Wilde for Her (A Wilde Security Novel) (Entangled Brazen)

by Burrows, Tonya

  …

  The lights had been dimmed in deference to the sleeping figure on the bed and Eva slowed her step, careful not to make any noise. Machines measured his heart beat with a steady beep beep beep, and all kinds of IV lines ran from bags hanging over his head into his body. He looked so thin, as if he’d dropped ten pounds overnight. His color was only a few pallid shades above the white blanket covering him—except for the bruises that discolored half of his swollen face with deep purple splotches and the burns mottling both of his arms with an angry red stain.

  Oh, God. She could have lost him for good.

  As she leaned over the bed rail, he opened eyes glassy with the pain meds in his system. “Hi.”

  He was awake. And talking. She barely checked the urge to throw her arms around him. The only thing stopping her was the possibility of hurting him. “Hi. You’re okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said, his voice so full of gravel he didn’t sound like himself. “No biggie.”

  Relief like she’d never felt before coursed through her veins and left her knees shaking. “Don’t pull that macho it’s-only-a-flesh-wound shit with me. You were blown up.”

  He laughed softly, but the movement of his ribcage caused a spike in his heart rate.

  “Hey, don’t do that.” Worried, she swept his sweat-damp hair from his face. “Are you hurting?”

  He winced. “As you just got done pointing out, Detective, I was blown up. So make that a resounding yes.”

  “Right. Stupid question. Can I do anything to help?”

  “No.” He tried shifting around in the bed, muttering a curse under his breath when he didn’t move far. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  Ouch.

  But, yes, she completely deserved that after the way their last conversation ended. “I, um, have something to show you.”

  He arched a brow. “Is it something that might get you arrested for indecent exposure?”

  “No. Pervert.” She held up her right hand, wiggling her ring finger. “I made my decision.”

  “Yeah?” He squinted at her finger, but gave no hint of recognition. “Nice ring. Suits you.”

  Wait. What? He couldn’t have forgotten about giving it to her. Or about what her wearing it meant…

  “Dammit, Vaughn!” She popped up from the bed and glowered down at him. If he wasn’t already injured, she’d shoot him on principle. “You jackass, I thought you were Cam. What are you doing here?”

  “Vacationing,” Vaughn said, deadpan. “I always vacation at the hospital. This place is renowned for their gourmet cafeteria slop. You should try it. De-lish.”

  “Delish?” she echoed. “Are you high?”

  He groped around at his side, found the button that administered On Demand morphine, then pressed it. “As a kite. They make the best drug cocktails here, too.”

  She shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around this staggering turn of events. “If you were driving that car, then Cam is—”

  “In serious need of a shower,” Vaughn said and grinned—or tried to grin at someone over her shoulder, but it looked more like a grimace. She whirled to find Cam standing in the doorway, alive and whole, if not a little haggard. Two days’ worth of beard covered his jaw and his hair hadn’t seen a comb in as many days. At the moment, he looked more like Vaughn than Vaughn did, which was probably the point—they hadn’t corrected anyone on Vaughn’s identity so they must be intent on keeping the switch a secret for the time being.

  Cam’s bloodshot eyes widened at the sight of her, but he otherwise ignored her presence and skirted the foot of the bed to stand on the other side. Worry etched lines into his expression as he stared down at his twin.

  “Hey, bro. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve been blown up.”

  Cam winced. “You’re not funny.”

  “I wish I was trying to be.”

  “For future reference, I’m not cool with you playing the hero and taking bullets—or car bombs—for me.”

  “For future reference, I’m not either.”

  “Good. Glad we got that settled. ”

  Feeling like an intruder, Eva backed away, but Vaughn’s eyes drifted toward her in a hint-hint kind of way, and Cam finally lifted his head to meet her gaze. “Thanks for helping him.”

  Man, his tone was downright arctic. She’d have to check herself for frostbite later. “When I saw it happen, I thought you were…” She couldn’t give voice to those dark thoughts and cleared her throat. “He was driving your car.”

  “Had a flat,” Vaughn muttered. “Took the 4Runner ‘cause Cam was working from home under orders from Greer.”

  “And by that, you mean you slashed your own tire,” Cam corrected, frustration and a heavy dose of fear making his voice rusty. “Then you took the 4Runner, stole my wallet, and purposely dangled yourself as bait.”

  Vaughn tilted his head in acknowledgement. “Had to be done.” He looked at Eva and explained, “I found Tom Lindquist. He told me he’d been approached about the hit, but had refused it. He gave me the name of someone he thought wouldn’t refuse and hinted that it was going down sooner rather than later. I had to do something.”

  Cam’s hands tightened on the bed railing. “Fuck you, Vaughn. Putting yourself at risk like that? You could have died, and it would have killed me as good as a bullet.”

  “Ditto,” Vaughn said, and underneath all the swelling, his eyes went steely. “You know how much it fucking scared me when I found out someone was going to try for you? I had to do something. You would have done the same.”

  The twins locked stares until Vaughn drew in a breath that caused him to wince. He looked over at her again, something close to a plea in his eyes. “Eva, tell him he’s being an ass.”

  No way. Things were already bad enough between them.

  She kept her gaze on Cam, and instead tried to express everything she felt with her eyes. “It scared the hell out of me when I thought he was you.”

  Cam nodded once, curtly, but said nothing more. Self-conscious in the face of his coolness, she stuffed her hands in her jeans pockets.

  Vaughn gave a noisy sigh through his nose when she didn’t speak again. “Oh, c’mon, Eva. At least tell him what you came in here to tell me when you thought I was him.”

  Cam lifted his eyebrows in question, but still said nothing.

  Okay, so he was going to make her work for this. She didn’t blame him. “Can we step out into the hall?”

  He looked at his brother, worry written all over his face, as if he was afraid to leave the bedside. Vaughn gave an almost imperceptible nod, communicating with him in their non-verbal way, both of them probably saying a shitload of meaningful things without opening their mouths.

  Cam finally straightened away from the bed and walked toward the door without another word. She followed and tried to formulate everything she wanted to say to him into a coherent list.

  Number one: I’m sorry.

  Number two: I’m an idiot for not seeing what was right in front of me this whole time.

  Number three: You’re an idiot for not telling me how you felt years ago.

  Number four: Don’t you ever fucking scare me like that again.

  Number five—

  She realized Cam was staring at her and sucked in a deep breath. But when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a faint, “How’s Vaughn?”

  “He has several broken ribs, a bruised lung, a ruptured spleen, and a broken leg. Burns, bruises all over. The docs are monitoring him for internal blood loss. He may need surgery.” Listing his brother’s injuries seemed to drain the last bit of energy out of him and his shoulders sagged. He propped his back against the wall and crossed his arms in front of him. She wished she dared reach out and pull him into her arms, but would he accept her comfort or push her away? The part of her that feared he would push her away kept her rooted to the spot in the middle of the hallway, and she rocked back and forth on her feet, hands still in her pockets.
<
br />   “But he’ll be okay?”

  “It could have been worse. He’ll be healing for a long time, but he will heal.”

  “Good. That’s…good.” She mentally flailed for something more to say. “Uh, it was Gordon Dunphy. I caught him trying to escape. He says he was paid to do it, but won’t give up the person who hired him until he has a plea deal on the table.”

  “I know,” Cam said, his jaw tightening.

  Desperate to delay the conversation they really needed to have for a few moments longer, she continued, “Charles Dunphy’s trial still wasn’t going well, despite my inadmissible testimony. He was staring down a life sentence, but now his lawyers are pointing the finger at Gordon as Selena Adams’ real killer, and the accusation has created enough reasonable doubt that it’s looking like he’ll be acquitted.”

  “Smart,” Cam said, and she had to admire his ability to still look at the situation like a cop even though it had hit so close to home. “There’s no evidence pointing to Gordon in Selena’s death. He’ll never be tried for it, and he’ll plea his attempted murder sentence down to give up the mastermind behind the contract. He’ll be out in a few years and his brother won’t spend his life in prison.”

  Eva nodded. “I don’t think Gordon meant to kill you. He wanted it to look good, but if you actually died, he wouldn’t be able to get a plea deal. That’s why he set the bomb off when Vaughn was half way across the parking lot. He really just wanted to save his brother from a life sentence.”

  Cam looked over at the closed door of Vaughn’s room. “Yeah, I get that. The Dunphys both deserve to rot in hell, but I get it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my brothers.”

  “And there’s nothing they wouldn’t do for you,” she said softly.

  And silence.

  Long, awkward, and chock full of I-don’t-wanna-have-this-conversation. At least from his end. And maybe a little from hers, but she wasn’t leaving without saying what she needed to say. She thought she’d nearly lost him for good yesterday, and every unspoken word had weighed so heavily on her, breathing had been a chore.

  “Is that all you wanted?” he finally asked.

  Why had this been so much easier when she thought he was lying injured in that hospital bed?

  “No. I want to talk about us.” She removed her hand from her pocket. “When I saw—”

  He straightened. “Like you said before, there is no us.”

  All the air left her lungs as if he’d hauled off and sucker punched her. “I thought…when you gave me the ring…”

  “A moment of foolishness. But I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. If you want to be with Preston, go ahead. I hope he makes you happy.”

  “I don’t want Preston. I don’t think I ever have, not really.” She hesitated, searching for a way to say the things burning a hole in the center of her chest. “I’ve always wanted what I never got growing up. A real, steady family and—and it’s a stupid fantasy, but there was a time that I…” Christ, she was jumbling it all up. So much for her neat list.

  “A time that you…what?”

  She faltered. Cam didn’t lose his patience with anyone—wasn’t in his DNA—but irritation laced his tone now. She swallowed to wet her suddenly parched throat.

  “Well, I met you several months before I met Preston.”

  “Yes, your point?”

  “And I spent those months hoping for…more. From you. But you never acted like you were interested in me in that way, and Preston worked so hard to win me over…” She blew out a breath. “Preston was convenient and didn’t challenge me. With him, I was always in control, and I thought that’s what I wanted but—”

  “Stop,” Cam said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Eva, just stop. You don’t know what you want.”

  Outrage had her jaw falling open and burned away her self-doubt. “Excuse me? I know exactly what I want. I’m trying to tell you—”

  “No, you don’t, and that’s the problem. You have this cookie-cutter ideal family in your head, and I don’t fit it. Hell, you don’t fit it, but you refuse to see that. And even if you don’t take Linz up on his offer, someone else will eventually come along who you think does fit it, and I’ll get regulated to best friend again. I’ll grow to hate you for it.” He shook his head, and every exhausting second of the past few days showed on his face. “I don’t want to hate you when I’ve spent so many of the past five years in love with you. It’ll be easier for everyone if we just end things now.”

  Her throat tightened and burned. “Easier for everyone, or for you?”

  He turned away without answering, but she yanked him around to face her again. “Wilde, dammit, you’re not listening to me. I lov—”

  Down the hall, the elevator doors opened with a ding and several arguing voices boomeranged off the tile walls, drowning out her voice.

  He gazed over her head toward the sound. “My brothers. I have to handle this.”

  Of course he did.

  A strange mix of anger and humiliation bloomed in her chest, and her cheeks heated, no doubt filling with color. At least her face was already so red from the explosion, he wouldn’t see the flush.

  “Yeah, fine.” She dropped her hand from his arm. “Go ahead, indulge your superhero complex. Because everything’s absolutely hunky-fucking-dory in our personal life.”

  “Eva—”

  “No, don’t.” She backed away from him. “I just realized something. I’m not the only one with issues here. But, hey, at least I admit I have control issues, and I’m willing to work through them. You just throw yourself into everyone else’s problems and completely ignore your own.”

  His jaw tightened. “What happened to Vaughn is my problem.”

  “What happened to Vaughn has nothing to do with us. That’s a whole other can of worms that I’m sure as hell not opening right now, but you’re using it as an excuse to push me away. Which is just fucking priceless after all of your talk about wanting me.” She struggled to pull his ring off her finger—damn thing was stuck and panic sizzled through her. She didn’t want it. Didn’t want a reminder of everything they’d had that he was suddenly so willing to toss away.

  Finally it popped off over her knuckle and she shoved it at his chest. “We were doomed from the start as friends and as lovers.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Without another word or glance in his direction, Eva stalked past his brothers and jabbed the elevator’s down button, then slipped inside when the doors immediately opened. A hollow ache started in his gut and moved to his chest, and he couldn’t help but feel like those goddamn metal doors had severed the last remaining thread of friendship between him and Eva as they clamped shut.

  He stared down at the ring in his palm. He should go after her, but a fuckton of nasty emotions weighed down his shoulders, keeping his feet planted firmly to the floor.

  Christ, it hurt to know his inability to act during those first few months of their acquaintance was the reason she’d gotten together with Preston at all. Hurt even more to know that Preston was the only reason she’d ever come to his bed.

  His brothers’ voices got louder as they approached, and he stuffed the ring in his jeans pocket. The damn thing all but broadcasted his idiocy, and they sure as shit didn’t need to see it.

  “I tried calling you,” Reece was saying. “You ignored me.”

  Jude, a bit sunburned and still dressed for the tropics, threw out his arms in an act of pure frustration. “Because I thought you were gonna bitch at me for not completing those expense reports before I left. Not because one of our brothers got blown up! Leave a fucking voicemail next time.”

  “I wouldn’t call you about expense reports on your honeymoon,” Reece said through clenched teeth, “and I didn’t think this was the kind of news to relate via voicemail.”

  “And finding out from CNN was that much better?” Jude demanded.

  “We didn’t know it had made national news.”

  “Car bombs in the
nation’s capital usually do. And I’ve spent the last six hours airport-hopping, unable to get a hold of anyone, not knowing how bad Cam was or even if he was alive—”

  The break in his youngest brother’s voice was the kick in the ass Cam needed, and he gave the argument his full attention. “I’m sorry you had to find out like that.”

  At the sound of his voice, Jude spotted him, launched forward, and grabbed him in a hard hug. “Holy fuck, you’re okay.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He peeled Jude’s arms from around his shoulders. “There was a mix-up at the scene—Vaughn was driving my car, not me. But he’s going to be fine, too.”

  “Wait, Vaughn’s injured?”

  “He’s going to be fine,” Cam repeated. “A broken leg and ribs, lots of bruises inside and out, lots of swelling. He’ll be here for a week or so.”

  “Okay.” Jude sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut for several moments. Steady again, he opened his eyes. “Okay. But I gotta see him. Just to make sure.”

  Nodding, Cam led the way to Vaughn’s room and leaned in to see if his twin was asleep, but Jude, in typical Jude fashion, didn’t wait for permission. He shoved inside and stalked to the foot of the bed.

  Hands on his hips, he scowled as he studied Vaughn’s bruised and battered body. “Hey, asshole. I’m supposed to be the troublemaker in the family.”

  Vaughn’s lips stretched into something that might have been a smile if his face wasn’t so swollen. “You’re a married man now. Libby won’t—” He stopped, sucked in a sharp breath, and winced, struggling to shift into a more comfortable position. Cam helped as best he could, stuffing pillows behind Vaughn’s back and raising the head of his bed so he sat up straighter, but sweat still rolled down the side of his face and his breathing hitched with the pain. Unfortunately, according to the doctors, he wasn’t going to be comfortable again for a long while. And neither was Cam because seeing his twin in so much pain caused a physical ache in the center of his chest that his argument with Eva had not helped.

  “Libby won’t let you get in trouble anymore,” Vaughn continued hoarsely, “so I had to take over the job. Gotta keep Reece and Greer on their toes.”