “She’s asleep,” someone whispered. “Now’s the time.”

  Someone crept beside my bed and grasped my IV. They inserted a needle into the tube and pushed the plunger, sending a liquid into my drug conduit. Under the cover, I crimped the line, hoping I could keep the liquid from entering my bloodstream.

  “What the hell?” Sadie stormed into the room as two men shoved past her and ran into the hallway. Sadie immediately rushed to me.

  “IV,” I said, gasping as she turned on the overhead lights, temporarily blinding me. “They put something in my IV.”

  Sadie yanked the needle from the back of my hand and clamped the tube shut. Without a word, she took the IV line and bag out of my room.

  I could hear a lot of activity outside my door as Sadie called security and the search started for the culprits. Her back filled my doorway as she barked instructions to others.

  “Let me know as soon as you have information,” she said before returning to my bedside.

  “Where is Miss Redding?” Sadie glared at me as if I had injected myself.

  “Her hotel room was broken into,” I said, yawning. “She had to go check on what was stolen.”

  Sadie snorted. “Humph. I’m glad you had eno
ugh presence of mind to crimp that line. You just missed death by lethal injection.”

  For the first time, I realized that my life was still in danger.

  ##

  Chapter 7

  The room was dark except for the light over the head of my bed. I opened my eyes slowly, peering out from between my lashes as I tried to determine if I was alone. I was.

  I raised the bed to a sitting position and considered calling Sadie, but then I saw the stack of magazines Alex had brought me. I carefully reached for the top one and was pleasantly surprised to find I could move my arm without the killer pain I had experienced the past two days. Probably the lingering effects of the morphine.

  The cover of the magazine was mouthwatering. The cover copy screamed “Cosmetic Tycoon Weds Soldier of Fortune.”

  The photo was of Alex and a gorgeous blonde woman who obviously adored her. I fumbled through the magazine to find the lead story. My vision blurred, and I struggled to read the type as it kept going in and out of focus. The photos told the story. My heart stopped beating. Alex was married, but not to me.

  I stared at the photos. The tall woman Alex was draped all over was slim and shapely. Long blonde hair fell around her shoulders in a golden cloud. Her beauty rivaled Alex’s. Her pink lips reminded me of Cupid’s bow. Her emerald-green eyes danced with happiness. She was Alex’s wife, not me.

  ##

  “Good, you are among the living.” The bubbly respiratory therapist had pushed open my door and was filling my room with his traveling torture chamber.

  “I’m going to skip this treatment,” I informed him, eager to return to the magazine article.

  He laughed as if I’d told a joke. “You act as if you have a choice,” he said with a look of amusement on his face. “You don’t!”

  He pulled the magazine from my hands and glanced at the cover. “Wow!” He pointed to Alex’s photo. “She is something.”

  “Yeah,” I huffed as he shoved the ball-sucking apparatus into my hands.

  “Fifteen minutes then I will let you rest.” He flipped through the magazine and moaned his approval as he read the article about Alex’s wedding.

  I wanted to throw up. Of the three women who claimed to be my wife, she was the one I’d wanted. At least I’ve narrowed my wives down to two. I decided to keep my new knowledge to myself and see what kind of game Alex was playing.

  Sadie brought in my dinner as the sadistic therapist wrapped up the breathing treatment. “How is she doing?” Sadie asked the man.

  “Great.” He grinned. “Miss Cartwright can pull the ball all the way to the top and hold it. That is not an easy thing to do in her condition.”

  I waited until the therapist left my room before querying Sadie. “Are the two characters still hanging around?”

  “I’ve been watching for them but haven’t seen them,” she said. “Do you still have the gun?”

  “Yes.”

  She advised me to keep it hidden as she placed clean towels and a wash cloth on my bed.

  “I need to give you a sponge bath,” she said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

  “I would kill for a shower,” I pleaded pathetically.

  “You can’t get into the shower alone,” Sadie said, “and I have no one to help you.”

  “I’ll help her.” The sultry voice floated from the doorway.

  I couldn’t keep my heart from kicking into double time as Alex walked into my room. “A sponge bath is fine,” I mumbled.

  “Nonsense.” Alex grinned. “I need to wash your hair. You still have dried blood in it.

  “Sadie, if you’ll disconnect her IV, I will take it from here.”

  “You do need to get out of bed and move around,” Sadie informed me. “A shower will be good for you.”

  Sadie disconnected the IV tube and wrapped plastic around my hand and the remaining IV needle. “That will keep it dry. I am going to unwrap your ribs, but be careful. You’ve only been healing about three weeks.”

  She helped me stand, removed the ace bandage around my ribs, and then moved away so Alex could take my elbow and steer me toward the shower.

  “Are you okay?” Alex said. I could tell the concerned look on her face was sincere. “Let me know if anything hurts you.”

  I nodded and stood outside the shower as Alex set the water temperature. I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror. I looked like a street urchin. My hair was greasy and matted. My face was pale and gaunt. My eyes were so recessed into dark sockets their color was indiscernible. I looked nothing like the woman married to Alexandra Roland Cartwright. I gasped as she pulled the tie on my hospital gown and let it drop to the floor.

  “I . . . I’m naked,” I whined.

  “Yes, baby, you are.” Alex smiled. “I didn’t think you wanted to shower in your gown. Let me look at you.”

  “Umm, nasty bruises around your torso. Looks like a few stitches on your back and hip, but otherwise you look good enough to eat.”

  She opened the shower door and held my arm as I settled on the tile bench inside.

  “I need to wash your hair.” She bit her bottom lip. Her action made me catch my breath.

  “You want me, don’t you?” she said, her voice a husky whisper.

  I didn’t answer. I knew I couldn’t lie to her.

  Before I realized what she was doing, Alex undressed and stepped into the shower with me. No words can describe her beauty. Every glorious inch of her was perfect. I couldn’t stop staring at her. I realized that she was surveying my body with the same carnal admiration.

  Without a word, Alex soaked my hair with the shower wand then placed it back on the showerhead. She poured shampoo into the palm of her hand and gently massaged it into my scalp. I inhaled deeply. Alex’s closeness overshadowed the pain. I wanted to wrap my arms around her waist and bury my face between her perfect breasts. Of the three women claiming to be my wife, Alex was the one I wanted.

  She seemed to know my desires. She slid her knee between my legs so she could press her body against mine. She gently tilted my chin upward and pulled my face between her soft breasts. I stopped breathing.

  She continued to massage my scalp as she held me close. Everything in my world disappeared. The only thing I was aware of was Alex. Her softness assaulted my senses like nothing I had ever experienced. Smooth, soft skin gently rubbed against mine. The water from the hot sprayer filled the shower with steam. The scent of Alex filled my nostrils as I fought to catch my breath. I closed my eyes and gave in to the feel of her hands as they slowly moved down my neck to my shoulders.

  She lathered her hands and gently soaped my skin. She touched every inch of me, lathering down my sides, skimming over my ribs and across my stomach. Her hands were gentle as she covered my thighs with soap and washed between my legs.

  “Sloan.” Her voice was husky with desire. “I need you, baby.”

  I slid my arms around her and cupped her firm, round hips. Everything about this woman felt right. I didn’t care if she was married to someone else. She slid to her knees and looked up at me. Her lips captured mine as I caressed her back and shoulders, pulling her closer. Her lips were even softer than in my dreams. Her firm, full, lower lip moved relentlessly against my mouth, reminding me of what it felt like to kiss a woman. I groaned half in passion and half in pain as my ribs reminded me I was injured. The passion quickly overshadowed the pain.

  I tentatively caressed her lip with my tongue. Her tongue touched mine, enticing it into her mouth. I moaned as our lips communicated our need for one another and our tongues stoked the fire.

  She threw back her head, allowing me to explore her neck with my lips. I traced my tongue from the soft spot in her throat to her nipple and gently pulled it into my mouth. I cupped her perfect breast as I circled her nipple with my tongue and then sucked harder, slowly drawing my tongue across her nipple at the same time. Alex moaned and crushed me to her.

  I couldn’t silence the scream of pain that ripped from my throat
as Alex tightened her grip on me. “I can’t do this,” I said, panting. “God, that hurts.”

  Alex instantly jerked away from me. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to . . .”

  I doubled over in pain, trying not to faint. I rested my forehead on Alex’s shoulder.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Sadie bellowed as she threw open the shower door. “I knew this would happen.” She glared at Alex who was still on her knees. “Rinse her off and get her out of there.”

  The alarm in Alex’s eyes told me that she hadn’t intended to let things get out of control. “I am sorry, baby,” she murmured as she used the shower wand to rinse the shampoo from my hair and body. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “I was a willing participant.” I tried not to gasp.

  She dried me and helped me slip into a fresh hospital gown. I sat on the commode lid while she dried and redressed. Her hair was as wet as mine.

  She gave me a sheepish look before leaning down to kiss me. It was the sweetest kiss possible, filled with tenderness, apology, and—did I dare hope? —love.

  I kissed her back. “I wish you were my wife,” I whispered against her lips.

  “I am, darling.” She pulled back and gazed into my eyes. “You should sit on the bed while I dry your hair.” She took my arm and led me to the bed, where Sadie stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Is it safe to leave the two of you alone?” Sadie gave us an angry look.

  “You!” Sadie shook her finger in my face. “I am not surprised at you. You’re a scoundrel.” She whirled to face Alex. “But you! I expected you to take care of her.”

  “I was,” Alex said in self-defense. She pressed her lips together trying to suppress an impish grin.

  The three of us exchanged glances then burst into laughter. Jesus, it hurt to laugh.

  “Behave yourselves.” Sadie glared at us as she left the room.

  “Alex, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

  Alex shook her head. “No. It’s not your fault.” She turned on the hairdryer, ending any further conversation.

  I sat on the side of my bed and watched as she dried and brushed her thick, dark hair. The light danced off it as she turned her head. “You truly are beautiful,” I commented when she turned off the dryer.