“Get in the bathroom,” Reese demanded. “Lock the door and stay there until I come and get you.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, jumping to my feet.
Reese pushed me and Summer through the door. “Just stay here.”
“Ohmigod, Reese, you need to tell me what the hell is going on!”
“Shooters,” he snapped. “Stay here.”
He pulled the door closed and I faced Summer who now looked like she wanted to kill someone... not the reaction I expected.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I swear to god,” she ground out. “If I have to come back and do this all over again, I will annihilate those damn Russians! They’re behind this and I am so over it.”
Okay, so Summer’s a badass. Good to know.
She reached for the door, but I stepped in front of it. “You can’t go out there.”
“Why not?” she snapped.
“Um, because you could get shot,” I returned. “I kind of like you, Summer, so please don’t be an idiot.”
“I want them to pay, Alexa,” she seethed. “I’m so sick of them hijacking my life!”
“I know,” I admitted with a sigh. “I totally get it.”
“But you get to go home to your gorgeous man every day. I have to go back to the abbey because my life is no longer my life.” She paced the small bathroom. “I was happy. I had a great job... yes, I know it wasn’t real, but I didn’t know that back then... I had a gorgeous apartment overlooking the Willamette, and I had friends. A lot of friends! I’d just met a great guy and we were ready to take it to the next level, but no. Those fucking Russians ruined my life, Lex. Ruined it!”
“Okay, I hear you. But can I just point something out?”
“No.”
“Okey doke,” I said.
She huffed. “What?”
“You said you didn’t want me to point it out.”
She waved her hand. “Just say it already.”
“Well, you’re twenty-six.”
“Four.”
“Twenty-four... you have a few more days of testimony and then I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to leave the abbey.”
“Unless they don’t get convicted,” she cried.
She had me there. I sighed. “I’m pretty sure they’ll get convicted.”
“You don’t know their reach.”
“Oh, I think I do,” I countered.
Summer sighed. “Right. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I get it. Really. It’ll all be over soon.” I said all this, all the while knowing I’d had the same conversation with Reese not even a week ago. I was over being on house arrest and wanted to go out to dinner or to a movie, but I had to stay sequestered in our home. A home I loved, yes, but I didn’t like being forced to stay there. A gilded cage, despite how beautiful, was still a cage.
The door slammed open and I couldn’t stop a scream, but it was Reese, who pulled me in for a hug and kissed my temple. “It’s okay, baby.”
“What happened?”
“Hans and Franz two-point-oh decided to give the courthouse a visit.”
The original Hans and Franz were sitting in a federal holding cell awaiting trial. We hadn’t seen them since our honeymoon.
“Is anyone hurt?” I asked, checking Reese for injuries.
“I’m fine, Lex. One of the cops got shot, but he had a vest on, so he just got winded. They took the guys down and are assessing any other potential injuries. That’s all I know right now.”
“Are we still going to testify today?” Summer asked.
“Don’t know,” Reese said. “We’re waitin’ until they clear the building.”
“Assholes,” she hissed.
“Indeed.”
I held Reese tighter, the fear suddenly setting in, and my body started shaking.
“Okay, baby, I’ve got you,” he whispered.
“Is this ever going to stop?”
“Yeah, baby. It’s stoppin’ now.”
“They’re going to keep coming.”
He stroked my hair. “Not if we cut the head off the snake.”
“Except for every head you cut off, a new one grows.”
He sighed. “I don’t give a shit about new ones. I just want the one whose radar you’re on.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned heavily against him.
“Reese!” Dallas called.
“In here, man.” He released his hold on me, but didn’t go far. “All clear?”
“Yeah,” Dallas said walking toward us. “But they’re canceling session for the day... probably tomorrow too.”
“Fuckers,” Summer hissed. “Are you going to kill these people, Dallas?”
He smiled. “Wish I could, Summer.”
“Pussy.”
“Whoa,” I said. “I think that’s kind of harsh.”
“Sorry, Dallas,” she grumbled.
Dallas laughed. “I didn’t take it personally. I get it.”
“So, if I “found” someone to take care of the problem—”
My mouth dropped open of its own accord just as Dallas raised a hand. “Don’t say shit like that to me, Summer. I’ll have to lock you up.”
Summer mumbled a few expletives and Dallas and Reese ushered us out of the room and to a back exit currently under heavy guard. After the men showed their credentials, we were allowed to leave and I was whisked home, while Summer was taken back to the abbey.
* * *
Two weeks later, it was over. Summer and I had our final day of testimony six days ago; the jury had deliberated for two days and then come back with “guilty on all counts.”
The men would never see freedom in their lifetime, and apparently one of them (I don’t know which one) flipped on a couple of lower-level guys, so he had ten years shaved off his one-hundred-ninety-year sentence.
Paisley, Summer, and the rest of the ladies who testified would need to stay at the abbey for a few more weeks or so, but it meant Dallas and the rest of the FBI could smoothly transition them back to their lives. At least that was the plan.
Summer’s sister was home and healing from her car accident, and Dallas made sure Summer could see her on a regular basis, so Summer seemed calmer now that everyone was safe.
I’d been awakened by the call of my stomach rebelling and I currently had my head in the toilet for the third time in an hour.
“What can I do?” Reese asked from the open doorway.
“You can get me some saltines.”
“Okay, baby, I’m gonna make a quick run to the store.”
I nodded. “’K.”
I didn’t move until he got back and he was smart enough to buy a couple more pregnancy tests. I was late again, but figured it was the stress of the trial, so I expected another negative result... however, I was wrong.
Reese’s face looked like it would explode with happy glitter. “You’re pregnant.”
“That’s what it says.”
“Take the other one just to make sure.”
I giggled. “I’m kind of peed out, honey. Later.”
“Love you, Freckles,” he whispered, kissing me gently.
“Love you, too.”
“I’m gonna feed you, then you’re goin’ back to bed to rest.”
“I don’t need to rest, honey.”
“Humor me.”
“You’re not going to give me problems when I go back to work, are you?” I challenged. Cameron had filled my boss, Arthur, in on the kidnapping and some minor details after I was taken to the abbey, letting him know I’d be in protective custody for an indefinite period. Arthur had been incredibly gracious and offered me my job back the second I called to check-in with him.
“You’re not going back to work.”
“Reese,” I admonished.
“You’re pregnant.”
I laughed. “Pregnant women work all the time.”
“Not my pregnant woman.”
“Ohmigod, sugar bear, I’m going nuts. I lov
e working. I love everything about it. I need it,” I argued. “They held my job, Reese. I want to keep my end of the bargain.”
He sighed. “We’ll see what the doctor says about it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, honey.” I knew the doctor would be fine with it, so I let Reese have his moment.
As Reese fed me a gourmet breakfast of saltines and Sprite, I made him join me in bed, which meant once I felt better, I was gonna get me some.
He protested for all of ten seconds and as he made love to me, I relished the feeling of being wholly loved and completely free.
Alexa
Three years later...
“WAIT UP, LITTLE man,” Reese called as our two-year-old came barreling toward my very round belly.
Hudson Reese Alden had turned two close to six months ago, right around the time I found out I was pregnant with his little sister. Reese had just taken him to the park to run off some energy.
“Mama!” he squealed and I knelt to catch him.
“Hey, Bubba, how’s my boy?”
“Wet,” Reese replied. “We got caught in the downpour.”
I chuckled, lifting Hudson, and carrying him to his room.
“Baby, let me do that,” Reese said, pulling him away from me. “You shouldn’t be lifting him.”
“I’m good, honey.”
“Sit down, Lex. I’ll take care of it.”
I rolled my eyes, but took a seat in the rocker by the bed. Hudson was an absolute mini-Reese, right down to the confident swagger anytime he walked into a room. I wondered who our daughter would take after and I kind of hoped she’d look like me. Hudson did have my eyes, but that’s where the similarities ended.
I’d gone back to work, then took three months off with Hudson, and planned to take the same with the new baby, but Reese was pushing for me to quit and go into business for myself. I got it. He worked a lot of nights managing the bars, and I worked days, so we didn’t have as much time to spend together and if I were working for myself, I’d have a more flexible schedule. At least, that was the theory.
“What time are Ryder and Sadie gonna be here?” Reese asked.
“Six.”
Ryder and Sadie now had two kids of their own...two boys, who loved to spend time with their “cousin” Hudson.
“Okay, nap time for you, buddy,” he said, and settled him in his crib. “Alone time for me and Mommy.”
I shivered. I knew what that meant.
He pulled me up from the chair and we left the room and headed for ours. “Where do you want me to start, Lex.”
I licked my lips. “On your back.”
He grinned and stripped, stretching out on the bed so I could straddle him, the perfect position for me at the current time.
We made love and then I was ordered to nap before dinner. As I lost my fight with sleep, I couldn’t help but smile.
It had been a long, rough wait for my perfect man, but it was worth it.
2017 Piper Davenport & Harley Stone
Copyright © 2017 by Trixie Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States
Despite their economic and social differences, Addison Allen and Dylan James have been inseparable since sixth grade. But when Dylan is arrested for the murder of her ex-boss, prison bars threaten to be the one thing that finally comes between them.
The body left on Dylan’s doorstep proves to be too problematic for even Addison’s enormous bank account, forcing the duo to roll up their sleeves and search for the murderer themselves. Working to prove Dylan’s innocence brings out an unexpected passion for investigating a knack for uncovering the buried truth.
However, their freshly-acquired skills propel them into a dangerous new world full of lies, secrets, and quite possibly... romance.
Will they be able to keep Dylan out of jail?
Or will they lose their hearts, and maybe even their lives, in the process?
Addison
FRIDAY MORNING, I was awakened by the phone buzzing on my nightstand. I rolled over with a groan and checked the caller ID. Dylan. “Um, hello, no calls before eleven on Fridays. You better be in a ditch with a broken leg somewhere.”
My best friend groaned into the phone. “I just got fired.”
I sat up. “What the hell? Why?”
Dylan Linn James has been my best friend since she transferred into my exclusive private school in the sixth grade. She’d been given a special scholarship due to her family’s financial situation and the shrew girls (we’d named them that because they were way worse than mean girls) clocked her the second she walked through the doors.
Dylan was gorgeous. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. As in, soft, curly red hair, a smattering of freckles over her nose that was cute as hell (as my brother said all too many times), hazel eyes, and, when she hit her teens, she developed a curvy figure which was all too often noticed by the wrong people.
As if beauty wasn’t enough, Dylan had a quick wit and an even quicker mouth. Plus, her name was cool as hell. Although she rarely stood up for herself, she fought for everyone else: me, the janitor being harassed by the shrew girls, random dogs locked in hot cars on sunny days, bugs about to be squished in the hallway. And while this kept her from belonging to the “in” crowd, it made me love her even more.
And now she was calling me at 9:59 in the morning because her asshat of a boss had fired her. And I’m pretty sure I know why she was let go—because despite his many advances, she wouldn’t sleep with him.
“Why do you think?” she confirmed.
“Come over.”
“I’m already here.”
“Well, then use your key and come in. Why are you not already inside?”
“Because I didn’t know if you had your gun in its safe, or next to you, and I didn’t want to be fired and dead!”
I giggled. “Gun is in its safe. Come on in.”
I slid out of bed and wrapped my silk Armani robe around me. I could walk around half-naked in front of Dylan, but she’d already been traumatized enough for one day.
I hustled into the living room and pulled her in for a hug. “He’s a dick.”
“I know,” she said, her stoic nature working overtime.
“You can cry you know.”
“I’m not going to cry over that asshole!” she snapped. “I might drink bleach later, a nice 2015 Clorox, but I won’t cry!”
“Okay, lady.” I forced myself not to laugh as I raised my hands in surrender. “Coffee?”
“Yes,” she breathed out. “Coffee. STAT.”
“You should have been a nurse,” I mused as I grabbed containers for my Keurig.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because you have the lingo down.”
“Shut it.” Dylan gave me her “I will stab you in your sleep” eyes, and I smiled.
“Nurse Dylan. I wonder if you’d be anything like Nurse Jackie. Let me see your eyes. Are your pupils pinned?”
I heard a quiet snort and turned to see her biting back a smile.
“I totally beat your record!”
We’d had an unwritten contest for as long as I could remember that whenever one of us was having a bad day, the other one had to get her to laugh. Dylan could usually get me giggling within minutes; however, I just beat her best time, so I did a happy dance around my kitchen while I’m sure she plotted my murder in her mind.
“Let’s go out tonight,” I suggested, handing her a cup of coffee.
“Um, hello. No job, no money.”
“I’m paying.” I smiled. “Or Daddy is.”
My father was, how do you say... absent? So when my parents separated, he gave Asher and me credit cards to use whenever we wanted. Even after my parents reconciled (for appearances only, let’s be honest), Daddy insisted we keep the cards “for emergencies.”
Asher never touched his; as a highly skilled attorney, he didn’t need to. Me? I hadn’t quite found myself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I did nothing, bu
t planning fundraisers and events for Mother and Daddy isn’t what I ultimately wanted to do with my life. I was good at it, but it wasn’t my bliss. Of course, using Daddy’s money whenever I wanted to did bring a certain measure of joy, and since I did the work for less than most meeting planners would charge, I let my father assuage his absent-parent guilt when I needed cash for retail therapy... or bar hopping.
“Addie.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed. “Oh, look, it’s my brother.”
“Don’t answer,” Dylan demanded.
“Hey, Ashey.”
“I’m killing you in my head,” she hissed.
I gave her a sassy smile and focused on my brother. Asher was two years older than me and besides Dylan, my best friend. It had been the two of us against the world (or our parents) forever—still was, to be honest. Then along came Dylan, using her sharp wit and small-town charisma to carve her way into the position of (her words) third wheel, although, admittedly, she provided just the balance we needed.
We’d had more fun than three kids should legally be allowed to have, until she and Asher caught the feels for each other and started acting more like two stooges.
“Hey, sis,” Asher said.
“What’s up, favorite brother of mine?”
“Can I swing by and grab that portfolio I asked you to look over?”
“When?”
“Like, now?”
I glanced at Dylan and she glared at me, shaking her head. She must have heard Asher’s question.
“Ummm...”
“I know it’s before eleven, but it’ll only take a second. I can just let myself in, but wanted to call in case your gun wasn’t in its safe.”
“What is with everyone and my gun?” I snapped. “I wouldn’t just shoot somebody willy-nilly.”
“Bobby Moore,” he said at the same time Dylan asked, “Who the hell says willy-nilly?”
Bobby Moore, my shooting instructor, had made the mistake of trying to flirt with me while teaching me to shoot. I almost shot his leg off when I threw my hand up in frustration because he kept distracting me. In the end, the bullet went through his jeans, just grazing his calf, and that’s when I realized he’d never be the man for me. He was way too weak... blubbering like a sissy because of a minor flesh wound. I still shuddered thinking about what a wimp he was, and Asher loved to remind me. Gah! I hated weak men.
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