by Amelia Autin
“I know you did.”
Her eyes met his, and his heart was gladdened by the new expression he saw there. “It’s not easy, though,” she said. “Letting go of the past. It’s not easy changing how you think of yourself.”
“I know that, too.”
She shifted in his embrace so she was facing him fully, looking down at him, her hands resting on his shoulders. “Yesterday, when you were in surgery, Keira said that if you loved me, then I deserved to be loved.” He waited, unsure how to respond, but she wasn’t done. “And I realized Keira was right. Not because of me—but because of the man you are. You couldn’t love the woman I thought I was. You could only love the woman I really am.”
She touched his face with reverent fingers, her eyes misty. “You saw things in me I never saw in myself. And you made me see them, too. That’s what makes you unique, Liam. That’s what makes me love you.”
“Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
“What?” Her fingers stilled, and her stunned expression told him he’d taken her completely by surprise.
“I know,” he said quickly. “We haven’t even known each other two weeks—I know that. But I also know you’re the one. I know it, Cate. If you’re not sure...if you need time... I can wait. But I’m committed—that’s not going to change. Believe it.”
“I do,” she whispered. “I do believe it. And I am sure I love you, but...”
“I want to be your husband,” he said stubbornly. “I want the rights that come with it—the right to be at your side, keeping you safe. The right to love and cherish you, now and forever. The right to expect the same from you.”
But there was something else he wanted, too. He finally understood why Cate no longer wanted to be called Caterina—even though she hadn’t been on the run for nearly a year and no longer needed to hide her identity. He’d heard the way Vishenko had called her by that name—and it had sickened him. How much worse was it for her? “I want to change your name to Jones...legally. Cate Jones.” His voice dropped a notch. “Say yes, Cate. If you want to wait, I’m good with that. Just say you’ll marry me.”
She opened her mouth—to say what, he wasn’t sure—when a rap on the door frame of his hospital room interrupted them. Liam glanced over and saw Nick D’Arcy standing there, grinning. Right beside him was Alec. And crowded behind them were Keira, Cody, Shane and...
“Mom?” he asked in a disbelieving voice.
Cate abruptly attempted to move out of his embrace when she heard him, but he tightened his left arm around her and kept her anchored at his side. “Don’t think you can escape because my right arm’s out of commission with the IV,” he murmured for her ears alone. “I’m ambidextrous. I thought you already knew.”
He knew she’d heard him—and had made the connection—because her cheeks turned pink. But she stayed right where she was as his mother squeezed through the people blocking the doorway and headed straight for him.
“My baby,” she said, cupping his cheeks in her hands and raining kisses over his face. “My baby’s okay.”
“I’m not your baby, Mom,” he protested, embarrassed but laughing. “That’s Keira.”
“You’re my baby boy,” she insisted, taking a step back to look him over. “And don’t you forget it, Liam Thermopolis Jones,” she added with a militant gleam in her eyes.
Cate glanced down at him, her eyes brimming over with sudden amusement. She raised her eyebrows. “Thermopolis?”
Liam flushed. “Yeah,” he growled. “But don’t even think about calling me by that name.” He wasn’t about to explain how his mother—a romantic at heart—had named him that because he’d been conceived at the mineral hot springs located in Thermopolis, Wyoming. He’d had a hard enough time living down the name when he was a kid. Liam was unusual enough, but Thermopolis...
All at once the room was crowded with the other members of his family who’d been able to make it to his sickbed. Only Niall was missing, and Liam understood—black ops warriors were rarely free on short notice.
All Alec said was, “Looking good, bro,” but the warm respect in his eyes spoke volumes.
Keira pressed her cheek against his and whispered in his ear, “I’m so proud of you.”
Shane came around the other side, clapped him on the right shoulder and teased, “Trust Mr. Knight-Errant to find a way to save the damsel in distress and make himself look like a hero...without getting himself killed.”
“Like you should talk, Senator,” Liam said, lifting his chin in the direction of the barely visible scar on the left side of his oldest brother’s head beneath his close-cropped hair—Shane’s own badge of honor.
Shane just laughed and made way for Cody, who tapped Liam’s jaw with his fist, saying, “Thought you told me there was no bullet out there with your name on it.”
Liam had forgotten he’d said that to Cody not too long ago. Now he said, “There wasn’t. It wasn’t meant for me.”
The hushed silence that greeted his words was broken by Nick D’Arcy. “If you don’t mind, everyone,” he said, moving away from the doorway. “I need to speak to these two...in private. It won’t take long, I promise.”
It was amazing how quickly the room emptied, as if D’Arcy had waved a magic wand. He pulled a chair away from the wall and put it next to Liam’s, then indicated Cate sit in it. When she did, he said, “I can’t even begin to apologize for putting you in danger, Ms. Mateja—”
“Cate,” she interjected.
He nodded. “Cate.” His gaze moved to Liam and he smiled slightly. “I told you I wasn’t really omniscient, much as I’d like to be. This proves it.”
“No one is.” Liam sucked in air, feeling a twinge in his chest. “But you had the right idea.” When Cate turned startled eyes his way, he explained to her, “Keira told me about the op yesterday, after you left and she came in to see me.” He turned back to D’Arcy. “So I know the whole setup, what all went down, everything. But what Keira couldn’t—or wouldn’t—tell me, was what progress the agency or the FBI has made in finding out who set Cate up to be assassinated in the first place. And I couldn’t talk to ask. Who smuggled the Uzis into the courthouse?”
“The FBI got lucky there,” D’Arcy said. “They raised the serial numbers and tracked down the shipment they were stolen from. You were right—no one is better than the FBI at following a paper trail. One thing led to another...and so on. Turns out, it was someone in the US Attorney’s Office—the prosecutor who was shot but wasn’t killed.”
When Liam’s eyes widened, D’Arcy said, “Yeah. Go figure. I’m sure he had no idea he’d signed his own death warrant by arranging to get the guns into the courthouse. But he was a target, same as Cate. When the FBI’s investigation led straight to him and they questioned him, he caved. Guess he was terrified the Bratva would come after him again once he was out of the hospital, once the protection on him was lifted. He spilled everything he knew...but not until he’d negotiated a plea deal with his former colleagues in the US Attorney’s Office.”
He smiled, but his eyes didn’t. “And he knew a lot more than just the attempt on Cate. A hell of a lot more, including how they got to the other witness. The Bratva needed to silence him, too, and not just to make sure the hit on Cate was never traced back to Vishenko. I can’t tell you the details, but he’ll be the key witness at some new trials, both here and in Zakhar. After which, he’ll spend a couple of years in prison, in protective custody. Then he’ll go into the Witness Security Program.”
He grimaced. “We don’t always get to choose who rots in prison and who gets a second chance at a new life under a new name—sometimes we have to choose between the lesser of two evils. I don’t like it any more now than I did when I was in the US Marshals Service—I just have to live with it. The good news, Cate, is that with Vishenko dead, I don’t think you’ll need to go into
the Witness Security Program after all. But we’ll see.”
“What about the trial I was supposed to testify at?” Cate asked abruptly. “If one of the prosecutors was working for Vishenko...how does that affect the case?”
“No impact,” D’Arcy explained. “The original trial never started. A jury was never seated. Vishenko’s dead, but the trial for the rest of the conspirators will go ahead with the new prosecutors the US Attorney’s Office has already assigned to the case.”
Cate didn’t respond, and Liam glanced at her to see how she was taking the news the human trafficking conspiracy trial was still on. Which meant she still needed to testify. Which meant the defense teams would still do everything they could to discredit her testimony. Which meant the whole world would know...everything.
“I understand,” she said finally. Determination pulled her face into resolute lines. “‘I am one,’” she whispered under her breath. She glanced down at the scars on her wrists for a moment, and an ache speared through Liam as he realized he couldn’t shield her from the mental and emotional trauma of the upcoming trial—much as he wanted to—any more than he could shield her from the abuse she’d suffered in the past.
Then she looked him full in the face, dauntless courage shining from her silvery-blue eyes. The courage that had ensnared his heart almost from the beginning. “I can do this,” she said softly. “I can.” She turned to D’Arcy. “I will.”
Epilogue
Cate walked into the Washington, DC, federal courthouse, Liam at her side, her right hand clasped firmly in his left one. Four US Marshals surrounded them. Even though Vishenko was dead, even though two of the conspirators in the human trafficking case had accepted plea bargains three days before the trial, the prosecution of the other men was going forward as scheduled. Cate’s eyewitness testimony was still key to the prosecution, and the various federal agencies involved—the FBI, the US Marshals Service, the US Attorney’s Office and the agency—were taking no chances with her safety.
Nor was Liam. He was still on medical leave from his job with the DSS, but he’d scarcely left her side since he’d been discharged from the hospital. Just as he’d scarcely left her side from the moment he’d met her—keeping her safe as only he could do.
Cate glanced down at the diamond on her left hand. She’d told Liam she didn’t need an engagement ring. That she didn’t need things to know he loved her. And besides, they weren’t engaged, they were married. But he’d insisted. And now that it was on her finger, she loved it. Not just because it was beautiful—the most gorgeous ring she’d ever seen—but as its symbol. Along with her wedding ring, it was a reminder that Liam had chosen to love her, as he put it...and always would. A reminder, too, that she was worthy of being loved. Whenever she slipped back into her old mind-set, all she had to do was look at the ring to know the truth. It was her talisman.
They paused at the doorway to the witness room and she turned to Liam. She had to leave him here. He would be in the courtroom for the entire trial, but she wouldn’t. As was often the case with witnesses, only when she was on the witness stand would she be allowed inside the courtroom. On the witness stand...and when the verdicts were read. She took a deep breath and forced a smile.
“You okay?” he asked her. When she nodded, he said softly, “Remember, ‘I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do...’”
“‘...And by the grace of God, I will,’” she finished. “I know. I just wish it was over.”
“It will be...soon enough. Just think about how much this means to every woman who was ever trafficked—and those who will never be trafficked because of your willingness to stand up and testify against these men.”
“‘This stops here,’” she quoted softly, nodding to herself as she remembered Alec saying this to her almost a year ago when he’d first convinced her to testify. Drawing courage from the memory. “‘This stops now!’”
* * *
“A verdict was reached in a federal courtroom in Washington, DC, today,” announced the CNN news anchor, “in a complicated and hard-fought human trafficking conspiracy case. Correspondent Carly Edwards is standing by at the courthouse with the verdict. Carly, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Tom,” Carly Edwards said into the microphone from the top of the courthouse steps. “Guilty on all counts for all the conspirators. Let me repeat, guilty on all counts. The verdict was announced an hour ago, in a trial that was postponed when two gunmen opened fire in this same federal courthouse, killing the lead prosecutor and wounding—”
Liam clicked the remote to turn off the TV in their DC hotel room. He’d been in the courtroom with Cate this afternoon when the verdict was announced, but it still gave him a surge of satisfaction hearing “guilty on all counts.” Later tonight he and Cate were meeting Alec and Angelina for a victory dinner to celebrate.
They also had something else to celebrate, something Alec had confided in him just as Angelina had confided in Cate—Alec and Angelina were expecting a baby. Sometime in the new year he was going to be an uncle for the second time.
Cate had been ecstatic for them. And her reaction to their pregnancy news had laid to rest Liam’s last, lingering doubt about her feelings for Alec. He hadn’t known that doubt still existed—until it was dispelled. Until she’d slipped her hand in his, her eyes like stars, and whispered, “If there is a God, that will be us, Liam. Someday.”
Cate had refused to marry him until she’d confided her fear to him that she might be sterile and why she suspected it, and it had nearly broken his heart. Not so much for himself—although the idea of never having children of his own had been a body blow—but for her. Because it was just one more thing to add to her insecurities. One more potential heartbreak for a woman who’d already suffered enough heartbreak in her relatively short life.
Cate had wanted a fertility test performed on herself before their wedding, but Liam had adamantly refused. “Hell no!” he’d told Cate, the only time he’d lost his temper with her. “If we can’t get pregnant we’ll adopt.” And though she’d argued with him that her problem didn’t have to be his, he’d stood resolute, and eventually she’d conceded.
So they were trying. Maybe some people would say it was too early in their marriage, but Liam was thirty-six and ready to be a father. Not that he’d actively been seeking a mother for his children when he’d met Cate—he hadn’t. But now that he’d found the woman he would love and cherish for the rest of his life, he was ready to give her all the children she wanted—he hadn’t worn a condom since the day they were married in a quiet ceremony ten weeks ago, shortly before the trial began. He’d been out of the hospital only a week at that point and still recovering, so their honeymoon had been somewhat...limited.
Liam smiled suddenly. Despite his limitations, Cate had managed to make their honeymoon memorable. Creatively memorable. In fact, she’d reveled in taking charge. His shy bride had been transformed into every man’s bedroom fantasy, and he hadn’t complained. It was proof she trusted him completely—with her body as well as her heart.
Now that the trial was over, now that all the conspirators had been found guilty and faced long prison sentences, he still wasn’t sure where they went from here. D’Arcy was confident Cate didn’t need to assume a new identity...and Liam was almost convinced Baker Street was right. But he’d already resolved in his mind to resign from the DSS, if necessary, and go with Cate wherever she needed to go. He hadn’t told her that—she had enough to worry about with the trial. The king of Zakhar had made him a respectable offer, too—more than respectable, actually. That was another thing Cate wasn’t aware of. But he didn’t really want to leave the DSS unless he was forced to. He’d only consider the king’s offer if he couldn’t stay in his current job, if he and Cate couldn’t make the US their home base.
So they had options...which he’d worry about later. The only absolute in Liam’s mind was Cate. Keeping that glow of love in her eyes for the next fifty years. Being with her when he drew his last breath...or when she drew hers.
He turned when the bathroom door opened and Cate walked out. She was still wearing the slacks and sweater she’d worn earlier in the day—not the dress she’d been going to change into for their upcoming dinner with Alec and Angelina. His smile faded at the sight of her pale, shocked face. “What is it?” he asked sharply. His anxious gaze swept over her, searching for injuries. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “Blue,” she whispered, dazed. “Plus blue.”
He stared blankly. “Plus blue?”
A smile started in her eyes and spread over her face, then she threw herself at him, wound her arms around his neck and held on tight. “Plus blue,” she repeated. “I took a home pregnancy test and it turned blue. Plus blue. We’re pregnant, Liam! Can you believe it? We’re pregnant!”
“Pregnant?” His arms closed around her automatically, but he was stunned. Cate hadn’t let on at all, so he couldn’t take it in for a moment.
“Pregnant!” She was laughing and crying at the same time. “A baby, Liam. We’re going to have a baby. Oh, there is a God. There is!”
His eyes were suddenly burning with the tears his father had told him more than once men never cried. But he didn’t care. Because some things deserved tears, and Cate’s renewed faith was one of them.
He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. “Yes,” he said, unashamed to let her see his damp eyes. “There is a God. I know, because He brought me you.”
* * * * *
LIAM’S WITNESS PROTECTION
by Amelia Autin
Don’t miss the next thrilling installment
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